|
|||||
|
A Killer SemesterPosted by Lisa Honaker, 8/26/02 at 3:36:08 PM. by Jennifer Applegate, Michael Auteri, Stacey Ayala, John Becker, Nicci Cena, Ryan Daly, Kerri Donato, Rich Goehrig, Chris Hagan, Bill Harris, Kristy Hendrickson, Lisa Honaker, Jill Ingraham, Jeni Jenkins, Megan LaPlant, Jill Maulshagen, Katie Maxwell, Jennifer Miller, Scott Mulraney, Tonya Neuweiler, Joshua Raclaw, Danielle Rugoff, Lauren Sauickie, Scott Sengebush, Doug Skinner, Bill Stec, Shyree Stevenson, Mia Taylor, Karen Williams, and Nicole ZiernickieSpecial thanks to Doug Skinner for the title. A Killer Semester is a novel, written online over the course of six weeks by the members of LITT 2120: Detective Fiction (Spring 2000). This project was the most memorable (and probably most successful) of any groupwork I've ever assigned in a college class. The method was fairly straightforward. After roughly half a semester reading and discussing detective fiction, we spent two class periods outlining the basic plot and coming up with the protagonists, victims, and villains. Then I wrote the first chapter, just to get us rolling. After that, groups of three students submitted an installment of at least 10 double-spaced pages in an online conference every three or four days. What amazed me about the project was how enthusiastic everyone was about it. Once we began, interest never flagged. All of the groups worked hard to maintain the quality of the overall piece. We all waited impatiently for each installment and commented furiously on the submissions so that our two editors would know what changes to make. To add to our reading pleasure, the last group surprised us with a twist and a surprise killer, whose motives and methods fit our plot perfectly. The whole project was the highlight of a course that involved an avalanche of other work: 10 novels, two other critical papers and an in-class midterm. My thanks to the other authors. Click here for Chapter One.
|
||||