All of you did an excellent job with the sestinas. This is an incredibly difficult form, and some of you executed this form very, very well. This is often how it goes with creative work, though. The poems (stories, paintings, songs, etc.) we have to work hardest on creating, the ones that force us to look at word choice and stay on track, are often the best poems (stories, etc.). I really appreciate all the hard work you guys are putting into this class. And I do hope you see what that hard work is producing.
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Our next two weeks in class cover forms that I think are a lot of fun. Granted, our ideas of fun could vary, but I think you'll like them, too. We're going to do a lot of experimenting with the forms on the next two Tuesdays, but I'm going to give 100% of the Thursdays to workshop. (If needed, we might make the second Tuesday a half workshop.) We've been through the class list 1.5 times, and I'd really like to get through it another 1.5 times in the next three weeks. That would mean everyone would be workshopped 3 times before the final project workshop. Hopefully we can make that happen.
After those two weeks, we're on to a week of William Matthew's book (which is a wonderful mix of completely hilarious and incredibly moving), elegies, aubades, and pastorals.
After that, if you can believe it (and I couldn't so I had to recheck the calendar), is SPRING BREAK! So, enjoy that thought for a moment.......
After Spring Break we'll be doing the group presentations and the final project workshops. I've met with all of the groups, and it sounds like all of you have some wonderful ideas. Very fun AND useful!
You really don't have to worry about any of that stuff now (except what's due next week), but it should be encouraging that we are almost halfway through the semester!
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Also: EVERYONE turned in guardian comments this week, and I'm pretty sure that hasn't happened before. I'm marking down bonus points for everyone!
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Line of the Week
Marshall's line: I've learned to savor blinks.
Wow. Lovely word choice. Like I said in class "savor" is such an excellent choice. Something weaker like "appreciate" or wordier like "look forward to" would have really taken the punch out of this line. And the line does a nice job conveying the extent of this lack of sleep.
Well done, Marshall.
Wow. Lovely word choice. Like I said in class "savor" is such an excellent choice. Something weaker like "appreciate" or wordier like "look forward to" would have really taken the punch out of this line. And the line does a nice job conveying the extent of this lack of sleep.
Well done, Marshall.
Best Overheard Line
"She's like Beethoven. And I'm like Houdini."
What?! I love this line because then it makes me wonder what it would be like for these two guys to meet and talk.....
What?! I love this line because then it makes me wonder what it would be like for these two guys to meet and talk.....
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Question of the Week
This week’s question: What’s the best overheard line or out-of-context line you’ve heard this week?
Post your answer as a "comment" on this post. I'll pick the best answer before class next Tuesday.
Post your answer as a "comment" on this post. I'll pick the best answer before class next Tuesday.
Week Six Blog Ideas
Week Six Blog Ideas
1. Repeat the villanelle exercise we did in class. Pick a word and write 20 possible “rhymes” for it.
Here are the “rules”:
1. Write a word that is a rhyme or slant rhyme of your starting word
2. Words don’t all have to have the same number of syllables
3. Can be proper names
4. Only 7 full rhymes, put a star by full rhymes; rest must be slant, assonance, consonance, etc.
5. Have to be “pretty sure” it’s a word when writing a “rhyme”
6. “Rhyme” means they sound alike, not that they look alike
7. Use some of your “rhyme” possibilities as you write a villanelle
2. Pick 10 lines from the list passed out in class. Rearrange all the words. Write a poem that uses all of those words, but not in the original order.
3. Choose a poetry anthology, turn a random page, and write down the first line you see. Repeat. (Feel free to change it in any way as you write it down.) When you have 20 or so lines, use them to make a poem. (Maybe a sonnet?)
4. Get together with another classmate and write a Renga. (As long as you both post it and write about it, it can count as an entry for each of you.)
5. Most of the pantoums we studied have lines of similar length. Why do you think that is? Try to work against that trait by writing a pantoum with really long lines. Or try to write a pantoum of 1-2 word lines. What is the effect of the very long or very short lines?
1. Repeat the villanelle exercise we did in class. Pick a word and write 20 possible “rhymes” for it.
Here are the “rules”:
1. Write a word that is a rhyme or slant rhyme of your starting word
2. Words don’t all have to have the same number of syllables
3. Can be proper names
4. Only 7 full rhymes, put a star by full rhymes; rest must be slant, assonance, consonance, etc.
5. Have to be “pretty sure” it’s a word when writing a “rhyme”
6. “Rhyme” means they sound alike, not that they look alike
7. Use some of your “rhyme” possibilities as you write a villanelle
2. Pick 10 lines from the list passed out in class. Rearrange all the words. Write a poem that uses all of those words, but not in the original order.
3. Choose a poetry anthology, turn a random page, and write down the first line you see. Repeat. (Feel free to change it in any way as you write it down.) When you have 20 or so lines, use them to make a poem. (Maybe a sonnet?)
4. Get together with another classmate and write a Renga. (As long as you both post it and write about it, it can count as an entry for each of you.)
5. Most of the pantoums we studied have lines of similar length. Why do you think that is? Try to work against that trait by writing a pantoum with really long lines. Or try to write a pantoum of 1-2 word lines. What is the effect of the very long or very short lines?
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Student Reading Series: Call for Submissions
Student Reading Series!
Below is an announcement from the Creative Writing Guild. I'd highly recommend submitting to this series. It will be fun, it's good experience, and apparently, you'll get paid!
Starting now until February 8th, the Creative Writing Guild of UWG will be accepting submissions for possible readers in our first Student Reader Series! The works will be judged by a panel of creative writing professors, who will then meet with the CWG officers to organize reading days and times! Please send us your best work!
Submission Guidelines:
Send submissions to CWGatUWG@gmail.com
Please send no more than 8-10 pages of prose or 3-4 poems.
Deadline: February 8th
Oh, and did I mention that thanks to some information discovered by the very awesome and talented Dr. Emily Hipchen, we will be able to offer our readers a small stipend for reading! So get out those typewriters, pens, notebooks, laptops, and all other manner of writing utensils, and send us your stuff!
Below is an announcement from the Creative Writing Guild. I'd highly recommend submitting to this series. It will be fun, it's good experience, and apparently, you'll get paid!
Starting now until February 8th, the Creative Writing Guild of UWG will be accepting submissions for possible readers in our first Student Reader Series! The works will be judged by a panel of creative writing professors, who will then meet with the CWG officers to organize reading days and times! Please send us your best work!
Submission Guidelines:
Send submissions to CWGatUWG@gmail.com
Please send no more than 8-10 pages of prose or 3-4 poems.
Deadline: February 8th
Oh, and did I mention that thanks to some information discovered by the very awesome and talented Dr. Emily Hipchen, we will be able to offer our readers a small stipend for reading! So get out those typewriters, pens, notebooks, laptops, and all other manner of writing utensils, and send us your stuff!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Blog of the Week! Line of the Week!
I’m going to start recognizing blogs of the week and lines of the week (at least semi-regularly). While all of you are doing some amazing work, these two things stuck out to me this week. Congrats to our first stars of the week!
Jenna: Blog of the Week. The commentary on the WikiHow about writing haikus is hilarious. The reflection on the feeling all writers get at some point (“I wish I had written that poem”) is spot on. And the explanation of her own poem (and of her intentions for the poem) is a valuable exercise that I would recommend to everyone. Recognizing what you meant, what readers saw, and figuring out how to synthesize the two is an important part of this class.
LaRue: Line of the Week. In “What the Cosmos Left,” LaRue’s speaker discusses the stars she found in various places the way Howe’s speaker found scissors. This line captures a beautifully original moment (how many of us have found stars in our mouths?), using a wonderfully ordinary item (warm bread):
. . . and one night, in my mouth,
I tasted something like a warm bite of bread and pulled it out
to watch over me . . . .
Stay tuned for more highlights from the great body of work you’re all producing......
Jenna: Blog of the Week. The commentary on the WikiHow about writing haikus is hilarious. The reflection on the feeling all writers get at some point (“I wish I had written that poem”) is spot on. And the explanation of her own poem (and of her intentions for the poem) is a valuable exercise that I would recommend to everyone. Recognizing what you meant, what readers saw, and figuring out how to synthesize the two is an important part of this class.
LaRue: Line of the Week. In “What the Cosmos Left,” LaRue’s speaker discusses the stars she found in various places the way Howe’s speaker found scissors. This line captures a beautifully original moment (how many of us have found stars in our mouths?), using a wonderfully ordinary item (warm bread):
. . . and one night, in my mouth,
I tasted something like a warm bite of bread and pulled it out
to watch over me . . . .
Stay tuned for more highlights from the great body of work you’re all producing......
