Creative Writing

What kind of writer do you want to be? What are some of the key ideas, forms and genres that preoccupy contemporary writers of poetry, literary fiction and narrative non-fiction? How will your own work be situated in this terrain?

Through talks and seminar sessions with practitioners, you will discover how a diverse range of writers approach their craft, and discuss what is current in contemporary writing. You will have the opportunity to plan and deliver events. You will be encouraged to respond to the questions that emerge from these conversations and to frame your own critical and creative enquiry, thinking about your own work in dialogue with a wider literary, social and cultural context (or contexts).

This module will help you to understand the contemporary literary landscape and to think through your own ambitions and identity as a writer.

How do writers make a living? What does it mean to take a piece of writing into the world and sell it? How do we begin to understand the way in which literary works are bought and sold? Are there other ways of getting an audience for your work, and do they also have value? You will learn to understand the complex world of the professional writer. You will become familiar with the workings of literary agents, publishing houses, newspapers and magazines, journals, small presses and online platforms and think about how to find an audience for your work. You will produce a pitch for your own work and then reflect on your own professional practice.

It’s time to really focus on your own creative project. In this final workshop-based module of the course, through reflective group discussion, editorial exercises designed to help you revise and refine your writing, tailored reading recommendations, intensive peer workshops and one-to-one tutorials, you will work towards a fully realised and developed piece of writing. Whether you create something self-contained or part of a longer piece of writing, a continuation of an existing project, or the start of something new, you will think towards your dissertation and consider how the work on this module will help you to prepare for it. You will come to a better understanding of your own writing process, explore new dimensions in your practice, and feel more confident in your own writing voice.

TBC

What makes a great piece of literary fiction? And how should we start writing it? On this module you will read a range of contemporary literary fiction, including novels and short stories, and think about how you can apply cutting-edge writing techniques to your own work. You will learn how to create nuanced, engaging and sophisticated literary characters, and put them in dramatic situations and exciting locations. You will revisit the basics of plotting and then be encouraged to build on this and work with known literary structures in order to create work that is both formally controlled and original.

You will develop your fiction-writing techniques, including how to plot a full-length novel, work on deep characterisation and create convincing dialogue, and you will further explore your own literary voice. You may be continuing to work on a project begun in Fiction 1, or starting something entirely new. Workshops will provide a supportive critical and creative space to generate new work and to build editorial skills. Your seminar leader will work with you to identify and build on the strengths and address weaknesses of your writing.

What is ‘life writing’? How can a single genre contain such diverse forms as memoir, biography, nature writing, eco-critical writing, travel writing, confession, case study? Where are the borderlines between fiction and non-fiction? (Are there in fact borderlines between fiction and non-fiction?) These questions will be considered, and different stylistic and formal techniques investigated and experimented with, as you work towards finding your own subject matter(s) and your own narrative style and mode. 

You will encounter a wide range of examples from antiquity to the contemporary. We will explore the topic  thematically, working with different forms and sub-genres in turn. Writing exercises will enable you to experiment with various approaches. As the term develops, there will be more time given to the workshop component, as you create your own piece of narrative non-fiction—either self-contained, or as part of a wider project.

You will situate and heighten awareness of your own work in relation to your practice and to practitioners in English and other languages. We will explore a range of intertextual practices, including translating, creating variations, and adapting texts. Each week you will focus on creating a new text in English. To that end, each week will look at different texts, from Sappho to *The Simpsons*, translations, versions, and adaptations of those texts, contextualised with a study of translation theory, and think about various intertextual techniques to use in our creative writing. You are not expected to know any other language! Instead, for foreign-language texts, you will use cribs, literal translations, commentaries, and transliterations, among other tools, to inspire and guide you in creating your own versions, as is common practice amongst translators. You will complete a translation or adaptation project in poetry, narrative prose, or playwriting.

This module will prepare you for the production of your portfolio of fully realised, finished poems. You will read a wide range of exemplary, contemporary work and experiment with form and content. In seminars, you will discuss readings, such as selections of contemporary poetry and criticism based around a writing technique/concept (e.g. voice), or a poetry selection from a collection or sequence. You will close read, learning how to read and discuss technique used as a practicing writer learning your craft. You will also prepare written exercises emerging from the reading or technique under discussion, and workshop your own and each other's work.