If you love writing and want to improve your skills, network with other writers, and get personal guidance, then, this course is for you. Tutors are exceptionally well qualifed, with university degrees in writing or journalism and more than 10 years experience in writing and publishing. Some students have been published even before finishing the course!
COURSE CONTENT
The nine lessons are as outlined below (plus one special project):
- Introduction
- Basic Writing Skills
- Being Concise and Clear
- Planning what you write
- Fiction
- Non Fiction
- Newspaper Writing
- Magazine Writing
- Writing Books
- Special Project
AIMS
- Describe elements and forms of creative writing.
- Develop skills that will help you generate, evaluate and communicate ideas. Discuss the functions of clear writing, and the art of revealing and concealing in writing.
- Establish theme and structure as planning tools.
- Identify and discuss various forms of fiction writing and publishing opportunities.
- Analyse different non-fiction genres to determine key elements and strategies.
- Analyse different forms of creative writing commonly found in newspapers.
- Analyse magazine articles to determine what makes a good feature article.
- Discuss the main elements of book writing, including theme, organisation, and weaving different narrative threads into a unified whole.
- Prepare a portfolio of creative writing ready for submission and of future ideas.
WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS COURSE
- Analyse three texts to identify their genres, describe their layout, and any key elements;
- Locate a vanity publisher and a well-known publisher and obtain information on their submitting requirements;
- Write part of a newspaper feature article in 3 different ways, using 3 different types of language to create different impressions;
- Critique a piece of your own writing (250 words or more), noting its good points, its weaknesses;
- Develop one short scene for three different storylines, letting the setting, characters, dialogue and action show what is happening, what might have gone before, and what might follow;
- Make notes on two authors’ uses of concealing and revealing (transparency and ambiguity), and analyse their effectiveness in each case;
- Describe a place or person in your life from two completely different perspectives;
- Rewrite an assignment in a different voice;
- Use defamiliarisation to make a common object appear mysterious, or dangerous, or alien;
- Discuss the organisation of texts, considering why the authors might have organised their texts this way, and discuss how the structures contribute to the overall effectiveness of the text;
- Write a first draft in 3 hours, without editing;
- Edit the draft for structure, clarity, flow of ideas, content, mood, voice etc.;
- Edit 3 items of your writing (include one short story) for clarity and succinctness; explain your changes;
- Research likely publishers for one of your stories and submit it;
- Construct outlines of fiction stories using the first and last sentences of published works;
- Conceive different non-fiction writing projects for specific publishers, and explain your choices;
- Write three outlines for non-fiction pieces, modelled on the outlines of your three creative writing readings;
- Interview someone in preparation for writing a profile on that person. Explain why you think that person might be of interest to others.
