Gwybodaeth am Fodiwlau

What are the critical processes that underlie our creative work? How do we talk about our creative work in a scholarly way? How do we use research?
This module explores ways in which writers engage with the literary, cultural and theoretical contexts for their work. It introduces creative writing students to a range of critical perspectives, teaching them how to examine and analyse critical writing and encouraging them to develop a scholarly approach to creative practice.

Including both seminars and workshops, students have the opportunity to try out their critical writing and receive formative advice. Throughout the module, students will be given examples of good practice to discuss and compare.

1. What are we doing when we write? An introduction to reflective practice and why it matters.
The introductory seminar will introduce a framework for reflective practice and suggest ways in which students might adopt a reflective approach to their writing. They will be introduced to the various critical requirements of an UG degree including the critical commentary, reflective journal and critical essay.

2. How do writers talk about their work? Expressing technical and stylistic decision-making.
Students will consider a range of texts in which writers explore scholarly ways of discussing and expressing the creative act. They will learn how to approach their own creative work objectively and discuss their technical choices.

3. Literary Sources: How to compare our work to other writers.
Students will consider a range of essays from historical and contemporary sources to explore ways in which writers locate their work within the context of literary canons. This session will ask students to consider questions of genre, theme, readership and writing style.

4. Close reading skills: how to read as a writer #1. Writing techniques
Working from short stories and novel extracts, students will be guided in close reading skills with a focus on being able to identify and analyse the techniques employed by the author. They will consider ways of comparing these to their own work and integrating the acquired techniques into their practice.

5. Close reading skills: how to read as a writer #2: Themes and contexts
Working from short stories and novel extracts, students will be guided in close reading with a focus on being able to identify and analyse the themes employed by the author and the contexts in which the work is situated. They will be encouraged to consider these elements in more detail in following seminars.

6. Workshop. Students will prepare a short piece of reflective writing drawing comparison with a contemporary writer. These pieces will be prepared in advance for workshopping and formative feedback.

7. Creativity in Context: Ways of Situating Creative Practice.
Students will be asked to explore the variety of contexts which may have influenced their writing, from history to science, economics to environment. It will examine appropriate ways of discussing and analysing these contexts.

8. Critical Approaches: The role of secondary sources
Using examples of contemporary critical essays, students will consider the importance of secondary sources in shaping, expressing and analysing creative practice. They will examine and practice critical modes of expression and ways of constructing argument.

9. Towards a theoretical framework.
Working from short theoretical texts, students will be introduced to ways in which theoretical approaches can be applied to fiction and to ways of discussing theory in relation to their own practice.

10. Scholarly sources: ways of finding and using secondary critical material.
This session will consider best practice for using library and online resources, processes for accessing articles, and ways of comparing critical approaches. It will address scholarly structures: references, footnotes, bibliographies