August 24, 2017
Syllabus time--who's got them? Send them to us at m [dot] Salesses [at gmail etc] and we'll post some more if we get them. In the meantime, here's my syllabus for a fiction workshop this semester. Not perfect, but we're getting somewhere--in 19 pages... -- Fiction Workshop Syllabus (PDF) Course Description: Any workshop's one main advantage over a traditional course is the ability to look ...
August 15, 2017
School is almost back in session, and the blog is back with some writing exercises meant to help students with various elements of craft. If you’d like to contribute a guest post or response, please contact me at m [dot] salesses [at gmail etc.]. For vulnerability/introductions List 3 moments in which you felt you were not yourself. Distribute lists randomly among the class. Write a story using at ...
June 16, 2017
This is a continuation of my posts on teaching revision. There are more revision prompts (not specific to flash fiction) here and in previous posts. If you’d like to contribute a guest post or response, please contact me at m [dot] salesses [at gmail etc.]. - The first course I ever taught was on flash fiction. At first that meant reading stories and using them as jumping-off points to write our own flash stories, ...
June 01, 2017
Two years ago I wrote about the plot of the American novel and the importance of the inciting incident(s) in The Millions. This post is a rewriting of that essay, charting a certain understanding of the novel's plot from where I left it then to how I conceive of it now. The link to the original essay is here if you want it. --Matthew Salesses, Web Editor -- 1. When I was 23, I returned to Korea for the first time since ...