Creative Writing: Writing and Publishing Fiction MA

This module (required for MA qualification) enables students to pursue and complete a selected long writing project as the culmination of their programme. Coursework for modules already completed may provide the basis for this much more substantial project (though inclusion of verbatim work from earlier assessments will not form part of the assessment or word count). This module gives students the opportunity to develop their own specialist interest to produce a substantial prose text aimed at any of the available publishing and media outlets. The range of acceptable projects includes: a collection of short-short stories and/or short stories; a novella; an extract from a novella/novel.

1. To enable students to devise, develop and complete a substantial writing project.
2. To promote the practical application of the combination of writing skills acquired in the taught modules.
3. To guide the student, through tutorial supervision, through the processes and methodologies of a large project from conception to completion.
4. To encourage the student to complete, through the exhaustive processes of drafting and revision, a final document which not only constitutes the summative outcome of their writing but also reflects the formative processes involved in its creation.

This module is offered as an alternative to EN7104 The Writing Project. It allows students who do not wish to complete the full project required for the award of an MA to exit, if successfully completing the module, with a Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Writing. [The University requires 120 credits of successfully completed modules at M level for the award of a Postgraduate Diploma; the taught modules preceding this module represent 100 credits, hence the 20-credit option here described.] The module enables students to pursue and complete a selected short writing project. Coursework for modules already completed may provide the basis for part of this project (though inclusion of verbatim work from earlier assessments will not form part of the assessment or word count). This module gives students the opportunity to develop their own specialist interest to produce a prose text. The range of acceptable projects includes: a collection of short-short stories and/or short stories; a short story; an extract from a novella/novel.

1. To enable students to devise, develop and complete a writing project.
2. To promote the practical application of the combination of writing skills acquired in the taught modules.
3. To guide the student, through tutorial supervision, through the project.
4. To encourage the student to complete, through drafting and revision, a final piece which not only constitutes the summative outcome of their writing but also reflects the formative processes involved in its creation.

Using a number of representative late-twentieth-century and contemporary texts, the module will examine the ways in which flash fiction (‘the short-short story’) and the short story are constructed. This will involve close analysis of such crucial aspects of short-fiction writing as: singleness of effect; economy; implication; openings; endings; setting; characterisation; dialogue; and point of view. Authors studied might include Beryl Bainbridge, Lydia Davis, Dave Eggers, David Gaffney, Vanessa Gebbie, Tania Hershman, Nadine Gordimer, Etgar Keret, John McGahern, Alice Munro, Rose Tremain and William Trevor. From analysis of such exemplars, students will gain technical knowledge and an awareness of what makes short fiction both publishable and a critical success. They will apply these insights in their own creative practice, experimenting with different forms, styles and subject matter.

1. To explore a range of late-twentieth-century and contemporary short fiction.
2. To enhance students’ understanding of the formal characteristics that make short fiction both publishable and a critical success.
3. To develop students’ proficiency in using the techniques of short fiction.
4. To enable students to write original and complete pieces of short fiction.

Using a number of representative late-twentieth-century and contemporary texts, the module will examine the ways in which novels are constructed. This will involve a close analysis of such crucial aspects of novelistic writing as: narrative; setting; characterisation; dialogue; point of view; and the representation of thought through free indirect discourse and interior monologue. Further issues to be examined and discussed may include: humour; sexual description; the use of obscenities; and the role of history in contemporary fiction. Authoritative modern writers such as Shalom Auslander, Don DeLillo, Elaine Feinstein, China Miéville and Kurt Vonnegut will be studied as representative examples of the modes, themes and issues being explored. Throughout the module, students will apply the technical knowledge they will gain from critical analysis to their own creative practice, experimenting with different forms, styles and subject matter.

1. To facilitate a critical understanding of the techniques of prose fiction in novel form.
2. To explore some of the practical implications of key aspects of prose fiction writing.
3. To explore location, characterisation and the methods of representing speech, thought and action in the prose that goes to make up a novel.
4. To enable students to develop their own original novelistic prose fiction.

Research into the world of publication is a fundamental part of any writer’s work. The writer must research everything that supports publication: literary magazines (print and online); literary agents and publishers; e-publishing; websites/blogs, the internet, and the media; festivals, readings, workshops, and other literary events. Not only is creative writing itself always partly the result of a consideration of possible publication outlets, but the development of a writer’s public profile will depend upon a proper understanding of the publishing industry. In a series of seminars, workshops and talks (by the programme team, all published authors, and by guest speakers, such as authors, agents, editors, publishers), this module will place publication in its full context, exploring the different kinds of research needed for a successful writing career.

1. To enhance students’ understanding of the world of publishing fiction.
2. To explore the different ways students can develop their public profiles as authors.
3. To encourage professional development in relation to the students’ creative writing.
4. To enable students to develop practical strategies in relation to getting their creative writing published.