Novel Writing Intensive
(The NaNoWriMo class)
ENG 190T-02, Stanford University, Fall 2017
Fall 2017, Tuesdays 6pm-8:50pm
Tom Kealey & Scott Hutchins -- kealey@ & hutchins@
Each student’s main project for this course is a 50,000 word novel. We’ll focus on this project for the 30 days of November, requiring an average of 1700 written words a day. How will we do this? Word by word of course. And through our preparation in September and October and our collective support as writers and classmates. The excellence we’ll aim for is the excellence of the first draft – energy, flashes of brilliance, and most of all completion. The extreme pace of this writing will make certain types of writing impossible – none of us will have the luxury of polishing our prose to a mirror shine. However, we will learn much about fictional structure, about character creation, about scenes vs. summary, and many more aspects including position change, character desire, settings, and dialogue.
We’ll spend the first four to five weeks of the course carefully laying the groundwork for our novels. We’ll look at several published models, write synopses, outlines, character sketches, and search tirelessly for the novel’s engine: its voice. Then, on to November where we’ll all participate in NaNoWriMo, an international writing event now in its eighteenth year. Our learning goals will include the art of opening, sustaining, and closing a novel. We’ll also talk a great deal about the concept of Draft Zero.
Texts:
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
Passing by Nella Larsen
You’ll also make some copies of scenes or your own work for class.
Requirements:
40 points -- Your Novel Draft. This portion of your grade will largely be figured through addition.50,000 words is worth 40 points. 0 words is worth zero points. 25,000 words is 20 points, etc.
30 points -- Class Participation.This portion of your grade includes your readiness for class, your effort in exercises and course discussion, your support and attention to your classmates, and your general teamwork for the course.A big part of this grade is also coming to class and being on time (see below). In addition, during the month of November, you will be required to host around two evening writing sessions, where your classmates can meet in collaborative NanoWrimo small groups.
30 points – Novel Outline & Portfolio. In the weeks before November, you’ll create a novel outline that might include a list of scenes, a book cover, character sketches, and a timeline. At the end of the writing process, you’ll reflect on the challenges you overcame or succumbed to, the surprising twists you never saw coming, and the brilliance of bringing it all together. You’ll propose revisions to the draft and will rework your understanding of the book.
Attendance:
Due to the collaborative nature of this class, attendance is key. We’ll take attendance every day.You are permitted one absence for any reason, after which each absence will lower your final grade by one full letter unless you provide a note from a Dean. If you miss more than three classes you will not pass the course. It is your responsibility to get notes, handouts, and assignments from any classes you miss. Out of respect for your classmates, please be on time. Repeated late arrivals will affect your grade.
If you have a health issue for you or your family, please talk with me about it, and we’ll work out an accommodation.
Hosted Writing Session:
Every evening of November, members of this class will gather to write.You will be welcome at any and all of these meetings.You will be required to host two of them.What does it mean to host?Pick the location, arrive early, take roll, and get to work.You could bring cookies, too.
Finally:
If you’ve ever wanted to write a novel, this is the course for you. Just make sure you have room in your schedule. This would not be the best quarter to take the most difficult or time-consuming classes in your major. You’ll need your full capacity come November.
As far as we know, this class will be held each Fall quarter at Stanford, so you are welcome to join us in a future year if this isn’t the right quarter for you.
Also, all of the cautions about punctuality and attendance are very real, but ultimately this course is intended to be a blast. Serious fun. We want this course to be supportive and rigorous, and we’ve specifically designed it to help see you through a first draft of a novel.
Students with Documented Disabilities:
Students who may need an academic accommodation based on the impact of a disability must initiate the request with the Office of Accessible Education (OAE).Professional staff will evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend reasonable accommodations, and prepare an Accommodation Letter for faculty dated in the current quarter in which the request is being made. Students should contact the OAE as soon as possible since timely notice is needed to coordinate accommodations.The OAE is located at 563 Salvatierra Walk (phone: 723-1066, URL:
The Honor Code:
The Honor Code is the University's statement on academic integrity written by students in 1921. It articulates University expectations of students and faculty in establishing and maintaining the highest standards in academic work.The Honor Code is an undertaking of the students, individually and collectively:
1. That they will not give or receive aid in examinations; that they will not give or receive unpermitted aid in class work, in the preparation of reports, or in any other work that is to be used by the instructor as the basis of grading;
2. That they will do their share and take an active part in seeing to it that others as well as themselves uphold the spirit and letter of the Honor Code;
3. The faculty on its part manifests its confidence in the honor of its students by refraining from proctoring examinations and from taking unusual and unreasonable precautions to prevent the forms of dishonesty mentioned above. The faculty will also avoid, as far as practicable, academic procedures that create temptations to violate the Honor Code;
4. While the faculty alone has the right and obligation to set academic requirements, the students and faculty will work together to establish optimal conditions for honorable academic work.
· Plagiarism. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, using ideas, information or quotes from published work or online sources without providing proper citations; copying all or part of an assignment from someone else; andturning in work you did for other classes.
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