TUTOR: Kerry Hadley-Pryce has had three novels published by Salt Publishing: The Black Country (Michael Schmidt Prize); Gamble (shortlisted for The Encore Award) and God’s Country. Her fourth novel, Lie of the Land, is due for publication by Salt Publishing in 2025. She has a PhD in creative writing from Manchester Metropolitan University, teaches creative writing, and has contributed to Palgrave’s Smell, Memory & Literature in the Black Country anthology. She has had short stories published in Best British Short Stories 2023, Takahe Magazine, Fictive Dream and The Incubator and read by Brum Radio.
Start Date: 14th January, 2025
Duration: Six weeks
Fee: £160
3 places remaining
Discover the Magic of Short Story Writing: Enrol in Our Online Creative Writing Course
Enter the enchanting world of short story writing and embark on a captivating six-week adventure designed to awaken your creative genius. Short stories provide a unique window into diverse lives, emotions, and experiences, all within a few pages. As a writer, short stories offer you the canvas to experiment with various styles, genres, and ideas, allowing you to refine your skills and stretch the boundaries of your creativity.
Our online short story creative writing course offers a comprehensive, flexible, and immersive learning experience accessible from anywhere in the world. Register early to secure your spot and join the ever-growing community of passionate storytellers who have uncovered the magic of short story writing. Unleash your creative potential and learn the secrets of crafting narratives that captivate readers and leave a lasting impression.
Course Overview:
Our online short story writing course features six engaging modules, each dedicated to exploring a unique aspect of storytelling. We recommend dedicating 2-3 hours per week to the course, allowing you to progress through the text lessons at your own pace, as there are no set class times. Your tutor will email the first module to you on the course start date, and a new module will be released weekly as text lessons (be sure to check your SPAM folder to avoid missing it).
Tutor Support:
To track your progress, a dedicated online tutor will assess your weekly written assignments and provide personalised feedback.
Even after the class ends, you’ll maintain access to the course materials, allowing you to refresh your memory or revisit specific topics.
Course Modules:
Here’s a quick look at what you can anticipate each week:
Module 1: Flash Fiction
When does a short story become ‘flash fiction’ – or vice versa? What’s the difference, anyway? In this module, we’ll be looking at the way brevity can work in our narrative, exploring flash, short, and micro fictions and practising some practical ways of sharpening up your narrative style.
Module 2: Ekphrasis in Short Stories
The dictionary definition of ekphrasis means ‘to describe a work of art,’ and ekphrastic writing has traditionally been associated with poetry, but we’ll be using it to inspire short stories. We’ll consider how visual images can work for us creatively, illustrating how art and image can both inspire and inhabit our short stories.
Module 3: Stories out of the Everyday
In this module, we’ll be working our creative muscles to explore ways in which, by looking at the ‘ordinary’, we can enliven our narrative style and produce a satisfying and compelling short story.
Module 4: Active Writing
This module aims to encourage you to experiment with your narrative voice by exploring ways to ‘find stories’ and to convey them in an original way.
Module 5: Stealing Stories
T. S. Eliot said, ‘Mediocre writers borrow; great writers steal.’ And here’s Mark Twain: ‘There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.’ In this penultimate module, we’ll be looking at ways to harvest the premise of a story and to develop our own ways of structuring and owning it.
Module 6: Endings
The best way to complete a short story course is to explore ‘endings’. In this module, we’ll be looking at the different ways you could end your story. We’ll read some examples and consider, amongst other things: ‘to twist or not to twist?’ Open or closed endings? Circular or linear?
Begin Your Short Story Writing Journey Today:
Immerse yourself in our online short story creative writing course and unlock the power of your imagination. With expert guidance, personalised feedback, and a treasure trove of knowledge at your fingertips, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a proficient storyteller. Register now and unlock your writing potential; your creative genius awaits!
