Majorship

Area: English
Focus: Creative Writing

I. Fiction Writing

a. Definition
Fiction tells an untrue story in prose. Fiction in “untrue” in the sense that it is at least partly made up. It is an artistic
creation that stands on its own no matter how much it makes use of characters, events, and settings from life.
b. Forms of Fiction
 Short Story – usually refers to a work that 2000 to 6000 words – from eight to 24 pages.
 Novella – is halfway between a story and a novel. It is often thought of as between 50 and 150 manuscript pages.
 Novel – is really more than just a story that has been expanded beyond 250 pages-or it should be.
c. Elements of Fiction
1. Setting
2. Character and Characterization
3. Point of View
*Persona-person is born of persona. Successful fiction requires the writer’s understanding about the standpoint, character,
and tone of the narrative persona (the speaker, the actual teller of the story). It is the personality assumed by the narrator.
4. Plot, Structure, and Narrative
 Dramaturgy means the management of plot and action; the architecture of the story, as distinct from such other
aspects as language, character, and theme.
5. Voice
 Author’s Voice-writers have to find their voice either by imitation or by expressive writing.
6. Style
Style is how you say what you say. Style is the way words take on an identity on the page. It is kind of ownership
agreement, in which any given writer lays claim, with his or her identity, to an agreement of words turned into self-
revealing lines, turned into a “work” of fiction, nonfiction, poetry.
D. Varieties of Plot Patterns
The flashback is a simple method of inserting an episode that occurred previous to the main flow (or base time) of the
plot.
E. Characteristics
 Characterization is an illusion based on three elements
o Consistency refers to pattern of behavior, outlook, dress, and the like.
o Complexity develops more than one aspect of a character.
o Individuality is simply a function if complexity
 Techniques of developing of characterization:
o Direct analysis of character
o The use of dialogue and thoughts
o Physical description
o Blending the various techniques
F. Narrative Tension
 Tension is the recurring force that maintains sense of forward motion throughout a story of novel.
 Techniques in creating tension
o Dramatic conflict
o Arousing curiosity
o Irony and satire
G. Theme, Tone, Symbol, and Style
 Theme, also called the central concern, serves as a reminder we are not dealing with something as logically
specific as a thesis or as ethically concerned as a moral.
 Tone is a variable regardless of the subject matter. It is the coloring of the emotion.
 Symbol is any detail that takes on a range of meaning beyond and larger than itself.
 Style is determined by four factors: 1. diction-word choice, 2. Syntax (sentence structure), 3. the balance of
narrative modes-dialogue, thoughts, action, description, and exposition, and 4. Tense (present or past)

II. Poetry Writing

A. What is a poem?
 Four Characteristics of poetry
1. line length
2. the heightened use of sound
3. use of rhythm
4. compression
B. The Language of Poetry
 Four primary dangers in poetic diction
1. Cliché is a dying metaphor.
 2. Hackneyed language includes not only the cliché but the far broader areas or phrases that have simply been
overused.
3. Abstraction and sweeping generalities-it is equally dangerous to allow a poem that was originally inspired by
some genuine experience or personal reaction to slide into generalities.
4. Archaic diction – takes the form of time-honored dated contractions such as “o” “er” and “oft” as substitution
for “over” and “often”. It also includes the use of words like “lo!” “hark” “ere” and even “O!”
C. Images
An image is any significant piece of sense data. It includes objects seen, sounds heard, texture felt, odors smelled,
and objects tasted.
 Images as figure of Speech-images also serve as the concrete element in almost any figure of speech.
 Building images clusters – images may also appear as a series of related details or inter
 Building image clusters – images may also appear as a series of related details or interlocking images.
 The image as symbol-A symbol is a metaphor in which the meaning (tenor) is implied rather than stated.
D. The Sound of Words
 Rhyme – a device which consists of two or more words linked by an identity in sound which begins with an
accented vowel and continues to the end of each word.
o Alliteration-is repetition of consonants, particularly those at the beginning of words.
o Assonance-is the repetition of similar vowel sounds regardless of where they are located in the word.
o Consonance-is the repetition of consonantal sounds; usually refers of sounds within the words.
o Onomatopoeia-a word that sounds like the object or action it describes.
 Muting sound devices
o Run-on line – is one in which the grammatical construction or the meaning continues to the next line.
o Slant rhymes (also called off rhymes) are similar but not identical in sound.
E. Rhythms of Stress
 Rhythm is a systematic variation in the flow of sound.
 Meter-a system of stressed and unstressed syllables.
 Feet – the conventionalized units of stressed and unstressed syllables.
 Free verse – verse written without meter.

III. Playwriting

A. Definition of a play
A play is structured and unified story, comic or dramatic, complete in itself with a beginning, middle, and end,
that expresses the playwright’s passion and vision of life, shows unfolding conflict that builds a climax, and deals
with dimensional lifelike humans who have strong emotions, needs, and objectives that motivate them to take
action.
B. Types of Plays
1. Monodrama
2. One-Act Play
3. Full-length Play
C. What Makes a Play?
 A PLAY IS NOT A NOVEL
 PLAYS REQUIRE CONFLICT
 DRAMA IS AN INTERPRETATION OF LIFE, NOT REAL LIFE.
D. Creating Characters
 Characters and plot work together. Plays that involve characters in conflict are more effective than plays that do
not.
E. The Dramatic Plot
 A good dramatic plot starts with a concept. A concept includes a basic situation, some type of conflict or struggle,
and an outcome.
F. Conflict
 Simple conflicts are used in simple dramas.

G. The Beginning, the Middle, and the End

1. Beginning-introductory materials
 Inciting incident is the major event that happened before your play began. It can provide the point of attack.
2. Middle-struggles and actions
 Point of attack begins the play’s action, stimulates the protagonist to drive for a goal, introduces the play’s
major dramatic question (MDQ), and shifts the play from neutral to forward gear.
3. Ending-a sense of finality
 Denouement is the final knitting together of loose ends. Denouement in modern drama tends to be brief, some
using analogies or implications.
H. Visual Impact
 Three types of stages sets: 1. Realistic, 2. Symbolic, 3. Bare
 Lighting is used for emphasis and symbolic suggestions.
 Costumes in non-realistic plays take on a symbolic significance.
  Action-most plays are divided into a number of secondary scenes. Those units are begun and ended by
entrances and exits. “Stage business” is a minor activity added by good directors to enliven a static scene.

IV. Writing Creative Nonfiction

A. Definition of Creative
Creative nonfiction is nonfiction prose which utilizes the techniques and strategies of fiction.
Creative nonfiction requires the skill of a story teller and the research ability of a reporter.
B. Types of Creative Nonfiction
 the magazine feature article
 the newspaper column as cultural commentary
 the review
 the interview story
 the character sketch
 the biographical sketch or profile
 the personal or familiar essay
 the autobiographical sketch
Six basics forms of literary nonfiction
 personal experience
 Biographical sketch
 Personal opinions
 Reflections
 A slice of history
C. The Essay and the Feature Distinguished
 The essay is generally used to refer to a prose piece that is more personal than objective or verifiable than a
feature article.
 A feature refers to an article in a magazine or newspaper or e-zine. It tends to address a specific type of reader
(the particular market or audience of the periodical or website) which it appears.
D. Strategies in Creative Nonfiction
1. Approach and Point-of-View
2. Tone and Voice
3. Structure
4. A Strong Dyanmic Beginning
5. Rhetorical Techniques
6. Character
7. Concrete and evocative Details
8. Scene