Search results - Effective Writing 3: Writing Fiction

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Key facts

Type	Day and Weekend
Location	Oxford
Address	Rewley House 1 Wellington Square Oxford OX1 2JA
Dates	Fri 26 Apr to Fri 10 May 2013 Day: Friday Time of meeting: 9.30am - 5.00pm Number of meetings: 3
Subject area(s)	Creative Writing Literature
CATS points	10
Fees	From £205.00
Application status	Course ended
Course code	O12P220CRJ
Course contact	If you have any questions about this course, please email ppdayweek@conted.ox.ac.uk.

Overview

Recent discoveries at the cutting edge of neuroscience have confirmed what five-year-old children have always known: we human beings love stories. More than that, we are hard-wired to tell stories and hard-wired to respond to them. Writing stories is a relatively recent innovation for humans, but it is still integral to human life. In this series of linked day schools we will unravel the secrets of the storyteller’s art. Not in a dusty theoretical fashion, but by rolling up our sleeves and doing lots of writing. Over the course of the three days we will explore and experiment with the numerous tools in the story-teller's kitbox to extend and deepen your understanding of the stories you want to tell and the ways in which you want to tell them.

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Programme details

Programme

FRIDAYS 26 APRIL, 3 & 10 MAY 2013

Day One, Friday 26 April 2013
First Catch your Unicorn

To start off our enterprise we will first seek out that mysterious beast known as The Idea. People are often in awe of this aspect of writing, but we will use a number of practical techniques to demystify the process and explore ways of generating a whole host of fabulous Ideas. We will then consider how any one of these Ideas can be transformed into a truly engaging plot, and how in turn to shape a plot into a narrative that will captivate the reader from the opening paragraphs of your story to its final pages.

Day Two, Friday 3 May 2013
Perchance to Dream
On this, the second day of our journey, we consider the core task of fiction: the unfolding of a dream inside the reader’s mind. We examine ways of making that dream vivid, tangible and mesmerising through the all-important skills of descriptive writing, narrative perspective and characterisation. In the afternoon we focus on the art of dialogue, experimenting with ways of creating distinctive and arresting 'voices' for your narrator and characters. By sculpting a dialogue, we will get to the hidden heart of what is really going on when characters speak to one another.

Day Three, Friday 10 May 2013
Tips from a pro: Scheherazade

On our final day we busy ourselves with the most crucial aspect of all: how to ensure our story is much more than simply a series of well-told events. We will analyse the range of techniques great writers employ to give their writing depth and resonance, and practise and apply these skills to our own writing. We will experiment with themes, metaphors and symbols to discover how they shape and drive stories in ways that engage the reader's heart and mind. Finally, we turn to the tricks of the trade that keep a story humming and buzzing with interest through its tricky central phases: the key techniques of suspense and surprise, and their loyal assistants, sub-plot and meta-plot.

Each day will run from 9.30am - 5.00pm Coffee/tea at 10.30am / Lunch at 12.30pm / Tea/coffee at 3.30pm

This course is accredited with 10 CATS Points at FHEQ Level 4. All students enrolled on this course will be expected to complete some course work.

Course Tutor: REBECCA ABRAMS

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Staff

Ms Rebecca Abrams

Role: Tutor

Rebecca Abrams is the award-winning author of five books and a long-standing literary critic for several national newspapers. She is First Story...more

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Accommodation

Accommodation is often available in Rewley House for those who wish to stay on the night before a course. Please contact our Residential Centre on 01865 270362 for details of availability and prices.

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