Creative Writing

Course CodeBWR103
Fee CodeS2
Duration (approx)100 hours
QualificationTo obtain formal documentation the optional exam(s) must be completed which will incur an additional fee of $36. Alternatively, a letter of completion may be requested.

Study Creative Writing.  Learn to write from the start to the end of your stories.  

This course has been designed to help you:

  • Become a more confident, skilful, creative writer.
  • Improve your writing skills and help stimulate ideas.
  • Learn to write for books, novels, short stories, plays, etc.
  • Learn to place yourself in an unexpected situation.

It is suitable for many different people and levels of experience, for example:

  • Authors already experienced in other writing styles
  • Marketing executives wanting to expand their skills
  • Hobby authors 
  • Writers wanting further support with writing approaches

This course will provide you with guidance on all aspects of creative writing, from establishing a theme to producing the completed work. Don't just dream about it, make creative writing a reality and enrol now!

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

  1. Introduction
    • What is creative writing, What’s different about creative writing, Information and creativity, Creative genres, Forms of Writing, Form, Structure, Purpose, Creative Writing resources, What is needed for success, The business of writing, Getting published, Self-publishing, Vanity publishing, Terminology.
  2. Basic Creative Writing Skills
    • Words and their proper use, Types of language, Informative language, Persuasive, Imaginative, Literal, Figurative, Formal, Colloquial language, Parts of language (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, plurals, possessive nouns & pronouns, gender, adjectives, articles); Common grammatical errors (fragmented sentences, run on sentences, comma splices, dangling modifiers). Run on sentences, irregular verbs, Whom or who, Pronouns and Antecedents, Punctuation, Creating and critiquing, Generating ideas, Developing ideas, Narrative theory, Storyline, Narrative structure, Settings or scenes, Mood or atmosphere, Time, Voice, Point of view, Creative reading.
  3. Concise and Clarity
    • Making things clear, Slice of life fiction, Conciseness and Succinctness, Understanding ambiguity, Causes of ambiguity, Doubt and ambiguity, Hinge points and ambiguity, Defamiliarization.
  4. Planning What You Write
    • Writing routine, Establishing a theme, Organising ideas, Paragraphing, Writing a synopsis, Titles, Developing objectives.
  5. Writing Fiction
    • Elements, Clues, Signs, Common errors, Scope or Range, Theme problems, Authenticity problems, Tone problems.
  6. Writing Non-fiction
    • Creative non-fiction, scope, Developing ideas, Narration, Story line, Deduction, Induction, Classical Development, Chronological development, Analogy, Cause and effect, Classification, Comparison and contrast, Definition, Analysis, Developing a profile, Interviews.
  7. Newspaper Writing
    • What to write, Scope, News values, Writing guidelines, Regular columns, Fillers.
  8. Writing for Magazines
    • Scope of magazine writing, What publishers want, Magazine articles, Travel writing, Writing for public relations, Selling your work.
  9. Writing Books
    • Themes, Consistency, Believability, Variety, Getting started, Getting a contract, Book publishing, Non-fiction books, Fact finding.
  10. Special Project
    • Organising a portfolio to sell yourself.

Aims

  • Describe elements and forms of creative writing.
  • Develop skills that will help you generate, evaluate and communicate ideas. Discuss the functions of clear writing, and the art of revealing and concealing in writing.
  • Establish theme and structure as planning tools.
  • Identify and discuss various forms of fiction writing and publishing opportunities.
  • Analyse different non-fiction genres to determine key elements and strategies.
  • Analyse different forms of creative writing commonly found in newspapers.
  • Analyse magazine articles to determine what makes a good feature article.
  • Discuss the main elements of book writing, including theme, organisation, and weaving different narrative threads into a unified whole.
  • Prepare a portfolio of creative writing ready for submission and of future ideas.

TAKE THE NEXT STEP AND ENROL NOW!

Let your imagination take flight and improve your creative writing skills! 

You can enrol on the course now, but if you have any questions about the content of the course or studying with ACS, then please get in touch with us today - use our FREE COURSE COUNSELLING SERVICE to get in touch with our expert tutors. They will be pleased to help you!

 


Meet some Of our academics

John Mason

John Mason is one of Australia's most prolific writers. He saw his first work published when at secondary school, where he worked on the school magazine. In 1973 he was writing a weekly column for his local newspaper and by 1975 he was a regular contributor to Australia's national magazine "Your Garden". John was engaged by Victoria's Dept of Youth, Sport and Recreation to write a book on Fun and Fitness Trails in 1978. In 1981 he saw two more books published (one in America, another in Australia), and commenced writing regularly for the Self Sufficiency Magazine, Grass Roots. John is a long term member of the Australian Society of Authors, the Garden Media Guild (UK) and the Horticultural Media Association (Australia). He has written or contributed to over 100 books, many published by international publishers and published more than 2,000 articles across a range of genres (Gardening, Education, Business, Farming, Fitness). In addition, John has contributed to and overseen the development of more than 600 distance education courses which encompass around 20 million words. He has been an avid photographer for 40 years, building a collection of over 100,000 images, which are used to illustrate his work. His marine animal photos are even used by Legoland in England, on their Atlantis ride! Writer, Manager, Teacher and Businessman with over 40 years interenational experience covering Education, Publishing, Leisure Management, Education, and Horticulture. He has extensive experience both as a public servant, and as a small business owner. John is a well respected member of many professional associations, and author of over seventy books and of over two thousand magazine articles.

Rachel Syers

Rachel has worked as a newspaper journalist for the past 15 years in a range of roles from sub-editor and social columnist to news reporter, covering rounds such as education, health, council, music, television, court, police, Aboriginal and Islander affairs, and agriculture. Her current role is Fashion Editor, features writer and features sub-editor with The Gold Coast Bulletin. She has co-authored a successful biography "Roma: From Prison to Paradise" about former prisoner-of-war turned yoga guru, Roma Blair, as well as freelanced as a writer, reviewer and researcher for Australian music and celebrity magazines such as WHO Weekly, Rave, Australasian Post and New Idea. Rachel has a B.Journalism.

Tracey Jones

Widely published author, Psychologist, Manager and Lecturer. Over 10 years working with ACS and 25 years of industry experience. Qualifications include: B.Sc. (Hons) (Psychology), M.Soc.Sc (social work), Dip. SW (social work), PGCE (Education), PGD (Learning Disability Studies).


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