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CREW 304: Long Fiction

Course Aims and Objectives:
This module will explore the process of writing an extended piece of fiction. The primary focus is the development of the student’s own creative work; this is facilitated through the study of a selection of contemporary novels and secondary texts, and the workshop critique of the student’s ongoing project. Over the course of ten weeks, students are required to read each key text for discussion, and to submit extracts of their creative work for critique on a regular basis. Further reading, tailored to the students’ individual needs, will be suggested by the tutor as the course progresses. The course should be considered to have a cumulative effect, in that books discussed early on may be drawn upon in later weeks to illustrate different aspects of writing. During the course you are also expected to keep a journal, which will form the basis of the reflective element of your final portfolio. Towards the end of the half unit, you are expected to submit a short piece of reflective writing based on this journal, in which you consider your progress and detail plans for your final portfolio submission. This will be discussed in an end-of-term personal tutorial with your tutor.

Assessment: 1 x portfolio, consisting of a 4,000-word extract from long fiction and a reflective essay (1,000 words).

Submission Deadlines:
Portfolio = by 12 noon on Monday Week 1, Term 2

Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this course you should have

• Developed plans, drafts, and begun a piece of long fiction
• Developed your ability to read as a writer, as distinct from reading as a literary critic or a general reader.
• An awareness of the issues to be considered in the development of a piece of longer fiction, and the decisions made by individual writers in tackling them.
• An increased reader-awareness
• Developed your skills in written and oral communication
• A developing awareness of contemporary writing
• A well-developed technique for providing critique of peer work and a knowledge of the critical criteria which underlie successful evaluations
• Improved editorial skills and a critical awareness of your own strengths and weaknesses as a writer
• An awareness of the importance of all of the above in your development as a writer

Set Texts:

Paul Auster New York Trilogy
Patrick McCabe, The Butcher Boy
Ian McEwan, Enduring Love
Sarah Waters, The Night Watch
Aristotle, Poetics
David Lodge, The Art of Fiction

Supplementary Reading: Students are strongly advised to read:

James Wood, How Fiction Works
John Mullan, How Novels Work
Stephen King, On Writing
James Frey, How to Write a Damn Good Novel
William Strunk and E.B. White, The Elements of Style

Term 1

Back to: CREW 303

Forward to: CREW 305

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