Elizabeth McCracken

Instructor:  McCracken, E

Unique #:  34775

Semester:  Spring 2019

Cross-lists:  n/a

Restrictions:  CRW Certificate students

Computer Instruction: No

Prerequisites: CRW 340F (or E 341).

Description: This is an advanced fiction workshop. Students will be required to write either three stories, or two stories and one substantial revision.  Stories should be at least 8 pages and no longer 25 pages long.  These are arbitrary limits, of course—there are fine short stories both longer and shorter.  No novel excerpts, please.

All work must be original—both your own work, and written for this class.  Please do not recycle work written for other courses.  Please do not write stories with characters invented by other authors.  And, of course, do not submit work written by other people, even substantially rewritten.

Students will read each other’s work and, for each class, write a page of critique for the workshopped story.

Requirements & Grading: FIRST STORY, 20%; SECOND STORY, 20%; THIRD STORY/REVISION, 20%; WRITTEN COMMENTS ON OTHER STUDENTS’ WORK, 20%; CLASS PARTICIPATION, 20%.

 Instructor:  McCracken, E

Unique #:  34625

Semester:  Spring 2017

Cross-lists:  n/a

Flags:  Writing

Restrictions:  CRW Certificate students

Computer Instruction:  No

CRW 340F and E 341 may not both be counted.

Prerequisites:  CRW 325F (or E 325F), or 325M.

Description:  This is an intermediate workshop in fiction writing.  Every class session, we will discuss one or two stories by students in the class, with generosity and with rigor.  The goal is not only to help the authors see what is working and not working in their fiction, but also to think the most interesting things about fiction (ours and other people's) we can.

Requirements & Grading:  Students will give classmates (and the teacher) at least a page of criticism on each story.  Students will write two stories for class.  You may revise one story for extra credit.

All work must be original—that is both your own work, and written for this class.  Please do not recycle work written for other courses.  Do not submit work written by other people, even substantially rewritten.  That includes characters and scenarios: please, no fan fiction or alternate versions of other people’s published work.

Grading: 1st story 30%; 2nd story 30%; in-class participation 20%; written critiques 20%.  To receive full credit for in-class participation, you must be present and vocal.

CRW 340F  l  Short Story Workshop [Certificate]

Instructor:  McCracken, E

Unique #:  33700

Semester:  Spring 2016

Cross-lists:  n/a

Restrictions:  CRW Certificate students

Computer Instruction:  No

CRW 340F and E 341 may not both be counted.

Prerequisites: CRW 325F (or E 325F), or 325M.

Description: This is an intermediate workshop in fiction writing. Every class session, we will discuss one or two stories by students in the class, with generosity and with rigor. The goal is not only to help the authors see what is working and not working in their fiction, but also to think the most interesting things about fiction (ours and other people's) we can.

Requirements & Grading: Students will give classmates (and the teacher) at least a page of criticism on each story. Students will write two stories for class. You may revise one story for extra credit.

All work must be original—that is both your own work, and written for this class. Please do not recycle work written for other courses. Do not submit work written by other people, even substantially rewritten. That includes characters and scenarios: please, no fan fiction or alternate versions of other people’s published work.

Grading: 1st story 30%; 2nd story 30%; in-class participation 20%; written critiques 20%. To receive full credit for in-class participation, you must be present and vocal.

CRW 355F  l  Advanced Fiction Workshop [Certificate]

Instructor:  McCracken, E

Unique #:  33945

Semester:  Spring 2015

Cross-lists:  n/a

Restrictions:  CRW Certificate students

Computer Instruction:  No

Only one of the following may be counted: CRW 355F, 660, E 355K.

Prerequisites: CRW 340F (or E 341).

Description: This is an advanced fiction workshop. Students will be required to write either three stories, or two stories and one substantial revision. Stories should be at least 8 pages and no longer 25 pages long. These are arbitrary limits, of course—there are fine short stories both longer and shorter. No novel excerpts, please.

All work must be original—both your own work, and written for this class. Please do not recycle work written for other courses. Please do not write stories with characters invented by other authors. And, of course, do not submit work written by other people, even substantially rewritten.

Students will read each other’s work and, for each class, write a page of critique for the workshopped story.

Requirements & Grading: FIRST STORY, 20%; SECOND STORY, 20%; THIRD STORY/REVISION, 20%; WRITTEN COMMENTS ON OTHER STUDENTS’ WORK, 20%; CLASS PARTICIPATION, 20%.

The Autobiographical

This is a course in work that is (or purports) to be the story (or part of the story) of the author’s own life (or part of that life).  We’ll look at memoir as a genre, the ways it tells the truth and tells lies—and the way the maker of a piece of work distills and shapes experience.  We’ll look at books, essays, graphic memoirs, poetry, and documentary.

We will of course try to figure out how they work, but we’ll also read them in order to understand this essential mystery of writing: great work, good work for that matter, is not endlessly dissectable: a great piece of writing is a living thing.

Selected list of work (subject to change): The Black Notebooks (Toi Derricote), One Writer’s Beginnings (Eudora Welty), U & I (Nicholson Baker), Autobiography of a Face (Lucy Grealy),  By Myself (D. A. Powell and David Trinidad), Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi) Stag’s Leap (Sharon Olds) “The Stories We Tell” (Sarah Polley), “His Master’s Voice” (Nina Conti), the works of Charlotte Salomon, essays by Yiyun Li, Paul Lisicky, Jo-Ann Beard, Cheryl Strayed, Calvin Trillin, A. J. Liebling, and others.

Instructor:  McCracken, E            Areas:  IV / U

Unique #:  35770            Flags:  Writing

Semester:  Fall 2013            Restrictions:  n/a

Cross-lists:  n/a            Computer Instruction:  No

Prerequisites: English 325F.

Description: This is an intermediate course in fiction writing. We will discuss, criticize, and write short fiction. Students will read each other’s work with rigor and generosity, and give classmates (and the teacher) at least a page of criticism on each piece. Students will write either three original stories for class, or two original stories and one substantial revision.

Stories should be at least 8 pages and no longer 25 pages long. These are arbitrary limits, of course—there are fine short stories both longer and shorter—given with discussion in mind. No novel excerpts, please.

All work must be original—both your own work, and written for this class. Please do not recycle work written for other courses. Please do not write stories with characters invented by other authors (for instance, no fan fiction). And, of course, do not submit work written by other people, even substantially rewritten. For the purposes of this class, I also ask that you do not allow other people to edit your work.

Requirements & Grading: Your final grade will be based on both your written work in the class, and also your participation. You will receive letter grades on written assignments.

EXTRA CREDIT: You may earn extra credit by attending readings by authors on campus or at local bookstores and writing a one-page response. If you are unsure of whether a writer qualifies or not, please ask me.

The breakdown of grading follows: First story: 20%; second story: 20%; third story/revision: 20%; written comments on other students’ work: 20%; class participation: 20%.

Course Description: at the start of this class we will investigate various aspects of fiction—character development, description, dialogue, and plot—working towards the completion of two short stories.  Students will read and critique each other’s work with rigor and generosity.

Text: You’ve Got to Read This, edited by Ron Hansen.

Grading: three writing, two short stories, 80%; attendance and participation, 20%.