NOTES ON PROSE FICTION

Just as I told you with the poetry, I'd like to make writers of you all. If you read a story and can identify with the main character, you are likely to enjoy or at least more likely to understand the essence of the story. I've selected stories in part because they are readily available for free on line. Of course that also limits us both, doesn't it? So I've asked you if you would buy a good short story anthology. Skim its pages, read the openings of the stories. Keep reading any story that holds your attention. It will become a proof of my own teaching methodology that furthers my belief that reading and learning about literature is only as good as it is "useful" to you personally.

If you want extra credit, or if you just want to understand how prose fiction is created, then go to this link and write me a turning point story of your own. Read the directions and understand that good stories are not "imaginary" so much as they come out of the experiences and/or observations of sensitive people. Make your self more sensitive, more aware of the events in your own life by trying to write about them. Send me your attempt for extra credit!

Click here for a lesson on writing a turning point story.