This hybrid (face-to-face
plus Laulima) course focuses on creating short fiction–sudden fiction,
short-short stories, and short stories–following genre conventions of the
literatures of the fantastic, including, but not limited to, science fiction,
fantasy, and horror (SF/F/H) tales. As responsible and inventive artists, we
will enter the creative writing space assuming that all literature is
political, that a story’s meaning is shaped by historical context and thus
contestable, and that rhetorical factors such as popular discourse,
sociocultural categories, and linguistic codes matter–both when writers put
their fingers to the keyboard, and when readers open their book/webpage/Kindle
to enter the story world.
First, we will discuss what it means to write “genre fiction” in SF/F/H, using
excerpts drawn from classic and contemporary Western SF/F/H stories and from
the literary studies of American and British SF/F/H. We will then review major
subgenres of fantastic fiction, to understand the impact of their specific
narrative and thematic conventions on basic story elements (plot, character,
setting, conflict, structure, perspective, etc.) and these authors’ struggles
to depict the sociopolitical, humanist/ethical, and escapist ideas of their
times, through sometimes predictable, sometimes innovative, aesthetic choices.
We will also discuss practical matters, including the advantages and drawbacks
of our work being marketed as “genre” versus “literary” (or “popular”) fiction;
traditional SF/F/H publication markets and venues; competitive workshops and
their alternatives; new media, audio/visual, and non-print formats for SF/F/H
stories; careers in SF/F/H writing; the connections among “branding,” a
writer’s image, and the politics of genre valuation; and adaptation issues,
including translation, cross-cultural adaptation, fan fiction writing, as well
as the challenges of “work for hire” (renting out your storytelling skills to a
commercial story empire–hello, George Lucas!).
The final goal is to apply what we learn in these sample stories and readings
towards three pieces of original short fiction written in three different
SF/F/H subgenre traditions (which you will negotiate with the instructor): 1. A
1-3 page sudden fiction story. 2.
A 2-5 page short-short story. 3. An 6-8 page short story. Each finished story
should be accompanied by a 1-page reflection on the aesthetic and sociological
writing problems that arose, and how the writer decided to meet these
challenges. On a weekly basis, students will submit short writing and peer
feedback exercises on the Laulima website. Students will additionally do one
short oral presentation of a published work of short fiction in one of the
SF/F/H genres that demonstrates (a) an effective aesthetic approach to
portraying themes addressed by specific SF/F/H genre conventions (including
controversial, contested, or subversive themes), or (b) an approach to
portraying conventional SF/F/H themes in fresh, complex, or thought-provoking
ways.
The main texts will be Damon Knight’s CREATING SHORT FICTION: THE CLASSIC GUIDE
TO WRITING SHORT FICTION; THE WESLEYAN ANTHOLOGY OF SCHEICE FICTION; CLIVE
BARKER’S BOOKS OF BLOOD VOLUIMES I-III; Diana Wynne Jones’ THE TOUGH GUIDE TO
FANTASYLAND: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO FNATASY TRAVEL; and a course reader. Please
go to Revolution Books to purchase the first four texts.