Algonkian Writer Conferences - Short Fiction Syllabus

INTERVIEW
OBSERVATIONS

"Any first time author can be made to look "fabulous" -- it's all about how an agent, author and publisher present the author. Every author has a background and a story, which can be told to the book- sellers and public in a boring way or a way that is spectacular."
  Barbara Zitwer

"Whatever you're doing in this business, whether you're an agent, editor, or writer, it's crucially important to keep on top of what's happening in the industry. Agents and editors are much more likely to take writers seriously if they can name other writers in their genre whose work they admire ..."
  W. Gottlieb

"The truth is that most publishing professionals needn't read further than that ... Judging a book in five sentences might sound like an outrageous idea. But it's really not."
  Noah Lukeman

Algonkian Short Fiction Syllabus - Author List

Students will study specific craft techniques and structure learned from a wide variety of accomplished short fiction writers. The goal is to learn to write work that will get published. Together with editor, students discuss concepts and strategize a personal approach to writing short fiction. Additional reading assignments.

1. Pragmatism, The Art, and Publication

Satisfying the "art of fiction," obstacles to publishing, importance of subject matter, avoidance of cliché, story prep, story élan, what editors look for, long-term goals.

2. New Beginnings I

How to begin? Story sketching, irony, best non-fiction vs. fiction, seven criteria for choosing compelling subject matter, log lines and synopses, major complication. Davies, Twain, Thompson, Butler

3. New Beginnings II

Extreme titles, exploring narrative hooks, types of beginnings, bad prose, style must-knows. Connelly, Painter, Lutz, Saroyan, Gogol, Kafka, Appolonius of Rhodes

4. Character, Craft, and Complication

Tone props, understatement, character evolution, cause of predicament, triggers, empathy and sympathy, foreshadowing, scene construction, incident-based and character-based complication, tragic flaws, epiphany, resolution, types of narrative, story blocks, ripple-effect minor complications. Houston, Thompson, Johnson

5. Structure, Craft, and Theme

Analysis of methods available to create varying degrees of meaning and intellectual value when writing fiction. Variable 3rd Peson POV introduced. TC Boyle, Thompson, Twain, Houston, O. Henry, Chekhov, Martone, Marquez

AUTHOR LIST

Cowboys Are My Weakness (Pam Houston)

The Foxed Mirror (Rikki Ducornet)

An Incident (Anton Chekhov)

A Comedy in Rubber O. Henry

Journalism in Tennessee (Mark Twain)

Fairy Tale (Robert Olen Butler)

Listening Hours (Nan Leslie)

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 (William Saroyan)

Peace of Mind (T. C. Boyle)

The Proper Levels of Vacuum (Michael Martone)

Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon (Gabriel Márquez)

Air Show (Pamela Painter)

Fat (Raymond Carver)

Louise (Somerset Maughm)

The Moving Finger (Edith Wharton)

Toon Red Nav Ardnaxela (Lisa Thompson)

The Angry Man (Peter Johnson)

Tumblehome (Paul West)

Ventilating Shiva (Mathew Davies)

A Country Doctor (Franz Kafka)

WRITERS AND AUTHORS
TALK ABOUT
ALGONKIAN CONFERENCES

Interview with Algonkian attendee, author Thierry Sagnier: "I was stuck, hadn't done any serious writing for months, and a friend of mine—also a writer—suggested I attend a workshop to kickstart me. So I looked on the net and found that there were quite a few places that offered what I wanted, but when I researched the Algonkian conference, I recognized the name of a reporter I really respect. He'd been there and was highly complimentary, so that sealed it for me."

Interview with Algonkian attendee, Rae Bryant: "After completing the first draft of Ficklestick's , I wanted professional guidance and a community of writers to help me marinate the work. It was important to me as a first time novelist to seek feedback before finalizing the intricacies. By retaining a sense of early process malleability, I was able to really hear criticisms and then incorporate skills learned. Algonkian provided the perfect setting."

Interview with Algonkian attendee, Alex Keto: "I've been to handful of other conferences and decided that if you find yourself in a large room with someone almost out of eyesight in the front talking at you, the results are what you would expect: generic advice that doesn't really help."

Interview with Algonkian attendee, Candy Somoza: "The preparation work got us thinking about the book in the store, how it got there, what makes it sell. While we read works and studied the writing, we also focused on the outside, so to speak, the marketing, and that was essential to prepare us."

Interview with Algonkian attendee, Barbara Marquart: I also wanted to tell a story that celebrates the deep bond between mothers and daughters - the struggles we all face to transcend our circumstances, forgive each other's failures and accept each other's limitations in order to find peace.