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Point of View Seminar Course Description and Syllabus |
 Point of View Seminar Third Person Limited part of the WDC Writers University Seminar Starts: July 2, 2021 Seminar Duration: Six weeks Seminar format: readings, online discussion, six written assignments Where to apply for seminar: " Point of View Seminar Application"  In the beginning, stories had narrators to tell them. We're all familiar with the image of the blind poet Homer reciting the Iliad and Oddyssey, but surely the tradition is older that. We've probably been using stories to illuminate life and living since we first started speaking. Stories are a fundamental part of what makes us human. Stories, at least written stories, still have narrators. In most stories today, one of the fictional characters gives voice to the story. The narrator no longer stands outside the story, a muse singing about men of twists and turns. Instead, the modern narrator breathes life into the story by being part of the fictional here-and-now, a participant who is bent by the twists and uplifted--or ground down--by the turns. When we read the story, the author puts us deep inside the mind and body of the narrator. Course Description. Today, about thirty percent of all fiction uses a first person narrator. The overwhelming majority of the remainder uses a third person limited narrator. This course is about the latter. We'll include not only some fundamental elements of craft, but we'll show the reasoning that guides these elements. Rather than just a list of tricks, then, a goal of the course is to make authors more intentional in the way they use point of view. Learning Objectives.  Learn the basic characteristics and artistic goals of third person limited. Understand the concept of the fictional dream and how it relates to point of view. Learn when and how to establish point of view. Learn how to maintain point of view once it's established. Be able to distinguish between writing that enhances the readers' connection to the point of view character and writing that does the opposite. Learn how to choose the point of view character, including how to use an unreliable narrator. Be able to describe and deploy free direct discourse in your fiction, and understand how it enhances point of view. Understand the scene-and-sequel theory of story constuction and how it can connect with point of view. Practice and improve critical reading skills. Method Pre-Assignment Students should prepare a WDC item that contains a short, not to exceed 200 words, summary of a story or chapter they plan to write. Students will submit a link to this summary not later than noon on the Thursday immediately preceding the scheduled start date of the Seminar. During the course of the seminar, students should be working on completing this story or chapter, applying what they have learned during the seminar. The instructor will post a link to the summary in the seminar's private, members-only, discussion forum. Students will submit their final, completed story to the instructor, and students may choose, but will not be required, to distribute it to other seminar participants. Weekly Lessons The course consists of five weekly lessons, each focusing on one of the first five learning objectives. The lessons will include  A short reading assignment. One or more examples applying the ideas in the reading assignment. A discussion topic. A written assignment due by the end of the week. The weekly written assignment will generally present a bare-bones, narrated scene. The assignment will be to apply the ideas of the weekly reading assignment to convert this into a fictional scene. The expectation is that these will be short--certainly not over 500 words and probably much less. Just to have a hard limit, students may not exceed 1000 words in completing these assignments. Students will save their scenes on Writing.Com in an accessible format and send the link to the instructor. At the end of the week, the instructor will post the links to the seminar's private discussion board where other students can read them. While not a requirement, students are encouraged to exchange private peer-to-peer reviews of the posted assignments. Reviewing improves your ability to think critically about your own work and makes the revision process easier and more productive. If you do a peer-to-peer review, please copy the instructor on the review. Final Written Project The final assignment is to submit to the instructor the completed version of the story or chapter outlined in the pre-assignment. The instructor will provide a private, detailed, in-depth review of the story. At the student's option, the instructor can also post a link to the story on the seminar's group discussion page. The final project is due at noon on sixth Friday of the seminar. Application for admission
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