Creative Writing: The Short Story

MARCH 2012 CLASS: WEEK BY WEEK (Check here if you miss anything)
Week #1 Introduction to the Class 2012-03-08	Week #2 The Parts of a Story 2012-03-15	Week #3 Writing the First Draft 2012-03-22	Week #4 The Business of Writing 2012-04-05	Week #5 Peer Review 2012-04-12	Week #6 The Final Draft and Wrap-Up 2012-04-26

N E W S T U D E N T S :

There are prerequisites to taking this course... and a few things to be aware of. Be sure to read
ABOUT THIS COURSE!

Welcome to Creative Writing: The Short Story!

Welcome to Creative Writing: The Short Story, currently being offered through Bangor Adult Education by instructor David M. Fitzpatrick. Students learn the exciting process of crafting a work of short fiction, including writing, editing, marketing, and submitting for publication. This course is packed full of goals and successes as the students work together to help themselves and each other improve their writing. Students’ stories will be considered for acceptance in a print anthology the instructor will independently publish. Course will require regular work outside of class. Prerequisites: Students must have basic proficiency with computers, and strong skills working with Microsoft Word.

NEW COURSE INFORMATION: Previously, the course was eight weeks, and students were all considered for inclusion into an anthology I'd published. I've had to change this. The fact is, while I do believe all aspiring writers can be publishable, I cannot dedicate the immense amounts of time into those anthologies. They require as much as 18-24 months of working closely with students after the class is over as we work through intensive edits and lots of rewrites. I'm just out of spare time. The new class will be six weeks, and students who clearly don't need such intensive work will be invited into a future anthology.

HELPFUL INFORMATION

About the instructor David M. Fitzpatrick is no Stephen King, but he knows about writing short stories and getting them published. Plus, he writes for a living. Here's everything you need to know about him.	About the anthology series I'm publishing an ongoing series called Spectrum Stories. Read about the current titles in the series: A Quiet Blue Wheel, An Odd Red Puzzle, The Forgotten White Door, and the new title, That Amazing Green Toy.	Anthology Guidelines Last semester's anthology was named That Amazing Green Toy. Students in this semester's class might be invited for inclusion into a future anthology. Click here to read the AGT submission guidelines.
"Reflecting" the antho's title If you've been invited to submit into one of my anthologies, you know you must craft stories that in some way "reflect" the title of the anthology. How do you do this? Here are a few examples, along with a great student outline for her story in the anthology An Odd Red Puzzle.	Writer's Glossary I've tried to define many of the most common terms you'll hear about in the world of writing fiction. This includes many examples of writing forms.	StoryBoard A handy, brief, seven-step process to writing a short story and submitting it for publication. This won't make you a great writer, but it will show you the ropes of how it's done.
Methods of Writing Writing by hand or with a typewriter is fine until you have to share your work with others in class. Plus, there are many reasons you should embrace technology.	Recommended Reading I have a selection of books that I routinely recommend to fiction writers. I'm providing them here with brief descriptions of each, and why I feel they're invaluable to any writer.	In Memoriam To those who don't know, Penny Lehman from our Spring 2010 class passed away. Penny died March 26 following an unattended heart attack. Read more about Penny here.

USEFUL FILES

Manuscript template This template is a Word document that is preformatted for most of what you need for standard manuscript format. It is double-spaced with one-inch margins; there is a formatted header; and there is a block on page one for your personal information. Use this whenever you begin a new writing project. Remember: underline when you mean italics (unless a publication requests otherwise) and use a # on an empty-line scene break.		Short-Story Checklist Once you're done your first draft of your project story, or editing someone else's, use this checklist to ask yourself questions to make sure you're on the right track.	Microsoft Works converter For converting Works files to Word docs. (We seem to need it frequently in class, usually when someone has written in Works and has brought work in that cannot be opened in Word.)
Manuscript format example This is not the manuscript template. That's above. This is an example of standard manuscript format. Note: Editors may require specific differences; check local listings!	Submitting your work This covers all the basics of submitting to a publication, in short form.	Cover letter examples Five examples of the same cover letter, with explanations on why they're good or bad.	Contract example A sample contract. Contracts vary wildly. Always read any contract you sign very carefully!