Creative Writing and the Writing Industries

The module aims to introduce students to a range of different research methods; develop their research skills to Master's level; and enhance their library skills. It also aims to introduce them to different ways of engaging in research cultures appropriate to the focus of their studies; enable them to develop a research profile; understand ethics approval; and gain skills in the presentation of their research. The module prepares students for their dissertation or writing industries project at the end of the MA.

The module will provide comprehensive knowledge of a range of commercially popular writing genres in which our teaching team have experience and expertise. Students will examine key texts in these genres and consider the professional activities undertaken by their authors, such as membership of specialist writers associations, and be supported to establish themselves in these communities. This will enable them to produce and peer-critique original writing in commercial genres, and to evaluate routes to digital and traditional publication.

The aim of this module is to introduce students to the modes of writing used to interpret for contemporary audiences matters related to heritage and culture. This will include historical novels, memoirs, non-fiction and public-facing information and reviews. We will consider what we can learn about contemporary society from the way these topics are being written about in contemporary (post 2000) texts.

The module will consider how writers produce full-length pieces of creative work, routes to publication and the professional contexts in which contemporary writers work. This will include material that is specific to the development of writers' own profiles in terms of planning, writing editing and moving towards publication/performance, but will also relate to other aspects of professional practice such as working in educational contexts, running workshops, applying for funding and developing an online profile. Skills in these areas will be developed through group work, presentations and research. In coursework, students will demonstrate the development of their own creative work, as well possible outlets for their writing, develop areas of professional activity and develop a coherent view of the relationship between their profile as writers and the writing industries.

On this collaborative, project-based module, students will collectively plan, curate, promote, and hold a modest literary festival at the end of semester two, open to the public and the Loughborough University community. This will involve developing and utilising practical skills in terms of event planning and organisation, logistics and scheduling, and marketing and promotion. Intellectual and literary discussions will inform decisions over invitee authors, the design, tone, and theme of the festival, considerations of representation and equality, and the drafting of interview questions and introductory speeches. The festival is delivered in partnership with Loughborough University Arts and will also be an opportunity to showcase creative writing by students on the Creative Writing and the Writing Industries MA.

The aim of this module is to explore forms of literary, cinematic and other cultural production that have emerged in the United States during the particularly fraught era of the twenty-first century.  Students will be encouraged to consider the craft and techniques behind these text, in relation to their own creative as well as critical practice.

The module will give students the opportunity to develop a significant, sustained body of writing informed by advanced research skills. Students will use research methods learned in Resources for Advanced Research (semester 1) to conduct research into an aspect of their literary-critical or creative work, and deploy their findings in the subsequent writing. Students will have the opportunity to work one-to-one with a specialist in their field over six tutorials.

The module will give students the opportunity to develop a project that relates to their skill-set and aspirations, and building on the professional development work done on The Writer and the Writing Industries module.  With supervision from a lecturer who has expertise in the writing industries, students will research an area of professional activity that will prepare them for work as a writer after the MA.

The module will give students the opportunity to develop a significant, sustained body of writing informed by advanced research skills. Students will use research methods learned in Resources for Advanced Research (semester 1) to conduct research into an aspect of their literary-critical or creative work, and deploy their findings in the subsequent writing. Students will have the opportunity to work one-to-one with a specialist in their field over six tutorials.

The module will give students the opportunity to develop a project that relates to their skill-set and aspirations, and building on the professional development work done on The Writer and the Writing Industries module.  With supervision from a lecturer who has expertise in the writing industries, students will research an area of professional activity that will prepare them for work as a writer after the MA.