Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 2 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

This unit is one of the capstone units for BCI and BFA majors in Creative and Professional Writing. As such it will be vital in challenging you to produce the most sustained and coherent piece of work in your major. You will be able to use such work as a key element in your portfolio and will be encouraged to seek publication of it in appropriate media. Though the major covers a range of writing genres, you, as students in this unit, will choose your strongest genre and write with both breadth and complexity. This unit will also provide the opportunity for you to demonstrate that you have developed a sophisticated voice or style over the three years of study.

Aims

This unit aims to:
- Familiarise you with the demands of writing a sustained creative work or collection of related works.
- Acquaint you with the necessity to find and have confidence in your own voice in the text you produce.
- Prepare you for the writing, on graduation, of a longer work, such as a novel, collection of stories or poetry, creative non-fiction book, or a dissertation-length creative work should you go on to enrol in the Honours program.
- Provide you with the experience of developing a sustained creative work in consultation with an editor over a period of several months.
- Provide you with the experience of working in a professional writing workshop.
- Provide you with an understanding of the editing cycles used in developing a creative work.

Objectives

On completion of this unit you should be able to:
1. Write a sustained piece of creative writing to industry standards.
2. Develop a plan of strategic submission of work to appropriate markets or media.
3. Write and rewrite collaboratively with an editor.
4. Analyse and provide sophisticated editorial input on manuscript drafts across a wide range of genres and styles.

Content

This unit includes face-to-face and electronic workshops designed to facilitate the development of professional reading, editing and writing skills. In particular it focuses on the novella form both historically and in the contemporary context. The unit will assist you to plan, develop, research, write, edit and submit a novella, or agreed equivalent, to a professional publication forum.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

This unit will be taught through an interdependent mixture of:
- Formal classroom Writing and Reading Discussion Groups
- Peer Writing Workshops
- Individual Student-directed Writing
- Individual Consultations with a Professional Supervisor

You will be expected to display a significant ability for self-directed research and learning, as well as collaborative discussions with peers.

Assessment

LATE ASSIGNMENTS
An assignment submitted after the due date without an approved extension will not be marked. If you are unable to complete your assignment on time, you should submit on time whatever work you have done.

Faculty Assessment Information
To access the Creative Industries Faculty Assessment Information please refer to the Blackboard site for this unit.FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
You will receive formative feedback on your progress in this unit during tutorials and discussions throughout the semester.

Assessment name: Project Proposal
Description: A folio outlining the proposed project, which includes; a one page synopsis of the proposed project, a rationale, timeline, research plan and a 600-word writing sample by early in the semester.
Relates to objectives: 2, 3
Weight: 5%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Early Semester

Assessment name: Draft Submission
Description: The submission of a completed, early draft novella in mid semester.
Relates to objectives: 1, 3
Weight: 5%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Mid Semester

Assessment name: Written Novella Submission
Description: Manuscript development and peer critique.
1. Two meetings with your supervisor (Formative) 0%
2. In-class written peer evaluations including a minimum of three submissions of your own work in progress and a minimum of nine critiques of peer works.
Relates to objectives: 2, 3, 4
Weight: 25%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Throughout Semester

Assessment name: Written Novella Submission
Description: A Novella of 6000 words, or agreed equivalent (such as a coherent collection of poetry or short stories), submitted to industry standards for an unsolicited manuscript, including a brief accompanying letter to the publisher.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2, 3
Weight: 65%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: End of Semester

Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

There is no set text for this unit.

Recommended References:

Wolitzer, H. (2001) The Company of Writers: Fiction Workshops and Thoughts on the Writing Life, Penguin.

Risk assessment statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 02-Apr-2013