Creative Writing

COURSE CONTENT

Level 4 (first year)

Toolkits

Level 4 is an introductory phase where you are given the opportunity to experience different areas of Creative Writing. This year will provide you with a toolkit of fundamental creative and academic skills that will underpin your studies and practice beyond the course.

Through attending writing workshops, you’ll be encouraged to build confidence in sharing your work with your peers and develop strategies for giving and receiving constructive feedback.

In the second and third terms, the Level 4 journey provides opportunities for putting this toolkit into practice through introducing you to a broad range of Creative Writing forms (Fiction, Scriptwriting, Poetry, and Creative Non-Fiction).

A dynamic series of workshops, lectures and seminars, facilitated by staff and visiting industry professionals, are designed to build your competency in employing the four forms whilst developing an ability to reflect on and evaluate your own written work.

Having been encouraged to read widely as writers throughout this level, you will move towards your continuing studies with a solid knowledge of other authors and their work, and an understanding of how this research can impact on your own practice.

The Writing Workshop

At the core of the course experience will be writing workshops that provide safe environments for you to read your work in front of your lecturers and peers, to gain invaluable constructive feedback and help you to become a critically reflective writer

This is an essential part of the writing process and you will be encouraged to translate the feedback into your practice through editing and redrafting, whilst also offering generous and critical feedback to others.

Level 5 (second year)

Looking Outwards

Level 5 opens up the toolkit acquired the previous year, allowing you to look outwards by applying your skills. You’ll identify and write for a variety of audiences and undertake interdisciplinary collaborative projects.

This level begins by equipping you with strategies for pushing boundaries, taking risks and experimenting with responsive writing on location in both urban and rural landscapes.

Through close links and shared teaching with BA (Hons) Illustration and BA (Hons) Film Production, alongside other courses, Level 5 will demonstrate how writers can work with others to produce new and exciting creative work but also gain an understanding of how writing and writers can influence the practices of others.

During Level 5, you’ll develop a more nuanced understanding of form, genre, and style whilst gaining firsthand experience of the different roles of a writer in today’s world.

Crafting with Professional Writers

In your second year, you'll be paired with a professional writer or editor, where possible, who will guide you alongside academic staff as you undertake a project of your choice.

This enables you to follow your independent interests and develop projects whilst being guided and mentored by professional writers and/or editors. This will allow you to explore, experiment, and hone your craft, nurtured by experts in your chosen field of study.

Level 6 (third year)

Living as a Writer

You’ll enter this level looking to strengthen existing industry links and networks introduced at Level 5 through further practical engagement and experiences.

You’ll be encouraged to start looking beyond the course, to develop an awareness and understanding of publishing options, literary agencies, and other creative arts and literature-based organisations, through research and industry visits.

You’ll actively explore the mechanics of being a contemporary writer, through developing knowledge in the areas of self-promotion, marketing, managing finances and other essential practical considerations.

It'll be framed by an honest, open and practical approach as to how writers can make an income through their practice. These skills are supplemented by real-world applications where you will undertake practical community- or industry-based live projects that reflect your interests.

You’ll develop a nuanced, sensitive and critically-reflective understanding of how writing and writers engage with the world beyond the university.

The last part of the year involves you working on an extended project in your chosen area of interest, demonstrating a comprehensive awareness of the critical and creative debates with which you are engaged and an ability to critically reflect on your own practice.

COURSE STRUCTURE

All students are registered for the award of BA (Hons). However, exit awards are available if you leave the course early, having successfully completed one or two levels. If you successfully complete a level of the course, you'll automatically be entitled to progress to the next level.

For the award of a Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE), you must have achieved a minimum of 120 credits at Level 4. This qualification may be awarded if you leave the University following successful completion of the first year of your course.

For the award of a Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE), you must have achieved a minimum of 240 credits of which a minimum of 120 must be at Level 5. This qualification may be awarded if you leave the University following successful completion of the second year of your course.

For the award of a BA (Hons) you must have achieved a minimum of 360 credits of which a minimum of 240 must be at Level 5 or above, of which a minimum of 120 credits must be at Level 6. This qualification will be awarded upon successful completion of your course.

A BA without Honours may be awarded if you've achieved 300 credits, at least 180 of which are at Level 5 or above, and at least 60 of which are at Level 6.