The Fundamentals of Fiction with Ian Nettleton (10-week course)

Week one – Where do stories come from?

In the first session, we will look at the origins of the short story, from its early 19th century beginnings to the present day. Inspired by a tale from Australia, we will start to explore how writers use form to create powerful emotional responses. We will start to think about where stories come from, and reflect on our own childhood experiences in a writing exercise.

Week two – Creating a character

In small groups, we will begin with readings of our work from the previous week to build our confidence as writers. Then, we will start to discuss Kurt Vonnegut’s eight rules of writing, and explore ideas of how much (or little) you can reveal on the page. Looking at examples of effective characters in fiction, we will think about where characters come from and how to write engaging story arcs.

Week three – Point of View

The point of view we choose to write from affects the moral tone and bias of a piece of writing completely. Together, we will look at the strengths and limitations of each point of view, think about how they are used effectively in published fiction, and start to explore the intimacy of the first person versus the limited third person perspective.

Week four – Setting

Creating the world of your story is another means to engage your readers and reveal the interior life of your main characters. In this session, we will look at how research for fiction is integral to creating a world that feels real for your readers. Paying attention to small, distinct details, we will start to build our own worlds in a writing exercise.

Week five – Plotting

How does plot work? This week, we will look at the classic plotline and discuss how to draw a reader into a story from the beginning. We will explore the ways in which introducing a character to the plot affects the outcome, and think about what drives a story to its conclusion.

Week six – Editing, rewriting and workshopping

All writing is rewriting. This week we will begin workshopping, and we’ll be focussing on editing and rewriting your work. Together, we will start to look at how the raw material we create must be reworked to bring out the full potential of the story.

Week seven – Layout

This week we will start to discuss the importance of story layout. From indenting to attributing speech to the use of line breaks, we will experiment with different layouts to help us see how these affect our stories.

Week eight – Common errors and genre

We’ve all been there! In this session, we will start to look at common errors we’ve made along the way, and look at ways to avoid clichés so that our readers remain engaged. Ian will then introduce a writing exercise, focusing on genre.

Week nine – Endings

How we leave our characters is important and it can be hard to deliver a satisfying ending. This week, we will explore effective ways to end your stories, and how to leave your readers longing for more.

Week ten – Readings, feedback and questions

The last week will be a general discussion on prose writing, along with an overview of what we have covered throughout the course. It will also be an opportunity for each participant to read their short story to the group, and receive general feedback from their peers.

This course takes place over ten weeks. The first five sessions focus on the essential elements of writing prose fiction, and each week there will be writing exercises during and between classes, as well as examples from published works to read and discuss. From week two everyone will get the chance to read out a piece of writing in a small group. The last five weeks give everyone the experience to workshop 500 words of prose. If you haven’t workshopped before, don’t worry – these sessions will be explained nearer the time.

• No more than 15 students per course to maximise interaction with your tutor and coursemates
• Live classes led by an experienced tutor, whether online or in person
• Classes include discussion and writing exercises, along with one workshopping session for each student, in which you’ll receive detailed feedback on your work
• Course materials and notes for each week will be accessible 24/7 during the course, and for one year after the end of the course.