Writing that elusive novel or novella

Aims

This course aims to:

• explore the attraction and challenges of writing long fiction
• introduce writers to a range of relevant technical skills through reading 
  and exercises
• strengthen confidence and to provide ways in which a routine is established so that work moves forward even in face of difficulties

Course content

Nobody writes a novel or novella in a week, but the course will send you home with the inspiration and technical tools to start assembling a work of fiction. It will also equip you to keep writing through moments of despair, the seductions of the internet, or just times when the book gets stuck or ideas in your brain won’t translate to the page. 

Storytelling continues in many forms and increasing numbers listen to recorded stories on radio or podcasts, but published novels and novellas have long been central to the literary world. The possibilities of fiction evolve constantly, as do the publication options for the would-be author. We’ll look, briefly, at the historical events that led to the novel becoming a popular and arguably most respected, form of fiction. What ways might you choose to develop an initial idea into long fiction and what professional tricks and techniques can make it compelling? Is there a line between literary and commercial fiction?

What to expect on this course

The course will be taught through a mixture of mini-lectures, extracts from fiction and thinking about the influence of film and images. We’ll have discussions, class exercises, and afternoon workshop sessions where we’ll give constructive feedback on each other’s work. This is optional and can seem nerve-wracking but is invaluable and fun. We can also look at what motivates any of us to take on a major project and to stay the course.

Course sessions

• Sessions 1&2: Why write? 
  How did the novel become a major form of story? What different ways might you choose to develop a fictional idea? What are chapters for? What’s the difference between a novel and a novella? 
  Some of us feel they have a story to tell. Some want to entertain. Some, having written short stories, want to face the considerable challenge of starting and finishing a 25,000 - 40,000 novella or a 90,000 novel. Some have always lived in a landscape of words and want to create new worlds. Some hope to publish, and extreme optimists hope to become rich! 
  An exercise in inspiration.

   

• Sessions 3&4: What kind of writer are you? 
  There are planners and plotters who work out whole narratives in advance and those who set out with an idea and a rough plot and see where it takes them. What are the pros and cons of each approach? What techniques will help the first-time novelist? How do you start? What do you want to achieve by the end?
  An exercise in methods of plotting.

   

• Sessions 5&6: Characters
  Most successful novels depend on plausible characters readers can engage with, whether they are realistic, vulnerable, brave, flawed or an irresistible outright villain. The fortunes of main characters, their desires, and the jeopardy that may thwart their intentions are what drives a story on. They are what any of us might stay up far too late, reading 
  Whose story is it? Whose point of view will make your novel come alive?
  An exercise in constructing characters a reader will engage with.

   

• Sessions 7&8: A sense of place
  In some novels the sense of place may almost be a character itself, and often it can shape a crucial event in the story. We’ll look at a few examples and discuss what purpose background might serve in your novel and how to create a powerful sense of place while avoiding clichés.
  An exercise in descriptive writing.

   

• Sessions 9&10: The way ahead
  Outlining the narrative arc of your novel in a form that you can take away and use as a guide to check your progress against.

Learning outcomes

As a result of the course, you will gain a greater understanding of the subject and you should be able to:

• start a new novel or novella or to continue with an existing work
• gain an understanding of what a novella or novel can achieve and the different possibilities in structure, style, plot, and mood
• increase confidence in your idea and the imagination and ability to keep several different threads or sub-stories woven into a single work. And to keep going.

Required reading

A passion for reading goes hand in hand with a longing to write. I hope anyone exploring novel-writing will have broad tastes in fiction. These titles are just suggestions, but I shall refer to some in class so please try and read at least one or (preferably) more and be able to discuss them. There are no compulsory readings for this course but it is strongly recommended that those with an asterisk are read before the course starts.

*Perry, Sarah, Enlightenment (Jonathan Cape, 2024)

*Strout, Elizabeth, Olive Kitteridge, (Simon & Schuster, 2008)

*Ingalls, Rachel, Mrs Caliban (Faber and Faber, 2021)