Educational aims
Edited: The Creative Writing specialism aims to provide you with the opportunity to discover and develop your individual strengths as a writer. You will learn how to generate ideas and build a disciplined practice of writing and will try your hand at fiction, poetry, and life writing at Level 2. Scriptwriting for stage, radio and film will be introduced at Level 3, where you will also focus on intensifying your skills in fiction, poetry and life writing and developing your individual style and voice. You will be encouraged to use dramatic methods in other genres, for example, enhancing fiction and life writing through the application of film techniques.
Throughout your studies, you will learn how to bring your work to a high standard through honing your redrafting and editing skills. You will have the opportunity to participate in online discussion forums, giving and receiving feedback from fellow students and your tutor on work in progress.
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
Edited: When you complete your studies for this specialism, you will be able to:
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demonstrate understanding of the creative process including methods of generating new writing through exercises
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write fiction, poetry, life writing, and drama scripts with technical skill and individual style
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demonstrate understanding of the possible connections between fiction, drama, life writing and poetry including an ability to apply methods across different genres
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demonstrate understanding of how to redraft and edit work, making use of feedback and suggestions
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show understanding of the purpose of formal structures, layouts and techniques in publishable work and identify appropriate markets for your own writing.
Cognitive skills
Edited: When you complete your studies for this specialism, you will be able to:
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diagnose and solve creative problems arising in your own work and be able to sift and make use of beneficial advice to enhance your writing
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give objective and informed evaluations of your own and others’ work through constructive criticism.
Practical and/or professional skills
Edited: When you complete your studies for this specialism, you will be able to:
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write with imagination and precision, to ‘own’ language and technique in a distinctive way
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realise characters, settings and situations, making them authentic for the reader or audience
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control narrative energy and momentum through a strong sense of structure
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present manuscripts and media scripts to a professional standard.
Key skills
Edited: When you complete your studies for this specialism, you will be able to:
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generate and sustain creative ideas without reliance on study materials or a tutor
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exercise a disciplined practice including willingness to research, experiment, revise and redraft
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use information technology for research purposes, and use new technologies for communication and participation in online forums.
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redraft and revise writing to a high standard.
Teaching, learning and assessment methods
Edited: Your learning will be practice based, supported by workbooks containing advice, examples and exercises to spark your imagination and increase your technical flexibility and control. You will also learn from the writing practice of established authors who discuss their approaches and experiences in interviews on audio CDs. Other module components include study guides, assignment booklets, and a DVD for the ‘writing drama’ part of Level 3. You will be assigned a tutor and tutorial group and will be able to share work with fellow students in online forums. Your tutor will run online tutorials at announced times and also meet with you in occasional day schools.
The outcomes are assessed through tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) and end-of-module assessments (EMAs). There are no written examinations.
Your cognitive skills will be promoted through tutor feedback on your assignments and through your growing competence in giving and receiving constructive criticism to fellow students. At Level 3 there is one assignment that assesses your ability to participate in and learn from online engagement with others’ work.
Teaching of key skills is via published materials, including audio-visual materials, and detailed tutor feedback on assignments and in tutorials, both face to face and online. The ability to generate and sustain creative ideas independently is an ultimate aim of the programme and is assessed specifically at Level 3, which has a period of independent study towards the end of the module.
You will find that practical and/or professional skills are taught throughout the programme in a cumulative way. In particular, there is a ‘going public’ section at Level 2 where you will learn about the requirements of publishers and there is one assignment that asks you to research and write for a literary magazine of your choice. At Level 3, you will learn and practise the development of your individual style and voice, culminating in the planning and production of a sustained piece of writing in a taught genre of your choice.