The short story is often described as one of the most satisfying literary genres, both to read and to write. This course encourages students to identify how these stories ‘work’ by considering classic examples which, in each class, illustrate a particular aspect of short story composition. An exchange of ideas and responses between students and tutor enable the student to then put into practice what they have observed in a series of writing challenges, designed to extend their writing skills in this most exciting – and challenging - of genres.
Given the nature of creative writing, it is important that applicants' use of English is sufficiently fluent to be able to understand in English nuances of meaning and have a familiarity with the structure and grammar of English.
Course Dates
Course details
Tutors
Course details
Tutors
Key Features
Aims of the course:
- To introduce students to the art of short story writing.
- To foster an understanding of various subgenres of the short story, through guided reading and interpretive commentary.
- To encourage and guide students' own experiments with the form through practical writing exercises.
Learning outcomes
As a result of the course, within the constraints of the time available, participants should be able to:
- recognise and appreciate the key elements of short story writing
- deploy with some confidence key skills of short story writing
- apply critical skills to their own writing and the writing of others
Course content overview
- This course will begin with a consideration of what makes a short story - apart from its length - a distinct genre, introducing the elements which combine to produce the short story's unique effect.
- Each week will focus on a particular short story or stories by the genre's key exponents, to illustrate developments and variations in the genre. The story or stories will also be used to demonstrate particular technical aspects of short story writing.
- Students will discover how writers achieve certain effects and be encouraged to appropriate and experiment with these techniques in their own original writing.
Welcome week (Week 0)
Purpose:
- personal introductions
- introducing the course
- useful reading
- personal objectives
Learning outcomes:
By studying this week the students should have:
- become familiar with navigating around the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and from VLE to links and back
- tested their ability to access files and the web conferencing software and sorted out any problems with the help of the eLearning team
- learnt how to look for, assess and reference internet resources
- used forums to introduce themselves to other students
- contributed to a discussion forum to introduce themselves to other students and discuss why they are interested in the course, what they hope to get out their studies and also to respond to News item sent out on behalf of tutor
Week 1: Event-Plot Stories?
Purpose:
- what is a short story?
- what are its limitations?
- what characteristics do many short stories have in common?
- why do short stories appear to punch above their weight?
- what is an event-plot story?
- how do they work?
Learning outcomes:
- by studying this week the students should have gained an understanding of why a short story is not just a story that is short, but a different kind of story. They will also recognise an event-plot story shape and have started to work with this model
Week 2: Anti-Plot Stories
Purpose:
- what is an anti-plot story?
- why is it variously called ‘formless’, ‘Chekhovian’ and ‘slice of life’?
- how is it different from the event-plot story?
- what characteristics do they share?
- what makes an anti-plot story different from a sketch?
Learning outcomes:
- by studying this week the students should be able to recognise an anti-plot story and what distinguishes it both from the event-plot story and from the sketch. They will have started to work with the anti-plot model
Week 3: Variations (introducing magical realism and flash fiction)
Purpose:
- how useful are these distinctions in story types?
- is it possible to combine the event-plot and the anti-plot story?
- what other kinds of short story are there?
- are there genres and styles which are particularly suited to the short form?
- what is magical realism? What is flash fiction?
- why are endings so important?
Learning outcomes
- by studying this week the students should have an appreciation of subgenres of short story and also an understanding of the limitations of, and opportunities offered by, flash fiction. They will have had experience fashioning a conclusion and gained an understanding of the role endings play in influencing the meaning of a story
Week 4: Characterisation and Dialogue
Purpose:
- regarding characterisation, what do we mean by ‘telling’ versus ‘showing’?
- what are their relative merits? What are the functions of dialogue? How can we use dialogue to advance plot?
- how can we use dialogue to reveal character? How can we give value to what is unsaid?
Learning outcomes:
- by studying this week the students should have gained an understanding of how to reveal character efficiently and economically and how to use dialogue both to develop character and to advance plot. They will have deployed these skills
Week 5: Narrative Voice and Point of View
Purpose:
- who is telling the story and how are they telling it?
- what and where is the ‘centre of consciousness’?
- what are the respective advantages and limitations of first- and third- person narrative voice?
- what different kinds of third-person voice are there?
- what is an unreliable narrator and what is its effect?
- how much does the narrator ‘know’?
Learning outcomes:
- by studying this week the students should have a greater understanding of the significance of point of view and the range of possibilities for narrative voice. Taken together with last week’s exercise, they will now have experimented with both first- and third-person narrative voice
Week 6: what next?
- assessment of student learning
- assessment of student satisfaction
- encouragement of further study
This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.
Our short courses are designed especially for adult learners who want to advance their personal or professional development. They are taught by tutors who are expert in both their subjects and in teaching students of all ages and experiences.
Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language to get the maximum benefit from the course.
Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours of self-study time, for example, reading materials, although this will vary from person to person.
While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).
Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the VLE so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (using discussion boards etc).
Fees
The course fee includes access to the course on our VLE, personal feedback on your work from an expert tutor, a certificate of participation (if you complete work and take part in discussions), and access to the class resources for two years after your course finishes.
Concessions
For more information, please see our concessions information page.
Alison Fordham Bursary
University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education is proud to offer the Alison Fordham bursary, which is awarded to students who wish to study on one of our short online courses via our VLE, reducing the fee paid by 50%. The bursary is limited to a single award for each set of online courses.
Application criteria:
- applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study
- applicants who can demonstrate financial need
For more information, please see our bursaries information page.
A certificate of participation and a digital credential will be awarded to those who contribute constructively to weekly discussions, exercises and assignments for the duration of the course.
