Course Catalogue

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If you are a budding new writer of fiction, join this course to learn about writing both short stories and novels. Over twenty weeks, by reading fiction from the perspective of a writer, students will gain a foundation in the stylistic elements that are common to both short stories and novels (such as narration, story structures, genre and characterisation) and those that are distinct (such as plot and structure). Stimulating writing exercises will encourage students to apply these techniques to their own writing and to share it for group feedback. We will also discuss practical habits and ideas that help us write. Overall, this course introduces beginners to a wide range of storytelling forms to encourage their own writing in response.

Blocks 1 & 2

2 hours per week for 20 weeks

Saturday, 10.00 -12.00

None

ADED11423E Writing prose fiction: an introduction

ADED11372 Introduction to Fiction Writing 

None

To assess ILOs 1 and 2:

Portfolio one (1,500 words) of original short story writing in the form of several shorter pieces, extract(s) from a longer work or one singular complete piece (40%)

Portfolio two (1,500 words) of original novel writing in the form of several shorter pieces, extract(s) from a longer work or one singular complete piece (40%).

Note: students opting to submit a revised version of work that has already submitted for credit on another course must clearly highlight any passages from that work and they should not exceed 10% of the entire wordcount to avoid auto or self-plagiarism as per the University of Glasgow's plagiarism statement 32.2

To assess ILO 3:

Self-reflective essay (500 words) explaining a piece of feedback or a writing habit taken on board during the course and how this contributed towards the production of either or both portfolios (20%).

The aims of this course are to:

■ Introduce students to some of the key literary characteristics of the novel and short story form through textual analysis of notable examples

■ Encourage individual, creative approaches to fiction through practical writing exercises that enable students to apply key techniques to their own writing 

■ Build students' confidence and resilience by submitting their creative writing for peer and tutor feedback, and discussion of helpful writing habits

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Identify some of the key literary characteristics of the novel and short story form and apply these to their own writing

■ Compose persuasive, artistically coherent and technically competent written work that demonstrates some of the key techniques of the literary form being attempted

■ Reflect upon their own creative process and that of others, including helpful writing habits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.