What you will study
This module is the first part and a compulsory module of the MA in Creative Writing (F71). It is made up of four blocks, each of which will develop your understanding of different approaches to particular genres and will introduce you to a range of techniques and ideas. You'll engage in forum work and peer-to-peer feedback while honing your ability to read as a writer by analysing a variety of texts relevant to your chosen genres. Choosing from fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction and script, you'll study a primary genre (your specialism) and a secondary genre and therefore define your own pathway through the module.
You'll start Block 1 writing in your primary genre, and in Block 2, you'll write in your secondary genre. In Blocks 3 and 4, you'll revert to your primary genre but reap the rewards of having widened your generic awareness. No matter which genre you opt to specialise in, the module will culminate with you writing a substantial piece of creative work.
Block 1: You'll study your primary genre by covering the essentials, reintroducing ideas and techniques that may be familiar to you from your undergraduate studies, and taking them further in terms of sophistication and complexity. Topics covered include point of view, plot and setting in fiction; figurative language, voice and structure in poetry; research, memoir and narrative-shaping techniques in creative non-fiction; and dialogue, scene and character in script. You'll engage in the exchange and critiquing of work within your peer group.
Block 2: You'll select a secondary genre. For instance, if your primary genre is fiction, you might now choose poetry as your secondary genre and work through topics such as figurative language, voice and structure, or you might choose script writing and cover topics such as dialogue, scene and character. You'll start thinking about your end-of-module submission and further develop your peer reviewing and critiquing skills. You'll also refine your approaches to commenting and writing reflectively on your writing process.
Block 3: The materials and activities in this block will advance your understanding of your primary genre, focussing on some of its finer points as well as introducing more challenging techniques and themes. Topics covered range from rhetoric, maximalism and minimalism, and subgenres in fiction; characterisation, experimentalism and personal poetics; the lyric essay, place writing and style in creative non-fiction; and collaboration, structure and adaptation in script.
Block 4: The final block is mainly composed of independent study, as you'll develop a substantial piece of creative writing as your end-of-module assessment. In the taught weeks of study, you'll reflect on issues of professional practice, as well as approaches to planning and editing.
Throughout this module, you'll encounter guided activities and prompts to stimulate your writing and thinking. However, there is a much greater emphasis on generating and developing your own ideas independently than at undergraduate level.
Online tutor-group forums will enable peer-group discussion of your work. Peer review is an essential element of all creative writing courses and you'll be expected to give informed and constructive evaluations of the work of your peers and submit your own writing for review. You'll be assessed on this work, as well as on your ability to generate, develop, write and edit your creative writing and on your ability to reflect upon, write about and contextualise your creative process.
You will learn
In this module, you will:
- develop writing skills and an awareness of approaches to writing in multiple genres: fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction and scriptwriting for film, radio or stage
- develop and hone sophisticated writing skills in at least one of those genres
- engage in sharing, critiquing and reviewing work in a variety of genres
- prepare a substantial piece of work to a professional standard
- refine your reflective approaches to literature and your own practice.