Welcome to another year of writing!

Your fiction course requires both imaginative and critical writing. Your assignments are typical of those in John Gardner's books The Art of Fiction and On Becoming a Novelist and of those in undergraduate fiction courses.

Your first assignment, which was prepared by instructor Tracy Wallace, is

Character Sketch Based on Photographs

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Chose five or six photos of yourself or of one relative. Then write paragraph long descriptions of each photo. Together, your five or six paragraphs, or prose snapshots, will comprise a character sketch of just one subject (either you or your one relative).

An example paragraph:

Here's a picture of my grandmother in the mid 1960's taken when she was in her early 50's. It's black and white. She's looking at the Grand Canyon through a pair of binoculars. She's wearing a faded, paisley dress and clunky, orthopedic shoes. My grandfather took the picture, which is appropriate since all his life he was looking at her while she was looking into the distance. My grandmother was an intelligent, inquisitive woman who always regretted the social convention that made her drop out of college when she married. She had probably read several library books about the southwest before she headed for Arizona with my grandfather in their big Buick and small trailer. Her head is probably swimming with facts about the Indians as she scans the horizon. Her body is like the big rocks in the background of the picture. Some people might call her fat. But what I see is a woman not afraid to take up space on this planet, a woman who is strong and constant, and enormously beautiful, just like the looming red rocks of the Grand Canyon.

The above example is only one paragraph. If I were to continue my character sketch based on photographs, I might include a picture of my grandmother as a young girl, looking mean and sassy; a picture of her at her wedding, looking regal and stunned; a picture of her as a young woman with my mother and uncle on either hip, looking overwhelmed and surprisingly flirtatious; and a picture of her at my college graduation. If I were going to do myself, likewise I would choose pictures of myself as a baby, a child, and an adolescent, as well as some more recent shots, like the one taken of me last spring at San Marco, Venice in my tan duster raincoat, looking as if I'm an aging member of the R.E.M. generation (which is how my friend describes me).

Your photos should all be of the same person. You are creating a single character sketch based on five or six photographs.

1. Be sure to tell information that your picture doesn't show. For instance, I said how my grandmother regretted the social convention that required her to drop out of college when she married and how my grandparents came from Pennsylvania in their big Buick and small trailer.
2. Don't forget the adage show, don't tell. William Strunk, Jr. writes: "If those who have studied the art of writing are in accord on any one point, it is one this: the surest way to arouse and hold the attention of the reader is by being specific, definite, and concrete. The greatest writers . . . are effective largely because they deal in particulars and report the details that matter." I could have said that my grandmother was an unattractive dresser. Instead I said that she wore "a faded, paisley dress and clunky, orthopedic shoes." Likewise, I could have stopped with the statement that my grandmother was an intelligent woman, but I threw in the "several library books" to establish an image.
3. Part of character development involves the author's opinion of the character. Be sure to make your feelings clear. In the picture of my grandmother, I say how some people would call her fat, but I saw her as "a woman not afraid to take up space." I make my respect and love for her known. Part of character development also includes other people's opinions. In my paragraph above, I said how my grandfather "was always looking at my grandmother while she was looking elsewhere." I make it clear in that one line that my grandmother held the power in their relationship.
4. Some basics of characterization include appearance, speech, action and thought. In the picture of my grandmother, I use appearance (not just what she was wearing, but her body type), action (she's looking out at the rocks with the binoculars), and thought. I don't use speech, but in my next prose snapshot, I might say something like, "A practical woman, my grandmother always spoke in maxims."

Fiction starts with what you know. Characters certainly begin with yourself and with your closest relationships. That's part of why I want you to kick off this fiction course with a nonfiction assignment. But by all means, you're welcome to fictionalize. Make any (or even all) details up. The aim is to produce a convincing, interesting, believable person based on photos.

1. If you want, you may photocopy your photos to send along with your assignment, but it's not necessary.
2. It's fine to use photos that include other people as well as you or your one relative. For instance, another photo in my grandmother sketch might be of her as a young woman holding her two small children on either hip. But remember that you should focus on your one subject (you or your relative).
3. Your character sketch should be five or six good-sized paragraphs long. If typing, double space your last draft. Please put your name on each page and number the pages. Handwriting must be legible and typewritten assignments must use a good, dark ribbon. Nothing in pencil!

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