ENGL389 Topics in Writing: YA Writing Workshop
Assignments: Writer's Notebook
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LEE TORDA 310 Tillinghast Hall Bridgewater State University 508.531.2436 [email protected] www.leetorda.com Attend Zoom Class (when told to on the syllabus) by clicking on this link. |
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Overview
Informal writing leads to formal writing. Informal writing leads to revised, polished work. Writers write all the time. Never a day without a word. You never know what bit of thing that you write one day is going to become the next big thing you write. The writer's notebook is meant to help you develop a lot of little bits of things that might become some big thing. In order to do that, you've got to actually write often and with energy--not always with purpose, but with energy. One of the hardest parts of being a writer is actually writing. Sitting yourself in a chair and producing text. When writing is a job--or a part of your job--you have to do it. Student life is not really conducive to understanding this habit of writing--too many other things crowd your life. So this notebook is designed to give you practice in work of writing. It is an assignment that asks you to act like a real writer and to write often.
Details
You will be required to keep a writer’s notebook for this class. The Writer's Notebook requires you to commit to writing frequently—ideally daily—in an effort to help you develop the discipline of writing. The WN should be a useful space for you to begin to develop and draft what might become more formal pieces of writing. You should write about three times a week. You can write more, but you aren't required too. I would suggest actually setting a timer. Sit down. Set a time for twenty minutes or a half hour and start writing. Don't worry too much about what you are writing, but just commit to the time. You will be amazed what comes of it.
Students seem to stress over this assignment. They want a specific thing to write about. Here are some ideas:
Further, I'm not looking for a particular length or quality or type of writing. I'm looking to see that you are putting in the time and that it is proving useful to you. If it isn't I'll tell you that, but, mostly, I will simply make comments on parts of your notebook that seem to me to have potential to go someplace. Conversely, if I think something you are working on might not be working I'll tell you that too. It's informal commentary. Like a conversation about your writing. I can't give you some perfect explanation of what to do in the writer's notebook. You just have to write and figure it out.
ADDITIONALLY: You'll get a little bit of time at the start of each class to do some writing too. You'll get a prompt and 5 to 7 minutes to write in your notebook. I will count that as part of your Writer's Notebook, though in-class entries do not make up for inadequate outside of class entries.
Notebooks are due to me end of class on Wednesdays. You'll get them back the following class (usually Mondays).
How to keep your "notebook"
1) If you want to write your notebook longhand in an actual notebook, that's fine with me, but you need to keep two notebooks--one to to turn in to me on Wednesdays and one that you can continue to write in over the four days our class doesn't meet. So at any given moment I will have one of the notebooks to read and respond to and you'll have the other one to be writing in.
2) I don't like to handwrite stuff like this. It takes me too long and sometimes I can't read my handwriting after the fact. I prefer to type. If you feel the same, you can just write in a word document or any other word processing format and PRINT OUT your "notebook". You can just keep returned material in a folder as it accumulates (that's the only risk of doing it this way--losing loose pages).
3) If you prefer to go entirely paperless, create a google.doc and title it YOUR LAST NAME.WRITERS NOTEBOOK. So, for instance, mine would be called "TORDA.WRITERS NOTEBOOK". Set the document to "everyone with this link can edit" by clicking on the "share" button in the upper right corner of the page. A dialogue box will appear. Follow the directions for setting the document to "anyone with this link can edit" and then, in that same dialogue box, click on "copy link". Finally send me that link in an email. You only have to do this once. If you opt for this fully online version, each week, please put the date as a header for that week's writing. This will automatically organize the page so that you I can easily locate new material. Secondly, always put the new material AT THE TOP of the google.doc. As the semester proceeds, you will accumulate a great deal of material and it is easier for both of us if you start with new material at the top (and not the bottom) of the document.
HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED ON YOUR WRITER'S NOTEBOOK
Your Writer's Notebook is worth 20% of your final grade.
What does "sufficient material" mean?
I assume that whatever you produce in a week is the result of an hour and a half of your time. If your notebook seems thin to me, I will directly address that in my weekly comments on your writer's notebook. Unless I'm saying to you that what you are turning in is not sufficient, then you are fine. If I express concern over your commitment to the writer's notebook, you should explain to me 1) why that week is not what you hoped it would be or 2) how I am misreading the notebook and not seeing how your work is sufficient. Not every week will be as productive as we hope, and either a 1 or 2 response will suffice. However, if, week after week I question what you turn in as "sufficient" it could result in the loss of a mark of "sufficient material".
Informal writing leads to formal writing. Informal writing leads to revised, polished work. Writers write all the time. Never a day without a word. You never know what bit of thing that you write one day is going to become the next big thing you write. The writer's notebook is meant to help you develop a lot of little bits of things that might become some big thing. In order to do that, you've got to actually write often and with energy--not always with purpose, but with energy. One of the hardest parts of being a writer is actually writing. Sitting yourself in a chair and producing text. When writing is a job--or a part of your job--you have to do it. Student life is not really conducive to understanding this habit of writing--too many other things crowd your life. So this notebook is designed to give you practice in work of writing. It is an assignment that asks you to act like a real writer and to write often.
Details
You will be required to keep a writer’s notebook for this class. The Writer's Notebook requires you to commit to writing frequently—ideally daily—in an effort to help you develop the discipline of writing. The WN should be a useful space for you to begin to develop and draft what might become more formal pieces of writing. You should write about three times a week. You can write more, but you aren't required too. I would suggest actually setting a timer. Sit down. Set a time for twenty minutes or a half hour and start writing. Don't worry too much about what you are writing, but just commit to the time. You will be amazed what comes of it.
Students seem to stress over this assignment. They want a specific thing to write about. Here are some ideas:
- You can revise pieces of writing--maybe a YA story you started someplace else or a story your wrote for a fiction or nonfiction workshop that you want to revise into something appropriate for a YA audience.
- You can write new pieces of things you want feedback on, ideas for stories you want to try out.
- What you shouldn't do is keep a diary. I'm not looking for that.
Further, I'm not looking for a particular length or quality or type of writing. I'm looking to see that you are putting in the time and that it is proving useful to you. If it isn't I'll tell you that, but, mostly, I will simply make comments on parts of your notebook that seem to me to have potential to go someplace. Conversely, if I think something you are working on might not be working I'll tell you that too. It's informal commentary. Like a conversation about your writing. I can't give you some perfect explanation of what to do in the writer's notebook. You just have to write and figure it out.
ADDITIONALLY: You'll get a little bit of time at the start of each class to do some writing too. You'll get a prompt and 5 to 7 minutes to write in your notebook. I will count that as part of your Writer's Notebook, though in-class entries do not make up for inadequate outside of class entries.
Notebooks are due to me end of class on Wednesdays. You'll get them back the following class (usually Mondays).
How to keep your "notebook"
1) If you want to write your notebook longhand in an actual notebook, that's fine with me, but you need to keep two notebooks--one to to turn in to me on Wednesdays and one that you can continue to write in over the four days our class doesn't meet. So at any given moment I will have one of the notebooks to read and respond to and you'll have the other one to be writing in.
2) I don't like to handwrite stuff like this. It takes me too long and sometimes I can't read my handwriting after the fact. I prefer to type. If you feel the same, you can just write in a word document or any other word processing format and PRINT OUT your "notebook". You can just keep returned material in a folder as it accumulates (that's the only risk of doing it this way--losing loose pages).
3) If you prefer to go entirely paperless, create a google.doc and title it YOUR LAST NAME.WRITERS NOTEBOOK. So, for instance, mine would be called "TORDA.WRITERS NOTEBOOK". Set the document to "everyone with this link can edit" by clicking on the "share" button in the upper right corner of the page. A dialogue box will appear. Follow the directions for setting the document to "anyone with this link can edit" and then, in that same dialogue box, click on "copy link". Finally send me that link in an email. You only have to do this once. If you opt for this fully online version, each week, please put the date as a header for that week's writing. This will automatically organize the page so that you I can easily locate new material. Secondly, always put the new material AT THE TOP of the google.doc. As the semester proceeds, you will accumulate a great deal of material and it is easier for both of us if you start with new material at the top (and not the bottom) of the document.
HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED ON YOUR WRITER'S NOTEBOOK
Your Writer's Notebook is worth 20% of your final grade.
- In order to earn a "B" grade for that 20% you must turn in sufficient material for 10 of the fifteen weeks of the semester.
- In order to earn an "A" grade for that 20% you must turn in sufficient material for 12 of the fifteen weeks of the semester.
- In order to earn a "C" grade for that 20% you must turn in sufficient material for 8 of the fifteen weeks of the semester.
What does "sufficient material" mean?
I assume that whatever you produce in a week is the result of an hour and a half of your time. If your notebook seems thin to me, I will directly address that in my weekly comments on your writer's notebook. Unless I'm saying to you that what you are turning in is not sufficient, then you are fine. If I express concern over your commitment to the writer's notebook, you should explain to me 1) why that week is not what you hoped it would be or 2) how I am misreading the notebook and not seeing how your work is sufficient. Not every week will be as productive as we hope, and either a 1 or 2 response will suffice. However, if, week after week I question what you turn in as "sufficient" it could result in the loss of a mark of "sufficient material".