Writing the Novel

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the process of writing a novel.
• a range of contemporary novels and the stylistic and structural devices employed by their authors.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• look critically at your own work in order to edit and rewrite it as necessary to achieve a professional standard.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• give and receive constructive criticism.
• plan, structure, edit and improve your work.

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• write an opening and several chapters of a novel

This module will cover the essential elements of writing a novel, including writing openings and endings, character development, structure, plot, language and style. The essentials of writing novels for children and young people will also be considered.

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods and learning activities include two two-hour seminars each week. These will be structured around writing exercises and opportunities to present and discuss work with groups of other students. Individual feedback on your work will be available from your seminar tutor during office and consultation hours and in classes. A week-by-week reading list of novels and commentaries on the subject will be provided in preparation for classes.

This module includes a Learning Support Hour. This is a flexible weekly contact hour, designed to support and respond to the particular cohort taking the module from year to year. This hour will include (but not be limited to) activities such as language, theory and research skills classes; group work supervisions; assignment preparation and essay writing guidance; assignment consultations; feedback and feed-forward sessions.

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

John Mullan (2006). How Novels Work. Oxford: OUP.

Jane Gardam (2004). Old Filth. London: Chatto & Windus.

Evelyn Waugh (2002). A Handful of Dust. London: Everyman.

Curtis Sittenfeld (2006). Prep. London: Picador.

Louis Sachar (2000). Holes. London: Bloomsbury.

Anne Tyler (2007). Breathing Lessons. London: Vintage.

Virginia Woolf. Mrs. Dalloway.

Mark Haddon (2004). The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. London: Vintage.

Sandra Newman & Howard Mittelmark (2009). How Not To Write A Novel - 200 Mistakes To Avoid at All Costs if You Ever Want To Get Published. London: Penguin.

Meg Rosoff (2004). How I Live Now. London: Puffin.

Julia Bell (2001). The Creative Writing Coursebook. London: Macmillan.

Julia Darling (2004). The Taxi Driver's Daughter. London: Penguin.

Ali Smith (2002). Hotel World. London: Penguin.

Frank Cottrell Boyce (2004). Millions. London: Macmillan.

Assessment strategy

Feedback and constructive criticism of draft and marked assignments will be available from seminar tutors and will enable you to critique and improve your work. For students during the referral period this may only be available via email and will depend on staff availability. Writing exercises used during the module and the discussion in seminars will provide you with potential starting points and foundations for your writing. You will be required to bring drafts of your work to seminars and to present it to groups of your fellow students for constructive criticism prior to submitting each assignment. This process will assist you in looking critically at your own work (as well as that of your fellow students) and so help you to edit and rewrite it as necessary to achieve a professional standard.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External