2023/24 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL1012 Writing Creatively

20 creditsClass Size: 40

School of English

Module manager: Dr Caitlin Stobie
Email: c.e.stobie@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2023/24

Co-requisites

ENGL1055	Writing Matters
ENGL1065	Reading Between the Lines

Module replaces

ENGL1011 Foundations of Creative Writing

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

In this module you will develop your creative writing skills by focusing on a range of elements of the writer’s craft. You will learn to read texts like a writer and, through examining a range of exemplary published texts, you will study elements of the writer’s craft which may include voice, metaphor and characterisation. You will develop your critical skills through workshopping your written pieces with your peers and your tutor. Within the supportive environment of the writing workshop, you will learn to give and receive constructive criticism and, guided by this feedback, you will hone your redrafting and editing skills. By the end of the module, you will begin to see how your work fits within contemporary writing practice.

Objectives

This craft-focused module will introduce students to key creative writing skills and to the practice of the writing workshop. Students will develop their creative writing and critical skills, their ability to read like a writer, and their ability to give and receive constructive criticism about creative pieces. This module will encourage students to regard their work in a self-critical manner and to place their work within the context of contemporary creative practice.

Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students will be able to demonstrate:
1. An ability to write creatively in genres that may include fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction.
2. An ability to read like a writer across a range of literature and relate their own work to advances in contemporary creative writing practice.
3. An ability to give and receive constructive criticism within a workshop group.
4. An ability to reflect on and develop their own writing in response to the suggestions both of fellow students in the group and of the tutor.
5. An ability to write reflectively on this process and on the work that it produces.

Syllabus

Students will attend weekly two-hour workshops to discuss drafts of their own work, to engage in writing exercises posed by the workshop tutor, and to discuss salient works of contemporary published literature alongside creative writing guides. Every other week, students will also attend a master class, led either by a guest writer or by a member of the School’s creative writing team, focusing on the tutor’s area of specialism.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Tutorials	5	2.00	10.00
Seminar	10	2.00	20.00
Private study hours			170.00
Total Contact hours			30.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

QAA benchmarks confirm that the teaching of Creative Writing at university level is focused on regular workshops and makes frequent use of regular peer feedback, group discussion, and writing exercises. All these points of contact, however, are spaces to which each student is expected to bring new work and new drafts of old work which they have developed through private study. At the beginning of the module it will be made clear that the organisation of this private study time is the responsibility of the individual student. Introductory module material will also confirm that this independent allocation of private study should include significant portions of time for (a) the reading of primary and critical literature (70 hours), (b) the planning and writing of new work (70 hours), and (c) the revision and reorganisation of existing drafts (30 hours).

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

QAA Benchmarks confirm that the writing workshop plays a ‘central role’ in the teaching of Creative Writing. The writing workshop provides a space for students to “read and critically respond to each other's work, operating in a small group in which the role of the tutor is mainly to steer, inform and moderate discussion.” In addition to the regular oral feedback students will receive from their peers during workshop discussions, students will also have opportunities to receive individual formative feedback from the tutor verbally and/or in writing during and/or after the workshop sessions.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Portfolio	One creative submission of 3000 words or poetry equivalent (50 lines = 1000 words or an agreed equivalent in pages or other methods of delivery if visual/sound/performance/intermedia poetry)	80.00
Written Work	One critical reflection of 500 words	20.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Students will submit a creative portion of 3,000 words (or a length of poetry which the module convener deems an equivalent amount). Accompanying the creative work will be a critical reflection of 500 words in which the student will offer a discussion of the creative submission and the student’s process in producing the work.

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 05/05/2023

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