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Creative Writing: Research Into Writing

Building on skills gained in Level 4, this unit provides you with the opportunity to work towards the production of one substantial piece of work in any recognised form or genre, from brain-storming ideas, through research, drafting and editing, to the final product.  Taking you systemically through this process, with particular attention paid to research (both creative and academic) provides a coherent overview, and allows you to interrogate and question how you handle each stage.

Innovative Writing

This unit introduces you to cutting-edge techniques and forms in contemporary writing.  Starting with theoretical writing by, and interviews with, post-War innovative poets and prose writers you will be introduced to range of genres and sub-genres, and you will not only produce texts using some of these techniques, but will be encouraged to develop your own innovations, as well as producing your own theoretical justifications for these.  This unit will give you the foundation for the Experiment and Innovation unit in your final year.

Scriptwriting

To develop creative techniques for writing engaging short scripts, and to understand the function of short-form drama in the commercial marketplace.

Writing Horror And Dark Fantasy Fiction

The horror and dark fantasy fiction market continues to attract readers, and its popularity in the short form remains constant, especially in online markets. In this unit you will read, write, and gain an insight into the craft and psychology of horror and dark fantasy fictions, keeping in mind contemporary expectations of an increasingly demanding market.

Poetics: Theory Into Practice

‘Poetics,’ for this unit, is understood not as theories of poetry, but as a discourse on making (cf. Greek poeiein ‘create’). It is an essential element of any writer’s development; it is how you talk and write about your own creativity and can take many forms and appear in many places — letters, journals, emails, even in your fiction and poetry itself. Every writer does it, even if they are not specifically aware of it.

Creative Writing Professional Practice

This unit is intended to help you to answer the question ‘what next?’ when it comes to thinking about your writing beyond your university studies.  What kind of a writer you are has a great bearing on what you need to do: where does your kind of writing get published? Are you more of a literary performer? Does your work belong in a community arts context?  Do you need to develop artistic skills, design skills, etc?

Building on what you have done in your second year, you will use this unit to develop in at least one area of professional practice which will help you beyond academia. 

Script: Writing, Editing And Pitch

In this unit you will develop your creative idea into a script that is fit for production. This unit will examine the contemporary filmmaking marketplace and investigate methods of marketing and producing your creative work. The unit will build on the techniques learnt at Level 5, and apply them to longer production-focussed script works.

Experiment And Innovation In Context

Building on your experience in MED010-2 Innovative Writing, this unit will help you develop as an innovative or experimental writer, or allow you to bring aspects of innovative practice to bear in a form or genre of writing you favour. Particular emphasis will be made on the mode of delivery of text, be that printed, performed, online or any other mode that a text can appear in.

You will be encouraged to attend events and readings, meet and network with like-minded writers, and to submit you work to appropriate publications and outlets.  These activities will help you to understand professional opportunities and responsibilities relevant to your own innovative practice.

Special Project In Creative Writing

This unit allows you to demonstrate the skills, ideas and learning acquired during your degree in an extended piece of work that is self-initiated and managed, and supported by your assigned supervisor. You will work on a project that requires you to complete a creative writing product, artifact, or performance. The project content should be taken from your main area of interest within creative writing and will require the prior approval of the unit coordinator. If you are studying a specialist pathway then you can choose a project from within your specialist area. 

The project is a piece of creative professional practice, and as such will form the central part of your creative portfolio on graduating form the course.

Writing Fantasy Fiction

Fantasy, as a genre, is found in many areas of the media, including fiction, film, television, and the games industry. As creative practitioners, you will build on your own writing experience and become proficient writers of original and potentially publishable fantasy texts in a popular and increasingly competitive market. 

English Language Foundation

This unit focuses on your ability to understand and use the English language accurately when you read, speak, listen and write. We will concentrate on the English you need for undergraduate level study in your chosen subject area, covering grammar, subject area vocabulary and the four language skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.

A key element of the unit is the grammar of the language, and particularly the verb tense system in English, because your ability to use the verb tense system accurately will be extremely important when you come to write essays and reports. This unit will focus in particular on the grammar of the language.

We will also focus on reading, listening and speaking skills in the context of your chosen subject area. Beginning with short texts, we will practise each skill and practise it again, so that gradually you will see, hear and feel that your command of the language is improving. 

A recurring focus of the unit will be your acquisition of 'learner autonomy'. This means your ability to acquire the language yourself, without needing a teacher's help. This is important because from next year you will not have an English teacher to help you. So we will consider and practise strategies to help you gain confidence in your own ability to increase your knowledge of and ability to use the language, including for instance guessing meaning of difficult words, deciding which words are important in a text, recognising differences between formal and informal language, and other strategies, so that as the first semester continues, you begin to feel more confident in your use and experience with the English Language.

Academic Skills Foundation

When you begin your undergraduate level studies, you will be expected to have knowledge of and ability to use a large range of 'study skills'. You will also be expected to have some knowledge of the subject area you will  be studying. This unit deals with both of these aspects of your preparation for undergraduate level study. 

All of the academic skills are practised in English, so you will use your developing acquisition of the language from the partner unit 'English Language Foundation' to practise and gain mastery of these skills. You will also use your language and study skills as you learn the foundation of your subject area, putting the skills into practice as you learn.

Developing English Language Skills

This unit builds on the progress you made during its partner semester 1 unit 'English Language Foundation' and increasing your level from that which you had achieved by the end of semester 1. 

We will recycle the tense system in English and other elements of the grammar system, but you will  now learn how to use other aspects of the grammar, including the passive voice, as well as linking words and phrases and devices which enable you to write longer sentences but retain grammatical accuracy. 

You will notice that we gradually introduce more specialist language that you need in preparation for your degree and we will expect you to use and develop the skills that you gained in the previous units so that you are able to work more independently.

Academic Skills Development

This unit builds on the skills learnt and practised in its partner semester 1 unit 'Foundation Academic Skills'. We will add more skills to the list, including summarizing and synthesising, argumentation, critical thinking and referencing and citation skills, as well as several others and practise and test them in the same way as with the semester 1 unit.

We will also investigate the research skill and you will learn how to prepare a research proposal and conduct a literature review, and how to plan a research project, learning about the research tools available and how they can be used to conduct research in your chosen field. 

You will continue to broaden your knowledge of key current issues and theory in your chosen subject area, and apply the critical thinking and argumentation skills you acquire in this unit to argue for and against propositions you have studied in the form of in both essays and presentations and in seminar situations, ensuring that you are ready to step up to your chosen undergraduate course with a base level of subject area knowledge from which to continue your academic development as you progress to level 4 study.

Creative Writing Theory And Practice

This unit introduces you to a variety of theoretical perspectives and concepts, studied from the standpoint of creative writing practice. Discussions of these subjects will form a grounding in your understanding of your creative poetics.

Writers Reading

Why is reading as a writer important? In this unit you will learn to develop active relationships between yourself and the texts you are surrounded by, examining them, critiquing them, and understanding how they work, including your own creative writing. Because genre writing of all kinds are popular with readers, you will also study aspects of genre writing. 

Writing Practices

Mastering the art of short story writing, and of self-reflexive writing, which enables you to express your practice, process of writing, and poetics, are basic skills for student creative writers to learn. In this unit you will develop skills in these areas, which will form the basis for your understanding of yourself as a writer.

Composition

This unit emphasises writing as an act of composition, involving the careful crafting, editing and revision of your work. The process of writing involves the ability to reflect upon your own practice, and to engage in constructive criticism of your own and others’ work.