Writing Fiction (Intermediate) with Sarah Bower (face-to-face)
Course Description
This ten week course is specifically designed to allow students to develop their
knowledge and practice of writing and reading prose fiction; to engage in a
weekly workshop of students’ writing, guided by the tutor; and to offer individual
presentations on aspects of prose writing. The course will focus on reading and
writing short prose fiction.
This is a Level 2 course and will be of particular benefit to those who have
already undertaken a Level 1 course in prose writing.
Course Structure
The course is structured in 10 two hour weekly face to face sessions.
You will be expected to submit work at regular intervals for class discussion. One
element of the learning process will be to develop your critical reading skills
through commenting on one another’s work, supported by critical feedback and
personalised workplans constructed by the tutor.
Aims and Objectives
The Aims of the unit are:
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To develop an understanding of the variety of styles of prose
To develop and support the student’s own prose writing abilities
To encourage and support individual writing, and foster a positive
atmosphere for group workshops
To offer a progression route for those who have completed an introductory
unit in prose fiction or another appropriate Certificate in Creative Writing
course and who wish to prepare for higher level study
Specific Objectives are:
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To provide the opportunity to acquire and practice workshop skills
To develop students’ critical reading skills
To give students an insight into the variety and techniques of prose writing
To provide students with the opportunity of giving short presentations on
aspects of prose writing
To give students practice in drafting and revising in response to peer and
tutor feedback
To facilitate each student’s preparation of a portfolio of prose writing with a
critical response to their own creative processes
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course you will:
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Have further developed your skills as a writer of prose fiction
Have completed two assignments, of 2500 words each
Have developed confidence in handling longer forms of writing
Have further developed your analytical skills in relation to reading and writing
short stories
Have developed confidence in making critical presentations
Have some understanding of the process of preparing and submitting work
for publication
Have a clear pathway to study at the next level
Timetable
In Session 1 the class is welcomed to the unit and is invited to establish a
protocol for workshopping. We will discuss ways of approaching a piece of
writing and how to offer and respond to feedback.
A short piece of published writing will be ‘workshopped’ in class.
Optional writing exercises and suggestions for reading will be regularly
given by the tutor.
Sessions 2 - 9
These will comprise in-class workshops considering students’ writing.
Areas to be covered during the course:
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Narration, plotting, time schemes, shaping the work
Characterisation
Voice, point of view, using a narrator
Dialogue, monologue
Tone, mood
Setting, description, using literary devices
Beginnings and endings
Editing, writing accurately, using punctuation effectively, presentation
Session 10 is the deadline for the assignment:
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A 5000 word story
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A 750 word critical appraisal
Workshop Guidelines
Passages submitted for workshopping should be presented in a minimum 12 pt
font, with at least 1.5 line spacing and margins of 1” all round. It is students’
responsibility to ensure work is circulated by email to the tutor and other class
members at least a week in advance of the workshop date.
Depending on numbers of students enrolled, each student will have at least one
opportunity each semester to submit work for workshopping.
Recommended Reading
Alvarez, Al, The Writer’s Voice, Bloomsbury, 2005
Atwood, Margaret, Negotiating With the Dead, Cambridge University Press 2002
Booker, Christopher, The Seven Basic Plots, Continuum 2004
Faulks, Sebastian, Faulks on Fiction, BBC Books, 2011
Forster, E. M., Aspects of the Novel, Penguin Classics 2000
King, Stephen, On Writing, Hodder & Stougton, 2000
Kundera, Milan, The Art of the Novel, Faber 1999
Lodge, David, The Art of Fiction, Penguin 1992
Prose, Francine, Reading Like A Writer, Aurum Press, 2006
Smiley, Jane, 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel, Faber 2006
Smith, Ali, Artful, Hamish Hamilton, 2012
The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, A & C Black (annual)
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/arts-and-books/william-boyd-short-history-of-theshort-story