Humanities - Creative Writing
6110 CREATIVE WRITING IN THE CHRISTIAN CONTEXT
This unit introduces students to creative writing in the context of a theology of creativity, built upon the doctrine of humanity as made in the image of God. Through a series of practical exercises, the students are introduced to the basic forms of poetry and prose fiction. Students not only explore writing on Christian themes, but also writing on general themes as Christians. Biblical examples of poetry and story telling are examined to put creative writing in a biblical and theological context. Students will also discover the basic skills needed to write creatively, will learn how to assess and revise their own work, and will learn the fundamentals of rhyme, metre and free verse in poetry, and of characterisation, dialogue, and plot development in prose fiction.
6221 WRITING FOR CHILDREN
This unit examines children’s literature as a distinctive genre. Writing for children is not simply writing for adults in simpler language, nor is it a form of creative writing for those who have not graduated to writing for adult audiences. The student will learn to appreciate the various stages of childhood development, the way that children perceive stories, and the role of imagination and reading in childhood development. Students will learn how to write well for children through a better understanding of children, an examination and appreciation of children’s literature, and the practice of writing for a specific age group.
6311 CREATIVE WRITING: POETRY
This unit explores a range of forms within the genre of poetry. Students will examine what constitutes poetry (whether structured or free verse) and will experiment with a number of poetic forms, both common and rare, in order to develop an appreciation of the poetic and a mastery of the use of language. Students will undertake personal writing exercises, and study a range of poets of various styles and eras, and will learn to appreciate how the underlying structures (even when hidden) contribute to the power and ‘feel’ of a poem. Students will learn not only to recognise and distinguish various poetic forms, but also to express their thoughts in these forms. Free verse will be examined and practiced not as a ‘form’ chosen by those who do not understand metre, but as a deliberate choice of the poet who decides when to employ structure, when to hide it, and when to abandon it.
6312 CREATIVE WRITING: PROSE FICTION
Whether writing short stories, novellas, or novels, prose fiction is by far the most common form of creative writing in the modern world. This unit examines the nature of prose fiction, the habits of good writers, the elements of a good story, and the processes involved in publication at various levels. Students will examine voice, characterisation, point of view, dialogue, plot, style, revision and the art of writing introductions and conclusions. Students will also learn to distinguish between the wide range of genres that currently exist and to appreciate the kind of writing and techniques that work best with the particular genre or genres favoured by the student. Most importantly, students will learn to enjoy writing and the freedom of expression offered by the various forms of contemporary prose fiction.
6401 EDITING AND PUBLISHING FOR WRITERS
This unit introduces the student to editing and publishing. It specifically aims to give students the skills to edit their own work, edit the work of others, and to understand the editor’s marks used by many publishers. It also looks at the current publishing industry from the writer’s standpoint with particular focus on the steps involved in successful publication. Students will follow the editing and publishing steps taught in order to develop and prepare their own manuscript for publication.
