Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sarbonn]

One of the programs my school wants me to create and implement is a novel writing class, which may sound somewhat bizarre, especially within the English learning curriculum, but that's what I have been asked to create.

The background: I've written 13 novels, so the big boss sees this as a big selling point for the school. The parents have indicated great interest in this, and pretty much the program was created (without any foundation) and THEN assigned to me. Now, I like this place. I like the people here. And I like the kids. So, the usual playing some kind of anti-work campaign is not how I would feel comfortable doing this (which seems to be a lot of the advice given here sometimes). I would like to implement it successfully because I think it might be fun, but at the same time I'm completely cognizant of the fact that I didn't write my first novel until I was 23, and they're wanting me to teach novel writing to 14-16 year olds who aren't exactly experts in English yet.

Has anyone run into something like this? I'm mainly a communication professor who happens to write novels, so I've never taught a creative writing class to begin with. I know how I write, but I'm not sure that my bizarre techniques for writing might serve a bunch of kids who have never done it themselves.

[Ramen]

Tell your boss that you'll start the novel writing class by teaching them ABC. Hopefully, you'll have finished your contract by the time your students have learned to write their name in English.

[antoniothegreat]

keep it simple. asking to wright a novel is absurd. for my winter camp i had a writing segment. i broke stories down into parts, which i am sure you can do better than me.

first i handed out a worksheet explaining the concepts of plot and setting (without using unfamiliar words) they made their characters and plots and all before we started writing (like brainstorming).

Next i broke down the story into basic parts, intro, motivation (get the good guy involved) small action, rationalization (good guy learns some kind of secret on how to win) large action, then conclusion.


you can do something like this but expanding it and putting a lot more time into each part.

i am sure if you students care, this can be quite fun.

[jjurabong]

I teach Creative Writing ( Short fiction and Poetry) at my uni. I think a novel, especially with that age, is impossible. Focus on short fiction, or break the novel up into chapters that pairs or groups of students work on. I make my class very interactive, and actually use a lot of drama-based activity to teach the various elements.

You might start by having the students create characters. A good idea is to give them crazy or random pictures you get from the internet or magazines. Have them create a full bio for each picture. Then, pair the students up and give them a random location that these two characters would meet in. Let them write a conversation between the two characters. You may do this with various different pairings, and then group the students in different numbers, seeing if they can think of a plot that would involve all their characters. To really simplify, you could have each character taking turns telling the events first-person. So the kids create the story plot together, but each takes ownership of a character with a distinct point of view. Nick Hornby did this with one of his novels about suicidal jumpers meeting on a rooftop - forget the name.

Pm me if you'd like more ideas or have specific questions about how I've handled different things.

Edited to add: Sometimes the lack of English skill makes for weirdly brilliant, beautiful stuff.

[michaelambling]

[Poemer]

As other people have said, you need to start them off with the basics.

For example:

Teach them about descriptive language and have them do some short writing assignments focusing on describing with each of the 5 senses.

Plot, character, setting; have them write short pieces describing a place or a character; have them think about the plot of their favorite book or movie and then diagram it.

Have them do a lot of READING of short samples that illustrate topics covered in class and write responses explaining HOW the reading material is an example of what they have learned.

What is important is that BEFORE you have them even attempt a short story, let alone a novel (ha-ha), have them practice and focus on all the little bits and pieces that go together to make a story by giving short writing assignments that focus on each individual part.

Most people don't REALLY know what a story is, or at least they have never thought about it enough to know how to make an interesting one themselves. Your students need to first learn WHAT a story is, then SEE what they have learned in action in other peoples stories, then APPLY what they have learned in their own writing.

[michaelambling]

[Poemer]

True, oral storytelling itself is natural, and is an ability that develops naturally as we grow up. But, WRITING a story, an activity with a set of intentions and impetuses that are, in part at least, different from the kind of storytelling we engage in on a daily basis, is different. Having taught creative writing to various age groups, currently kindergarten, I can tell you that writing a cohesive, imagined narrative that meets the basic expectations a reader has of a story is not something we pop out of the womb ready to do, regardless of language ability. Sub-consciously, we are all well aware of what a story is, but when we begin to engage in the conscious act of creating a piece of fiction, we can forget, and new students need to be taught (reminded, if you prefer) what needs to be included in a story.

[michaelambling]

[Poemer]