Curriculum Suggestions/Refinement
So far I've just been winging it for the level one students. I give them a scene and tell them to be descriptive, then I try to give them good honest feedback. I don't have any ideas right off the top of my head, but I think there should be a stable curriculum for us to use. Not so much for the three of us, but as this grows I hope to have more teachers and it would be good to have a system in place. So I'll think about it and I ask you to do the same and we'll pool our ideas here. :D
Level Three and Some Ideas for Level Four
Hi Everyone,
I've posted reading assignments in Level Three here:
http://www.bdsmlibrary.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6313
My high level goal for Level Three is to work with writers on these areas:
- Grammar nits
- Story layout for easy readability
- Passive verses active story telling – also called “telling versus showing”
- Checking for consistency of action and descriptions
- Pacing
as well as getting them to discuss how they write, what tools and techniques work for them, etc.
I'm using Rabbits basic assignments and enhancing them a bit depending on the student.
By the time someone moves to Level Four, they should have:
- Discussed their personal writing style
- Written at least three stories from different perspectives
- Reviewed at least one story in the BDSM Library
- Entered at least one story in a story contest on this site
- Shared tools with the class
- and mastered some of the basics of editing and re-editing their stories to work on our focus items
If they are male, I might have them write a first person story as a female and vice versa. It depends on the student and their preferred writing style or genre.
Either way, it's a fun assignment and should add more fodder for discussion.
For Level Four, I would suggest working with the writers taking one piece of writing - whether it's a series, a potential novel, or just something they want published - and have them take that personal piece through the various editing phases:
1. Story review for overall character and content consistency, believability, plot and pacing.
2. An editing refresh for those items.
3. An editing refresh for typos, grammar, active versus passive used appropriately.
4. An editing layout for final review, posting, sending to a publisher, etc.
Discussions might be on everything from publishing contracts, publishers for genres, protecting copyrights, author resource sites and groups, etc.
I'd like to see Level Four writers reviewing assignments of Level Three students, offering suggestions and giving encouragement.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Ruby