Duration: 100 hours
COURSE CONTENT
The ten lessons (plus a project) are as outlined below:
Lesson 1. Introduction
What is creative writing, What’s different about creative writing, Information and creativity, Creative genres, Forms of Writing, Form, Structure, Purpose, Creative Writing resources, What is needed for success, The business of writing, Getting published, Self publishing, Vanity publishing, Terminology.
Lesson 2. Basic Creative Writing Skills
Words and their proper use, Types of language, Informative language, Persuasive, Imaginative, Literal, Figurative, Formal, Colloquial language, Parts of language (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, plurals, possessive nouns & pronouns, gender, adjectives, articles); Common grammatical errors (fragmented sentences, run on sentences, comma splices, dangling modifiers. Run on sentences, irregular verbs, Whom or who, Pronouns and Antecedents, Punctuation, Creating and critiquing, Generating ideas, Developing ideas, Narrative theory, Storyline, Narrative structure, Settings or scenes, Mood or atmosphere, Time, Voice, Point of view, Creative reading.
Lesson 3. Concise and Clarity
Making things clear, Slice of life fiction, Conciseness and Succinctness, Understanding ambiguity, Causes of ambiguity, Doubt and ambiguity, Hinge points and ambiguity, Defamiliarisation.
Lesson 4. Planning What You Write
Writing routine, Establishing a theme, Organising ideas, Paragraphing, Writing a synopsis, Titles, Developing objectives.
Lesson 5. Writing Fiction
Elements, Clues, Signs, Common errors, Scope or Range, Theme problems, Authenticity problems, Tone problems.
Lesson 6. Writing Non-fiction
Creative non fiction, scope, Developing ideas, Narration, Story line, Deduction, Induction, Classical Development, Chronological development, Analogy, Cause and effect, Classification, Comparison and contrast, Definition, Analysis, Developing a profile, Interviews.
Lesson 8. Newspaper Writing
What to write, Scope, News values, Writing guidelines, Regular columns, Fillers.
Lesson 9. Writing for Magazines
Scope of magazine writing, What publishers want, Magazine articles, Travel writing, Writing for public relations, Selling your work.
Lesson 10, Writing Books
Themes, Consistency, Believability, Variety, Getting started, Getting a contract, Book publishing, Non fiction books, Fact finding.
Lesson 11 Special Project
Organising a portfolio to sell yourself.
WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS COURSE
Some of the activities and exercises that you will do as part of this course are:
Analyse three texts to identify their genres, describe their layout, and any key elements;
Locate a vanity publisher and a well-known publisher and obtain information on their submitting requirements;
Write part of a newspaper feature article in 3 different ways, using 3 different types of language to create different impressions;
Critique a piece of your own writing (250 words or more), noting its good points, its weaknesses;
Develop one short scene for three different storylines, letting the setting, characters, dialogue and action show what is happening, what might have gone before, and what might follow;
Make notes on two authors' uses of concealing and revealing (transparency and ambiguity), and analyse their effectiveness in each case;
Describe a place or person in your life from two completely different perspectives;
Rewrite an assignment in a different voice
Use defamiliarisation to make a common object appear mysterious, or dangerous, or alien.
Discuss the organisation of texts, considering why the authors might have organised their texts this way, and discuss how the structures contribute to the overall effectiveness of the text;
Write a first draft in 3 hours, without editing;
Edit the draft for structure, clarity, flow of ideas, content, mood, voice etc.
Edit 3 items of your writing (include one short story) for clarity and succinctness; explain your changes;
Research likely publishers for one of your stories and submit it.
Construct outlines of fiction stories using the first and last sentences of published works.
List 3 possible non-fiction writing projects for specific publishers, and explain your choices;
Write three outlines for non-fiction pieces, modeled on the outlines of your three creative writing readings;
Interview someone in preparation for writing a profile on that person. Explain why you think that person might be of interest to others.
Aims
- Describe elements and forms of creative writing.
- Develop skills that will help a writer generate, evaluate and communicate ideas in creative writing.
- Discuss the functions of clear writing, and the art of revealing and concealing in writing.
- Establish theme and structure as planning tools.
- Identify and discuss various forms of fiction writing and publishing opportunities.
- Analyse different non-fiction genres to determine key elements and strategies.
- Analyse different forms of creative writing commonly found in newspapers.
- Analyse magazine articles to determine what makes a good feature article.
- Discuss the main elements of book writing, including theme, organisation, and weaving different narrative threads into a unified whole.
- Prepare a portfolio of creative writing ready for submission and of future ideas.
FULFIL YOUR DREAM AND BECOME A BESTSELLING WRITER.
Learn how to write fiction and non-fiction for profit or pleasure. Learn how to structure magazine or newspaper articles, short stories, books and more. Polish up your grammar skills with our concise, easy to follow study method. Receive constructive guidance every step of the way from professional journalists and writers.
Dan Read, a student in our Creative Writing course has recently had an article purchased for publication. He said of the course - "I feel that the course has given me the tools and confidence necessary to make this possible."
