Telling tales in fiction I. Structuring your story

Through dialogue, debate and an intensely practical approach to the writer’s craft, we shall explore the nature and role of fiction. The primary focus will be the students’ own writing, produced between sessions, and examined by the group in the course of those sessions.

On this course we shall address in broad terms the importance of structure and of story in fiction. We shall consider Aristotle’s Poetics and his unities of time, place and action, asking ourselves how those early ideas continue to affect our story-telling as writers of fiction.

Story-telling helps us to learn, recall and to understand, and to enrich our connections with one another in profound ways. During this course you will have the opportunity for experimentation and for collaborative feedback, working through explorations on the page towards a fuller understanding of the fiction that you most want to write.

Learning outcomes

1. An understanding of the art and craft of fiction as practised by published writers;
2. A personal understanding of the practicalities of fiction-writing, with particular reference to the structuring of narrative;
3. A greater confidence in both the practice of fiction-writing and the practice of criticism.