English
251: Introduction to Creative Writing: Exploring the Genres
Instructor:
Bryan Fry
Office:
Avery 371
Office Hours: MWF
10:00-11:00 am
Journal Assignment
This assignment is an adaptation of some of the
ideas in Dorianne Laux and Kim Addonizio's A Poet's
Companion.
Assignment:
Keep
a journal and write in it every day, even if it’s only for ten
minutes. What
most writers lack in abundance is time. Our lives are so busy. There
are so
many things that need to get done in a day and they are all much more
important
than writing a poem. But think of it this way: if a good friend called
you and
said, “I know you’re busy, but can I have ten minutes of
your time?” you’d probably
oblige and settle in for fifteen. We all have a few minutes a day we
can spare
for something we care about. It’s a reasonable amount of time.
Give yourself
ten minutes a day and don’t just wait for it to appear. If you
drink coffee in
the morning and stare out the window for half an hour, give yourself
twenty
minutes to stare and ten minutes to write. Or ten minutes before you go
to
sleep, or ten minutes around lunch time. Figure out a time during the
day that
you generally have to yourself and mark it in your calendar. Make a
date with
yourself. Now you want to know, What do I write about? Keep it simple.
Write
down an image that struck you the day before, or one from memory.
Expand on it
for a few minutes. Or write down a number of images, briefly: the boy
at the
gas station, the stunted tree in the backyard, the man who dropped his
suitcase
at the airport, notes for possible poems. This is “no
fault” writing. It
doesn’t have to be good, it just has to get done. Think of it as
a program to
get you back on track. Do it for one semester and see what happens.
Due Dates: I will
collect these journals periodically throughout the semester so make
sure you bring them to class every day
Here
is a list of prompts to help get you started
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to Syllabus