THINKING LIKE A WRITER - 2020/1

Module Overview

Building on Intro to Creative Writing I, this module will further examine prose and poetry, and will also address writing for film and stage. Additionally, this module will encourage students to reflect on what it might mean to ‘think like a writer’. It will introduce students to scriptwriting and writing for the stage, through the work of individuals who are both critics and creative practitioners in their respective fields. The module also examines the creative work of a poet, a playwright and two very different prose writers in the light of these authors’ critical writing, and helps students to think about how their own creative and critical practice might inform each other. The module ends by introducing the narrative theory that will be explored in greater depth in the second year of the Creative Writing programme.

 

Module provider

School of Literature and Languages

Module Leader

MOONEY Stephen (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

Module cap (Maximum number of students): 45

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

Students must be enrolled in the English and Creative Writing programme, or be taking Creative Writing as their minor pathway.  

Module content

The following areas are indicative of topics to be covered:

• Thinking Like a Writer


• Introduction to Drama


• Introduction to Film


• Writers on Writing


• Preparing Creative Work


• Introduction to Narrative Theory

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate

• the development in their writing skills in academic prose, and/or creative writing (prose fiction and/or poetry)


• their understanding of the context of their work in historical and cultural terms, as well as in terms of other creative writing in the field


• their development of research and writing skills


• productive and informed critical reflection on both the literary writing itself and the critical and secondary material that surrounds it, and/or both the creative process itself and the finished work that has resulted from it

 

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

Portfolio of Creative Writing (1000 words or equivalent) & Reflective Critical Commentary (500 words)

 

Formative assessment and feedback

Formative ‘feed forward’ is provided through seminar discussions, tutor feedback in seminars, and a range of other feedback mechanisms agreed between tutor and students in week 1 of the module, such as seminar contribution and writing exercises.

Module aims

• Explore the relationship between critical analysis and creative practice in a variety of contexts
• Encourage students to reflect on the demands of dramatic structure – and its relationships to storytelling in other media and modes
• Introduce students to the creative challenges and possibilities of writing for stage and screen
• Facilitate textual production in various contexts by providing students with a theoretical and practical toolkit for text design
• Further build confidence in presenting their creative work
• Further build editing and workshopping skills

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• Hone and develop students’ writing skills in academic writing, and/or creative writing (prose fiction and/or poetry) by developing an awareness of the application of their creative practice in inform their critical thinking, and vice versa, and in further developing workshopping and editing skills


• Assist students in locating literary texts and their critical writing, and/or their creative work in historical and cultural contexts by identifying some of the key ideas and concerns in narrative, and the relationship between creative practice and critical and theoretical approaches to the text


• Equip students with the research and writing skills they will need to produce critically informed academic writing, and/or creative writing (prose fiction and/or poetry) and creative criticism by developing competency and confidence in writing in a variety of different modes and media, by encouraging thinking about types of cliché, and how it can be avoided or used in their own writing, and in  developing further awareness of their creative process

 

The learning and teaching methods include:

 

2-hour seminar per week x 11 weeks, 2-hour essay-planning session in week 12.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ELI1027

Other information

This module has a capped number and may not be available to ERASMUS and other international exchange students. Please check with the International Engagement Office email: ieo.incoming@surrey.ac.uk

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2020/1 academic year.