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: 11th February, 2025
Duration: Six weeks
Fee: £160
3 places remaining
Welcome to the Writing Dark and Uncanny Fiction Course: Unlock Your Narrative Potential
Are you ready to enhance your creative writing skills? Our Writing Dark and Uncanny Fiction Course offers a unique opportunity for writers to start or refine their ability to craft haunting narratives that resonate with readers. With immersive lessons, stimulating prompts, and thoughtful feedback, you’ll explore dark themes, unsettling characters, and eerie settings. Whether you’re a newcomer eager to dive into the genre or a seasoned writer looking to polish your voice, this course provides the tools and inspiration to create gripping, chilling stories. Join us on a journey into the depths of imagination, where your darkest ideas can flourish.
Personalised Support from Dedicated Instructors
Our knowledgeable instructors are here to offer tailored feedback each week. By submitting your work for review, you’ll gain invaluable insights that will elevate your writing.
Global Accessibility & Lifetime Access to Resources
Our courses are open to aspiring writers from around the world. Plus, you’ll enjoy lifetime access to all course materials after completion, allowing you to revisit lessons whenever you need a refresh.
High Demand & Early Registration Recommended
Due to strong interest in our Writing Dark and Uncanny Fiction Course, we encourage early registration to secure your spot. Don’t miss this opportunity to sharpen your writing skills and unleash your storytelling potential.
Course Overview
This six-week online course provides a flexible and engaging learning experience designed for busy schedules. With no set class times, you can explore weekly text-based modules at your own pace, dedicating 2-3 hours each week to improve your writing craft. Each week, you’ll investigate new topics and delve into the intricacies of creative writing. Through interactive exercises, you’ll enhance your fiction writing and broaden your storytelling toolkit.
A Glimpse of What Awaits You:
Module 1: Feeding your Fears to Fiction?
In this first module, we’ll look at what is meant by ‘Dark Fiction’ and start considering
starting points and ‘narrative springboards’ that aim to excite and entertain your
reader. We’ll explore how to convey the thrill and begin our journey into darkness.
Module 2: Unlikeable Characters
Compelling characters don’t have to be likeable – in fact unlikeable characters can often
provide much more narrative drive, as well as developing a shudder-worthy story. We’ll
tackle creating characters you might not want to be friends with in real life, but who will
be utterly memorable.
Module 3: Location Location Location
Where you set your story is a vital element to creating the right kind of atmosphere and
tone of the piece. We’ll experiment with those places – real and imagined – that can
inspire the kind of feeling you want to evoke.
Module 4: The Uncanny
We’ll examine what is meant by ‘the uncanny’ and how we can imbue our writing with
elements of the weird and the eerie. We’ll look at some contemporary themes and how
the everyday can be conveyed as bizarre in uncanny fiction.
Module 5: The Hook
We’ll learn about and practise ways of hooking our audience into our stories and of
maintaining their interest. We’ll pull them into the darkness of the story using a variety
of writerly techniques and styles.
Module 6: Putting it Together
In this final module, we’ll work on structure and endings. We’ll tackle the brutality of
editing and how this can really sharpen up that sense of foreboding and we’ll hunker
down on polishing an unsettling, powerful, dark story that will entertain and chill the
spines of our readers.
Commence Your Writing Odyssey
Join us for an unforgettable journey to uncover the writer within you. Register now for our Writing Dark and Uncanny Fiction Course and let your imagination take flight!
