Aims

This module provides an introduction to a variety of processes and practices involved in the development of creative and essayistic work.

It is concerned with the development of knowledge, understanding and experience of a range of creative approaches to writing.

It encourages critical consideration of creative methods and habits, and introduces a variety of intellectual and practical approaches to the compilation of a creative work.

It supports and encourages students to take responsibility for their learning and to develop creative thinking and judgement.

It aims to inspire students to use their understanding of a variety of creative practices as a means of improving their own creative, reflective and critical practices.

Outline Of Syllabus

In the lecture/workshops students will be introduced to a variety of creative practices, approaches and influences, and explore and discuss the ways that these can affect creative writing. Students will practice, evaluate and develop their own creative work as a response to the topics investigated during formal teaching, as well as carrying out independent research into their own creative practices, approaches and influences.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

A programme of lectures will support the development and reflective critical evaluation of individual creative writing practice as well as encouraging students to identify the context in which they are working. The lectures will cover subjects such as the habits and processes that lie behind certain creative works, and the potential creative practices available to creative writing students. The workshops will provide peer and tutor support and feedback on individual creative approaches, developing the ability for critical reading of others’ work as well as for self-evaluation and drafting. This module places emphasis on the production of a portfolio of creative and essayistic work, developed through an increased awareness of a range of creative practices. This portfolio puts into practice the idea that creative writing can be a method of research and exploratory discovery, as well as demonstrating a critical awareness of the context in which the portfolio has been produced and how individual practice relates to that of predecessors and contemporaries, peers and established practitioners.

Professional guest speakers will be invited, where possible, to enhance and diversify learning.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The portfolio will illustrate the student’s ability to select, use and analyse new ideas about creative practices, and will demonstrate their ability to apply their understanding of the effects of creative processes to their own writing practice.