Prep for SFCC Spring 19 workshop plus Oulipo exercise

1. WORKSHOP AND EXERCISE
WHAT WE ARE DOING TODAY BEFORE SPRING BREAK DURING
50 MILE PER HOUR WINDS

2. WORKSHOP
• SIGN UP FOR WHICH CLASS YOU WILL HAVE YOUR PIECE WORKSHOPPED BY THE
REST OF THE CLASS
• FOUR WRITERS PER DAY
• LET’S DO IT NOW.
• REMEMBER, ALSO, THAT APRIL 10 IS THE DAY OF OUR STUDENT READING, NO
WORKSHOP THAT DAY.

3. WORKSHOP PROTOCOL
• WRITERS: 5-10 PAGE FIRST DRAFT OF A STORY:
• FREE OF TYPOS
• TYPED, DOUBLE SPACED, CAN BE DOUBLE-SIDED
• BRING COPIES THE CLASS BEFORE FOR EACH WORKSHOP MEMBER AND ME
• WRITE A ONE TO THREE PARAGRAPH NOTE TO READERS ABOUT ANYTHING YOU
WOULD LIKE THEM TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR STORY OR QUESTIONS YOU HAVE

4. READERS
• USE THE CRITIQUE SHEETS I MAILED YOU AND THAT ARE ON CANVAS (MAYBE)
TO EVALUATE EACH STORY
• FILL OUT EACH SECTION WITH FOR CRITIQUE
• BRING TWO COPIES OF CRITIQUE SHEETS: ONE FOR THE WRITER AND ONE FOR
ME
• THESE ARE PART OF YOUR GRADE
• WE WILL USE THE CRITIQUE SHEETS TO GUIDE OUR DISCUSSIONS

5. CRITIQUE POINTS
• YOUR NAME AND THE AUTHOR’S TITLE
AND NAME
• CHARACTERIZATION
• POINT OF VIEW
• PLOT
• THEME
• OTHER COMMENTS
• PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT THE POINT
OF WORKSHOP IS TO PROVIDE THE
WRITER WITH OBSERVATIONS ABOUT
THE USE OF TECHNICAL ELEMENTS OF
FICTION IN THE PIECE OF WRITING SO
THAT THEY CAN IMPLEMENT THESE
POINTS OF CRITIQUE FOR REVISION.
THE OTHER PURPOSE IS TO
DEMONSTRATE AND PRACTICE YOUR
OWN ABILITY TO IDENTIFY THE
TECHNIQUES OF FICTION IN WRITTEN
WORK.

6. AND NOW, OUR ASSIGNMENT
• “FOUNDED IN 1960 BY FRENCH MATHEMATICIAN FRANCOIS DE LIONNAIS
AND WRITER RAYMOND QUENEAU, OUVROIR DE LITTERATURE
POTENTIELLE (OULIPO), OR WORKSHOP OF POTENTIAL LITERATURE,
INVESTIGATES THE POSSIBILITIES OF VERSE WRITTEN UNDER A SYSTEM OF
STRUCTURAL CONSTRAINTS. LIONNAIS AND QUENUAU BELIEVED IN THE
PROFOUND POTENTIAL OF A POEM PRODUCED WITHIN A FRAMEWORK OR
FORMULA AND THAT, IF DONE IN A PLAYFUL POSTURE, THE OUTCOMES
COULD BE ENDLESS.”
• HTTPS://WWW.POETS.ORG/POETSORG/TEXT/BRIEF-GUIDE-OULIPO

7. FOR THIS WORKSHOP…
• OULIPO IS A CHANCE TO SLOW DOWN YOUR WRITING AND SPEND MORE TIME
THINKING ABOUT THE WORDS YOU ARE USING
• IT CAN BE FRUSTRATING AND FUN, AND ALSO LEAD TO THE WRITER MAKING
UNUSUAL CHOICES THAT BREAKS OPEN THE ACTUAL WRITING
• IT’S ALSO A CHANCE TO FOCUS LESS ON THE BIG PARTS OF WRITING (PLOT,
CHARACTER ETC) AND DELVE INTO THE FINE POINTS OF DICTION AND SYNTAX

8. EXAMPLES: N +7
• “ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR OULIPO FORMULAS IS “N+7," IN WHICH THE
WRITER TAKES A POEM ALREADY IN EXISTENCE AND SUBSTITUTES EACH
OF THE POEM’S SUBSTANTIVE NOUNS WITH THE NOUN APPEARING SEVEN
NOUNS AWAY IN THE DICTIONARY. CARE IS TAKEN TO ENSURE THAT THE
SUBSTITUTION IS NOT JUST A COMPOUND DERIVATIVE OF THE ORIGINAL,
OR SHARES A SIMILAR ROOT, BUT A WHOLLY DIFFERENT WORD. RESULTS
CAN VARY WIDELY DEPENDING ON THE VERSION OF THE DICTIONARY ONE
USES.”
• —HTTPS://WWW.POETS.ORG/POETSORG/TEXT/BRIEF-GUIDE-OULIPO

9. ”THE SNOWBALL”
• ANOTHER OULIPO EXERCISE USES THE “SNOWBALL”
TECHNIQUE, WHERE THE FIRST LINE IS ONE WORD
LONG, THE SECOND LINE HAS TWO WORDS, AND SO
ON. A SNOWBALL POEM CAN ALSO BE MADE UP OF
LINES COMPRISED OF PROGRESSIVELY LONGER
WORDS.

10. OULIPO
• WHAT ARE DOING TODAY IS KNOWN AS A LIPOGRAM
• LIPOGRAMS ARE EXERCISES IN WHICH THE WRITER CHOOSES
ONE (OR MORE) LETTERS AND ISN’T ALLOWED TO USE THEM
IN A PIECE OF WRITING, THUS FORCING THE WRITER TO
BECOME MORE INVENTIVE WITH THE WRITING.

11. LIPOGRAM
FAME
• VERY FAMOUS
EXAMPLE IS GEORGE
PEREC’S NOVEL OF
200 PAGES, LA
DISPARITION, IN
WHICH NEVER USES
THE LETTER “E”

12. THE BEAUTIFUL OUTLAW EXERCISE
• THIS COMBINES THE LIPOGRAM WITH THE EPISTOLARY FORM BY ELIMINATING CERTAIN
LETTERS.
• I ASKED YOU TO CHOOSE TWO CHARACTERS FROM YOUR FICTION.
• WRITE OUT THE RECIPIENT’S NAME
• WRITE A LETTER FROM ONE CHARACTER TO THE OTHER
• BUT DON’T USE ANY OF THE LETTERS IN THE RECIPIENT’S NAME
• BENEFITS: REQUIRES CONCENTRATION, CREATES UNLIKELY RESULTS, PUSHES
VOCABULARY (SOMETIMES TO THE BRINK); ALSO STRESSES VOICE/AUDIENCE, EVEN
SUBCONSCIOUSLY
• ALSO: FUN!

13. EXAMPLE
• DAVID IS WRITING SUSIE A LETTER
• DAVID CAN’T USE THE LETTERS: S, U, I OR E IN HIS LETTER TO SUSIE
• OR SUSIE IS WRITING A LETTER TO DAVID
• SUSIE CAN’T USE THE LETTERS: D, A, V, OR I IN HER LETTER