ENGLISH 311:
     WRITING LITERARY FICTION

                                                      Spring 2002
                                                      MWF 2:10-3:00, NC 105
                                                      Bill Stobb, Instructor
 


"Good fiction sets off a vivid and continuous dream in the reader's mind.  It is 'generous'  in the sense that it is complete and self-contained....  It does not play pointlessly subtle games in which storytelling is confused with puzzle-making.  It does not 'test' the reader by demanding that he bring with him some special knowledge....  In short, it seeks, without pandering, to satisfy and please.  It is intellectually and emotionally significant....  If a young writer fully appreciates all these qualities of successful fiction and regularly pursues them in his own work, one does not need to make guesses about his potential: he's already there."

     John Gardner,
     On Becoming a Novelist
 

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