Irvine Valley College

Online Creative Writing Workshop

Writing 10 - Introduction to Creative Writing

Spring 2012 - Ticket # 64580

Marjorie Coverley Luesebrink, Instructor

Week 13:  Beginnings and Endings - 

Beginnings and Endings

1.  Assigned Reading:

                 A short story with an unusual beginning and ending: "One of These Days" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  

                 I am using Garcia-Marquez' story as an example of a great first line in the lecture for this week.  I hope this little story will give you an idea of the complexity and beauty of his work and perhaps encourage you to read more!  The beginning of *One Hundred Years of Solitude* (no longer online) is a classic illustration of the importance of first lines.  I recommend Michael Chabon's *The Mysteries of Pittsburgh* for a super example of a last paragraph.

                 Also this week, a good time to look at something like Joyce Carol Oates' Home Page - she is a prolific writer - and a fine one.  Her home page contains many segments of her novels and short stories - all of them showing the care that might be exercised in the first and last paragraphs!

2. Weekly Exercise: There will be no weekly exercise this week, just a few lecture notes.  I hope that you can put this "Beginnings and Endings" information to use on a final Workshop piece! 

3.  Online Lecture for Week 13

4.  Class Workshop Critique

 

  About Your Class // Class Syllabus // Workshop Pieces // Weekly Writing Exercises // Lecture Notes //  Reading List // Recommended Reading // Assignments // Grading Policies // Contact Your Instructor // Announcements// Discussion

 

Marjorie Coverley Luesebrink, your Instructor, is a Professor of English in the School of Humanities and Languages

Irvine Valley College, Irvine, California