The View From Here:
Lynne Fukuda
(Stay Tuned for Next Month's Submission)

AN INTRODUCTORY CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM (MONOGRAPH NUMBER TWO) ©

Dan Lukiv, M.Ed.
B.Sc. (mathematics), The University of British Columbia (UBC), 1976;
Teacher Training (kindergarten to grade three), UBC, 1977;
Humber School for Writers’ Creative Writing Program (poetry), 1996;
Writer’s Digest’s Advanced Novel Writing Program, 1997;
M.Ed. (creative writing), The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), 2003
E-mail: lukivdan@shaw.ca

Introduction

            This introductory creative writing program exposes the student to all major literary genres. It offers the teacher a simple, methodical teaching process and the student straightforward assignments that address fundamental writing concepts. The assignments and concepts can be teacher-delivered through the lecture-format. But a simpler teaching method also exits. The teacher could distribute the course to students, encourage them to get started, and answer questions as they arise—answer them either personally/individually or through group discussions.

            In the program, I repeatedly refer to examples of poetry and fiction. Often I use my own work, to help me explain particular concepts of writing in the various genres. Sometimes the same poem or fiction excerpt shows up in more than one section because, logically, that poem or excerpt may exemplify more than one concept. I hope the occasional repetition does not bother anybody.

Table of Contents

Part I—For Teachers

            Chapter 1—Direction for Creative Writing Teachers from Three Research Studies

            Chapter 2—What Is Creative Writing and What Is a Creative Writer?

            Chapter 3—A Marking Rubric

Part II—For Students

Unit 1: I. Course Specifics; II. The Mime; III . Stream of Consciousness; IV. More Stream of Consciousness; V. Show, Don’t Tell; VI. Student’s Favourites

Unit 2: I. Plot Types; II. Point of View; III . Changing a Point of View; IV. Writing a Short Story; V. Writing Poetry, the Implied Author; VI. Brevity, Thematic Poetry Collections, A Warning for Writers; VII . Patterns, Repetition

Unit 3: I. The Scene; II. More Scenes; III . How to Start and End a Scene; IV. Scene as In a Stage or Radio Play, or a Movie; V. Writers Approximate, Mood and Tone; VI. More Mood and Tone; VII . Student’s Choice

Unit 4: I. Poetry, Beginnings, Meter; II. Characterization, Showing, Not Telling; III . More Showing; IV. Starting a Story—that First Paragraph

Unit 5: I. Diction; II. Novel Writing, Plot, Plan

Unit 6: I. Coping with Writer’s Block; II. Submitting Work to Publishers

Unit 7: I. Feet, Line Length, and Accented Syllables in Poetry; II. Rhyme; III . Rhyme Schemes, Statement, Counterstatement, and Conclusion in a Sonnet; IV. Contrast, Conflict; V. Writing a Sonnet; VI. Rhyming Poetry, Clichés

Unit 8: I. Detonation, Connotative Value, Evocative Power; II. Analyzing Poor Writing; III . Flashback, Flash-forward; IV. Literary Ellipsis, Zeugma, Adverbial Surprise, Mental Action with a Climax, Transitions, Titles; V. Student’s Choice, Submissions

Part III—Resources for Students and Teachers

The Lead Guitarist (part of Unit 4)

For Writers Only (part of Unit 6)

Part IV—Arthur (Canadian poet), Thomas (Canadian poet), and Elizabeth (Canadian fiction writer): Recommendations for Elementary and High School Teachers

Chapter 1—Arthur

Chapter 2—Thomas

Chapter 3— Elizabeth

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