Your workshop group will appreciate your thorough read of their story as it can be really hard to see where your story is not working. During workshop on Monday, if there is a particular tough scene that is not working, you may ask the author to explain what she/he is visualizing. Sometimes, talking about the scene achieves a breakthrough, that ah-ha that moves the stuck language or action.
Monday: Submit to me, a 300 word critique of your own story, and a 300 word critique for any two of the stories in your group.
The critique needs to be specific in what is working (why) and what is not working (why). For example, in the gas station, the dweeb's dialogue doesn't seem realistic. Try using non sequiturs (I still love George Bush) or less dialogue and more description or try using sentence fragments or have the protagonist continue to interrupt him or have the dweeb only say one thing over and over, I'm sorry, you'll have to speak to the manager who works the day shift.
And please please please cut their adjectives and adverbs and correct the punctuation of the dialogue.
Watch the endings of these stories. First draft endings are often over the top (emo porn) as Bill Gaston would say. Sometimes the ending is bathed in authorial fear that the reader missed the point of the story so the author repeats the theme in a direct way and spoils the reader's imaginative suppositions regarding what happens to these characters. ARRRG. We don't want that in our final drafts so cut them.
Monday: Workshop: The horror. The horror. The horror. We will dress our ugly babies. Be sure to bring copies of the critiques to give to your authors.
Tuesday: Victor and Tabitha present the writing of Rachel Ward and then I'll do an introduction to Terence Young's work and how to write a Terence Young scene.
Wednesday: Your short story is due and we have an author visiting: Terence Young, Visit: Terence Young, author, teacher, publisher, essayist
Thursday: Hand in the Terence Young responses, please. Friday, the 19th will be the last day to get these in. We start a post card story unit. Yay. These are fun.
Friday: Writing a post card story. Two stories due Thursday, Jan 8 / 2015. Wowzers
Next week will be busy busy busy. I like to make the last week worth your while so that when the holidays come you really feel as if you deserved it.
