Creative Writing - Story
This programme offers students the opportunity to work on a piece of their own prose writing, introducing them to the skills required to read and write short stories, as well as elements of craft including the writer’s voice, character development, point of view, structure and redrafting. Students form part of a supportive and engaged writing group led by experienced members of the Seamus Heaney Centre teaching team. Across the programme, students will work on the first draft of a short story that will be workshopped by their peers, so openness to receiving feedback – and providing constructive feedback – and readiness to redraft in light of it will be a key aspect of the learning process. They will leave with the core of a short story, and the tools to complete it.
- Become part of a supportive and engaged writing group led by experienced members of the Seamus Heaney Centre teaching team
- Field trip to Ulster Museum to explore subjects for writing an ekphrastic passage
- Q&A session with an established Belfast prose writer
- Closing reception where students will perform their short stories
- Understand the fundamentals of short story writing: the writer’s voice, character development, structure, redrafting, and receiving and giving feedback.
- Obtain the ability to generate, execute and conceptualise a unique short story, drawing on the tried processes and techniques of experienced writers.
- Acquire an understanding of the creative process as a medium for developing critical as well as intuitive thinking and problem-solving.
- Appreciate the literary, cultural, and historical contexts within which writers write, including the influence of past and present writers and writing.
- Comprehend the significance of contextualising your own and others’ narrative work in literary, social, and cultural terms.
- Gain confidence in engaging critically and creatively with others, whether peers or established practitioners.