Course Catalogue

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This course will build upon work on Level 2 courses in writing fiction. Techniques of fiction writing will be considered at an advanced level. Students will progress their own fiction to a higher level by studying a range of literary techniques in the prose fiction of selected literary innovators. This will allow reflection on practical technical aspects in the developments of modern narration in fiction, such as the Flaubertian narrative method, dynamic detail, unreliable narration, ironic self-revelation, and focalisation. The roles of narrative techniques in composition will be examined. Students will critique and discuss their own and other students' work, and complete an essay examining the functions of two major literary techniques. In addition, a portfolio of original work will be produced. The portfolio will consist of a section of a novel, one short story or a short story cycle, and a reflective essay on the techniques employed in the portfolio. .

3 hours per week for 20 weeks

Blocks 1 & 2: Saturday 2-5pm

Normally successful completion of a level 2 Creative Writing course. Students are invited to contact the Subject Specialist in Creative Writing to make sure they are at the correct level to take this course.

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One essay of 3,000 words (30%) examining the functions of two major techniques of fiction writing.

Portfolio of 6,000 words consisting of 5,000 words of prose fiction, which can be part of a novel, one short story, a short story cycle (more than one story), and a reflective essay of 1,000 words on the narrative techniques employed in the prose fiction of the portfolio (70%).

This course aims to:

■ Build upon students' existing knowledge of university-level study in Creative Writing in prose fiction.

■ Increase students' knowledge of advanced fiction techniques by engaging in the study and examination of technical innovations in fictional forms.

■ Develop students' abilities to employ advanced fiction techniques through self-reflection and feedback from peers and tutor.

■ Assist students to complete a portfolio of prose fiction to an advanced level, which can be a single short story, a short story cycle or part of a novel.

■ Encourage students to develop their knowledge and ability to reflect and comment upon techniques in their own writing practice in terms of the forms and styles of narration they employ.

■ Build students' confidence in submitting their own writing for peer and tutor feedback.

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

■ Situate their own prose fiction and use of narrative techniques within the context of historical, cultural and theoretical developments in narrative prose fiction.

■ Understand advanced methods of employing literary techniques in prose fiction.

■ Critically reflect on their approaches to techniques as part of their own creative processes.

■ Analyse critical debates about technical aspects of writing fiction in order to enhance their own prose.

■ Critically evaluate their own work and that of other students in terms of effectiveness of technical components.

■ Present arguments in relation to the technical aspects of works of prose fiction in order to enhance their own prose.

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