BA (Hons) Drama and Creative Writing

This module is designed to introduce you to the differing demands of scriptwriting for three major dramatic genres screen, stage and radio. It introduces you to the formats used in these three forms and encourages you to engage with the process of visual, verbal and aural storytelling in relation to the same.

In this module, you will be tested on your ability to write using accurate and appropriate contemporary language, techniques and devices. You will scrutinise published writers' narrative strategies for important aspects of form, techniques and devices in prose, explore the links between critical and creative writing, and join in with discussion, debate and exercises.

This module is designed to encourage you to develop good writerly habits and to reflect on your own development as a practising writer. It focuses on the use of your environment (the city of Liverpool) as a source and inspiration for writing, via observation, reflection and research. It allows you the freedom to write across genres and to develop your own voice, while focusing on the importance of accurate observation and critical self-reflection. The module also works to foster a sense of group identity via seminars and group work.

This module introduces you to a range of theories and approaches to acting, including aspects of voice and movement. It establishes a shared sense of ensemble and the codes of conduct and professional work ethic expected of actors. It will link your practical work to an understanding of the social and historical roots and evolving processes of the actor, alongside introducing you to a constructive vocabulary and method of observing and evaluating both your own practice and that of others.

This practical workshop based module offers you the opportunity to explore a range of non-verbal aspects of performance text and their place in the creative and interpretive process. You will examine models of analysis and a range of examples of historical and contemporary practice where non-verbal text is the predominant mode.

This module consolidates and develops aspects of voice, movement, acting and production skills already introduced though rehearsal, leading to performance of existing texts. It provides you with the opportunity to nurture acting skills through research, rehearsal and performance.

This module introduces you to a range of contemporary performance forms and practitioners. It expands and enhances your level of conceptual understanding associated with critical approaches to performance, and develops your ability to write coherently about contemporary performance with appropriate academic presentation.

This module offers you the opportunity to develop original script work through workshop application of performance and, where appropriate, directing skills. You will explore a range of texts for their performance potential alongside enhancing your understanding of dramaturgy and story structure.

This module aims to further develop your awareness of screen language in relation to screenwriterly concerns and encourage you to examine the narrative devices and structures inherent in film and television productions. It will also encourage you to develop your own storytelling skills.

This module will develop your skills in structuring and writing a treatment and a screenplay. It will encourage individual development of filmic storytelling skills in a critical, supportive environment in preparation for the longer stories you will develop and write in Level 6 Screenwriting modules.

The aim is to provide students with an additional year of study at an approved overseas partner that will complement their programme at LJMU. This is an additional year of full-time study at an approved higher education institution. The modules to be studied must be agreed in advance, and must be appropriate for the student's programme of study. Assuming successful completion of this year, mark-bearing credit will be awarded by the Faculty Recognition Group. The grade conversion scale to be used will be made available in advance of the year abroad.

This module engages you in the study of fantasy, horror and science fiction literature and related arts. This has proven the most popular genre amongst undergraduate students and the module provides an opportunity for specialisation in this area. You will produce original, creative work informed by your studies, and present it to your classmates and tutors for formative feedback and further development.

Clearly, a novel can not be completed in one semester, but you should be left with an awareness of what is required to make this huge leap from short story writing. You will emerge with a proposal for its completion and a deeper understanding of what method best suits you to live with, revise, complete and place a book.

In this module you will acquire a deepening understanding of some of the forms which prose takes and learn to write a piece of original prose within a chosen form. You will study examples of short fiction and literary non-fiction, learning some of the key techniques involved. Then, you will reflect on your reading and your own creative processes.

In this module you will focus on structural and technical aspects of poetry and on questions of subject-matter and source material, using examples of modern and contemporary poetry. You will look at students' poems in workshops, analysing them technically, providing feedback, and focusing on the specific uses of form and language.

In this workshop module you will develop further skills leading to a sharing of material explored in an appropriate format. You will be offered a choice of specialist areas of practice which activate and extend your awareness of the practical processes involved in creating/performing in a specialist area of Drama. You will then develop your understanding of the particular conventions and stylistic approaches within the chosen specialism, and the critical field in which it sits.

This module is designed to develop your ability to craft short stories and to broaden your independent reading, honing the ability to read as a writer. It will improve both the identification and understanding of elements of fiction-writing craft and encourage reading as a writer in greater depth. You will develop the habit of writing prescriptively (via set writing exercises that enhance your understanding of the writer's craft) and independently. You will also develop a heightened awareness of your poetics and be able to reflect on the reading that shapes your writing.

In this module you will workshop your script for either radio or stage in tutor-led sessions, offering and receiving constructive criticism, reading, and performing scenes from your developing scripts. We will focus on structural and technical aspects of both forms and analyse the differences and transferable skills between the two mediums.

This module enhances your ability to deal with advanced concepts, philosophies and critical frameworks appropriate to drama and theatre practice research. It equips you with appropriate enhanced skills in use of supporting technologies in designing and proposing a piece of focussed academic research.

This module offers you an opportunity to extend independent preparation and practice and develop advanced skills in a chosen role. It enables you to realise work that will be useful as part of a professional portfolio or in accessing further advanced skills training.

This module is the cumulative point of application of skills and creative practice developed during the course, and provides a public platform for showing work. This creative and practical module is designed to give you the opportunity to develop and work independently with an ensemble.

This module is designed to encourage you to use the technical, cognitive and narrative skills you have acquired to produce a writing portfolio and reflection, using your own strengths and those of the community of writers of which you are a part. As the workshops are based each week on prepared readings of peer students' draft work, suggestions for wider reading and giving thoughtful and detailed critiques mean that your individual contribution is of great importance. The portfolio may consist of fiction or literary non-fiction.

This module is designed to encourage you to use the technical, cognitive and narrative skills you have acquired to produce a writing portfolio and reflection, using your own strengths and those of the community of writers of which you are a part. As the workshops are based each week on prepared readings of peer students' draft work, suggestions for wider reading and giving thoughtful and detailed critiques mean that your individual contribution is of great importance. The portfolio may consist of fiction or literary non-fiction.

This module further offers you the opportunity to develop either a festival event pitch or a personal company business plan as a means of enhancing potential future employability. Where appropriate the module will invite alumni who have real world experience of founding and running their own companies, or who have run festivals or similar events, to contribute to delivery.

This module allows you to pursue an individually devised creative project in Creative Writing at an advanced level. The module provides you with an opportunity to pursue a project which is not accommodated elsewhere in the programme. The project will follow an interest of yours, and of your own devising, with tutor support.

In this module you will be given instruction on a wide-range of freelance possibilities and professional occupations open to a writer. In group discussions and 'troubleshooting' sessions you will develop your critical faculties by offering advice to your peers. You will devise and develop a work-based learning project which takes your skills as a writer out into a public-facing position or role, creating a detailed plan of your ideal project. You will also research organisations currently working in a similar area to your interest, producing a case-study of one such organisation.

This module aims to form a balance between the Drama Dissertation and Advanced Practice 2 in offering you a cumulative opportunity to set practice and scholarship side by side. You will learn to locate, collect, review and evaluate relevant research material and justify clearly its relevance, and to develop a critical and analytical argument, according to conventions of academic papers and in a form related to your chosen subject.

In this module you will be given instruction on a wide-range of freelance possibilities and ways that writers can earn a living by using their skills. In group discussions and 'troubleshooting' sessions you will develop your critical faculties by offering advice to your peers. You will deliver a work-based learning project which takes your skills as a writer out into a public-facing position or role. You will produce a writers CV, or showcase document, which you can use with employers after you graduate.

This module will focus on in-depth critiquing of students' work, asking you to consider how to disassemble, rebuild and improve your own and classmates work. Discussions and reading material will centre around discussion of your own writing processes. Guest masterclasses and readings from leading contemporary poets will be utilized to give you a wider and richer learning experience.

In this module you will continue to workshop each others work, with encouragement towards robust and intellectual insights into your peers' work. Class discussions will centre on how best you might articulate your own poetic practice in ways which will benefit your own development. A series of masterclasses and guest-readings will continue to expose you to the best in contemporary poetry, and you will be exposed to the professional world of poetry, gaining insights on how and where to submit your work.

This module enables you to develop an understanding of writing for digital platforms and skillsets necessary to produce digital content. Over the semester you will not only discover the creative possibilities of writing for online platforms but also the career opportunities in this field of writing. You will look at diverse areas of text and writing online, from media characters portrayed in social networking, to bloggers, viral campaigns and participatory projects to location based storytelling.

In this module you will examine the relevant genres in detail in workshop sessions, using current examples and with input from visiting professionals. You will be required to use relevant formats, complete storylines/treatments, and drafts of script extracts to deadlines.

The portfolio module is the last step before you become a fully independent writer or move on to Masters level. In this module, you are encouraged to use the work-shopping skills that you have developed over the previous five semesters to give and receive constructive criticism in peer-led sessions as well as tutor-led work groups. You will be encouraged to independently evaluate each others scripts through the drafting and redrafting of a 30-45 minute film or TV series episode, radio play or stage play.