Short courses

Summary

As Julio Cortázar once put it, ‘The novel wins by points, the short story by knockout.’ But how do you learn to deliver that killer line, vivid scene, unforgettable character or haunting ending? The pressure to condense the storytelling into fewer words pushes story writers to innovate and harness every stylistic, technical and formal muscle they can to bring it to life. For those already interested in creative writing, they offer a powerful training ground to develop new skills and produce stronger, more compelling writing. For those already honing their short story craft, learning new tricks is important to continually refresh and re-energise their practice. 

 Join this intermediate course for developing writers to learn further how to write short stories with drive, depth and ambition. Building on your previous experience of writing, this course offers a chance to kickstart your practice, hone your skills and discover inspiring new texts and techniques to take your work to the next level. 

 Over a series of talks, close-readings and stimulating writing exercises, our expert tutor will explain: 

• more in-depth features of short stories including plot pacing, characterisation and narrative focus 
• how to hone these techniques in your own writing 
• how to more confidently share what you’ve written and improve with more detailed mutual feedback  

You will also have the chance to discuss and reflect on what you learn with other students and the tutor in seminars. 

 Choose this course if you want to learn: 

• more about what makes short stories work 
• more intermediate skills to help you write short stories 
• how to share your work and improve with mutual feedback 
• (for those who submit for assessment) how to improve with written feedback, how to reflect on your writing process and how to build your own editorial skills