International Summer School 2016

Module Outline

Section 1 General Information

Module Title: Creative Writing

Module code: LDCC2002S Credit value: 20 UK

Academic Year: 2015-2016 Semester: Summer 2016

Section 2 Details of module

Description This module is for students with little previous experience of creative writing. We
What is this module will be doing a number of in-class exercises based on objects, handouts,
discussion and visualisation. On occasion we will study the work of established
about? authors. Very often students will be asked to write about what they know, drawing
on notebooks, memory, family stories, sensory impressions In both prose and
poetry we will concentrate initially on generating material. In prose we will go on to
look at character, dialogue, point-of-view, showing vs telling, plotting, etc. In
poetry, we will begin to explore the possibilities of pattern and form, sound, voice,
imagery, making strange, etc. Students should equip themselves with a notebook
for everyday use and a file or folder in which to keep handouts and all written work.
Students will be required to complete exercises in class and for homework and
should be prepared to read their work aloud.
Learning The aim of this module is to get students writing prose fiction and poetry. At this
Objectives stage it is important to experiment: not everything will come off, but students will
What will I learn? learn from that. Along the way students will begin to develop an understanding of
the craft elements of writing - the technical nuts and bolts. They will also acquire
(subject specific and some of the disciplines necessary to being a writer - observation, keeping
transferable skills) notebooks, writing in drafts, reading as a writer, submitting to deadlines, etc.
Learning By the end of the module students will have acquired competence and confidence
Outcomes in the writing of prose fiction and poetry. Through the practice of automatic writing
and the keeping of observational journals students will be able to generate
What will I be able
material that will enable them to produce original works of creative writing.
to do by the end of Students will become adept at utilizing memories and sensory impressions in the
the module? construction of believable fictions and affecting poems. Students will have gained
the resources for inventing and voicing characters in fiction and for deploying
literary language to pleasing or surprising effect. Students will have gained an
appreciation of the importance of defamiliarisation, and will have acquired an
informed understanding of dialogue conventions, the limits and potential of
narrative point of view, the fundamentals of structuring stories and poems, and the
importance of drafting and revision. Students will be able to present work to a
professional standard.
Links This module would be ideal if students are currently studying any Humanities
Where does this fit subject, particularly Literature or Languages, and would like to explore the
into my current possibilities of writing creatively. No prior knowledge or experience of Creative
studies? Writing is required.

Section 3 Teaching Team

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International Summer School 2016
Module Outline

Module Kate Moorhead-Kuhn is originally from Philadelphia and graduated from the MA in
Convenor Creative Writing at UEA in 2007. Her first novel, The First Law of Motion, was
published by St Martins Press in the USA in 2009 under the name KR Moorhead.
She teaches on UEAs International Summer School and on the undergraduate
programme.
Others TBC

Section 4 - Expected Study Hours

Activity Details Total hours % of credit

Lectures/Seminars Introduction 45 hours 10%

Getting Started in Poetry
Keeping Observational Journals
Keeping Observational Journals: Using All
Five Senses
Using Memories
Inventing Characters
Voicing a Character: Interior Monologue
Poetry Exercises
Dialogue
Point of View
Structure
Making Strange
Tutorials
Editing & Revising
Workshopping
Pre-lecture Required Reading: 17.5 hours
Andrew Cowan: The Art of Writing Fiction
preparatory reading
(Pearson Longman)
and post-lecture Some key books on being a writer:
follow up reading Dorothea Brande, Becoming a Writer
(Macmillan)
John Gardner, On Becoming A Novelist
(Harper Perennial)
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the
Craft (NEL)
Betsy Lerner, The Forest for the Trees: An
Editors Advice to Writers (Macmillan)
Introductions to poetic form:
Peter Sansom, Writing Poems (Bloodaxe)
Sandy Brownjohn, The Poets Craft: A
Handbook of Rhyme, Metre and Verse
(Hodder & Stoughton)
A couple of contemporary anthologies:
Jo Shapcott & Matthew Sweeney,
Emergency Kit: Poems for Strange Times
(Faber)
Neil Astley, The New Poetry (Bloodaxe)
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Module Outline

A couple of useful, critical works:

David Lodge, The Art of Fiction (Penguin)
James Wood, How Fiction Works (Vintage)
Observational Diary:
Students to keep an observational diary
throughout the course.
Formative Work completed for final Artists Model Assessment
exercise (800 words) should be revised and times are
assessment typed up for tutor to read, annotate and included in the
comment upon. lecture/semina
The final poetry exercise on Day 4 r/workshop
(minimum 14 lines) should be completed sessions
and typed up for tutor to read, annotate and
comment upon.
Feedback sessions The tutor will assign half a day for Included in
1-2-1 tutorials. lecture/semina
r sessions
Assessed course A short story of 2,000 words and 4 - 6 8 hours 90%
poems totalling approximately 46 lines OR
paper a short story of 1,500 words and 6 - 12
poems totalling approximately 94 lines.
Total - Approx 71
hours

Section 5 - Teaching Sessions

Lecture Programme details for each lecture

Introduction
An introduction to the module and each other; automatic writing exercises
Getting Started in Poetry
Poetry starter exercises and automatic writing exercises
Keeping Observational Journals
Beginning the practice of keeping observational journals as a resource for fiction and poetry; field trip to
city centre
Keeping Observational Journals; Using all Five Senses
Discussion and exercises; utilising sensory impressions to produce prose fiction
Using Memories
Discussion and exercises; utilising memories and what we know to produce prose fiction

Inventing Characters
Using notebooks, photographs and visualisation as resources for inventing characters in fiction; exercise
in writing a self-portrait
Voicing a Character: Interior Monologue
Voicing a character: interior monologue; field trip to Sainsbury Centre as a stimulus to the invention of
fictional characters
Poetry Exercises
Poetry starter exercises: making strange; using objects for poetry
Dialogue
Discussion of dialogue conventions; exercises using given words and stories to produce dialogue
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Module Outline

Point of View
Discussion and exercises exploring the limits and potential of various narrative points of view
Structure
Discussion and exercises to explore structure in stories
Making Strange
Discussion and exercises in the art of defamiliarisation
Tutorials
Individual tutorials to discuss formative assessment exercise and class contribution
Editing & Revising
Editing exercises; discussion of nuts & bolts technical issues
Workshopping
Group workshopping of works for final assessment

Section 6 Study materials

Required Andrew Cowan: The Art of Writing Fiction (Pearson Longman)

Reading

Recommended Some key books on being a writer:

Dorothea Brande, Becoming a Writer (Macmillan)
further reading
John Gardner, On Becoming A Novelist (HarperPerennial)
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (NEL)
Betsy Lerner, The Forest for the Trees: An Editors Advice to Writers (Macmillan)
Flannery OConnor, Mystery and Manners (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
A couple of introductions to poetic form:
Peter Sansom, Writing Poems (Bloodaxe)
Sandy Brownjohn, The Poets Craft: A Handbook of Rhyme, Metre and Verse
(Hodder & Stoughton)
A couple of contemporary poetry anthologies:
Jo Shapcott, Matthew Sweeney, Emergency Kit: Poems for Strange Times (Faber)
Neil Astley (ed), The New Poetry (Bloodaxe)
A couple of useful, readable critical works:
David Lodge, The Art of Fiction (Penguin)
James Wood, How Fiction Works (Vintage)
Other study As for fiction, the possibilities are endless but students need to try to read widely,
especially in contemporary fiction, and try to read as a writer: think about the
materials
techniques used and the effects achieved. Students will need to apply what they
learn in their own writing. The following are some contemporary writers who have
studied or taught at UEA: Naomi Alderman, Tash Aw, Trezza Azzopardi, Richard
Beard, Lynne Bryan, Angela Carter, Amit Chaudhuri, Tracy Chevalier, Andrew
Cowan, Helen Cross, Joe Dunthorne, Anne Enright, Diana Evans, Stephen Foster,
Adam Foulds, Kazuo Ishiguro, Anjali Joseph, Panos Karnezis, Ian McEwan, Mark
McNay, Ben Rice, Ali Smith, Rose Tremain, Clare Wigfall. A complete list of UEA
writers can be found on our website (under Alumni): www.uea.ac.uk/creativewriting

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Module Outline

Section 7 - Formative Assessment

Assessment Assignment Return date Nature of feedback

Type Deadline

Formative 1 1st July 2016 Week 2 Comments on submitted work and discussion in
tutorials

Assignment detail (e.g. title, type, course test length, word limit, presentation length)

Work completed for final Artists Model exercise (800 words) should be revised and typed up for tutor to read,
annotate and comment upon.
Assessment Assignment Return date Nature of feedback
Type Deadline

Formative 2 5th July 2016 Week 3 Comments on submitted work and discussion in
tutorials

Assignment detail (e.g. title, type, course test length, word limit, presentation length)

The final poetry exercise on Day 4 (minimum 14 lines) should be completed and typed up for tutor to read,
annotate and comment upon.

Section 8a - Summative Assessment

Assessment Percentage Assignment Return Nature of feedback

Type (%) Deadline date

Coursework 90% 21st July Sept Written feedback on returned work

2016 2016

Assignment detail (e.g. title, type, course test length, word limit, presentation length)

A short story of 2,000 words and 4 - 6 poems totalling approximately 46 lines OR a short story of 1,500 words
and 6 - 12 poems totalling approximately 94 lines

Assessment Percentage (%) Dates Nature of feedback

Type

Class 10% 21st July 1-2-1 tutorial

contribution 2016

Assignment detail (e.g. length of exam, rubric)

Guidance will be given at the start of the course on the class contribution requirements, and the students
performance will be monitored in each of the sessions.

Section 8b - Assessment of module outcomes

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International Summer School 2016
Module Outline

Learning Formative Formative Summative Exam

Outcomes Assessment 1 Assessment 2 Assessment

List Control of prose Control of poetic Ability to invent and give

technique and technique and voice to characters in fiction
outcomes style, including style, including and to deploy literary
management of management of language to pleasing or
narrative voice and lyric voice and surprising effect. An
point of view. poetic structure. appreciation of
defamiliarisation, and an
informed understanding of
dialogue conventions, the
limits and potential of
narrative point of view, the
fundamentals of structuring
stories and poems, and the
importance of drafting and
revision. An ability to
present work to a
professional standard.

Section 9 - Employability

Problem solving Teamwork Communication Presentation

Advanced ability to Contribute to group Exemplary written Well-edited and

think creatively. discussions and communication skills and grammatical written work to
develop in response requirements of a professional standard.
to group feedback. readership.

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