BA (Hons) Creative Writing

The module encompasses intercultural and boundary spanning skills, professional written and spoken communication and collaboration between students as they are introduced to workshopping techniques.

This module helps students become better writers by reading and understanding different kinds of writing. They'll explore what they like to write about, become more confident in sharing their ideas, and learn how research can make their writing better. This course mixes reading, writing, and research to make students well-rounded writers who can create great stories and essays.

The module explores the building blocks of character development and character driven story lines through various forms of writing and requires the student to evidence a variety of research skills and evidence professional written and communication skills, and collaboration between students as they are introduced to workshopping techniques.

We will focus on the influence of Myth, Folk Tale and Metaphor and how these story structures and character archetypes have informed and continue to inform storytelling and creative writing. It will foster the students' ability to conduct independent research and then to use this to inform their creative and critical writing.

As with other Level 4 modules, this module is designed to encourage consistent engagement, with smaller assessment items that build on each other in terms of attention to language and form, providing both summative and formative feedback. This module aims to develop student skills in textual analysis and academic writing skills.

The module widens the student's experience of cultural activities, developing cultural capital, and helps embed a sense of a learning community/cohort through shared experiences.

Students will workshop their writing in tutor-led and peer-led sessions, offering and receiving constructive criticism, reading and performing key scenes from their scripts and re-drafting and developing their work. They will also share insights into their ongoing research process with peers. Industry guest speakers will also share their knowledge and experience in seminars and masterclasses.

This module expands students' understanding of short fiction and fosters independent reading. It supports their short story writing skills, enhancing their creative confidence and critical insights. Students learn to think creatively about the possibilities of short story writing and develop their ability to evaluate both published authors and peers constructively. Through workshops and essays, students gain a strong foundation in narrative craft, preparing them for more advanced prose modules at Level 6.

This module has creativity embedded throughout, with a heightened awareness of written and spoken communication and the power of language. Poems are designed to be heard as well as read. Students will be reading their own draft poetry aloud in class, thus developing self-confidence in their own voices and work.

The module will include a diverse range of texts that promote intercultural understanding. Boundary spanning skills will be developed across the many forms of creative non-fiction and an exploration of the writerly techniques they value.

Students will workshop their writing in tutor-led and peer-led sessions, offering and receiving constructive criticism, reading and performing key scenes from their scripts and re-drafting and developing their work. Industry guest speakers will also share their knowledge and experience in seminars and masterclasses.

In this module, students will learn scriptwriting for radio and stage, focusing on modern techniques. They'll explore these forms through reading and listening, and develop their work collaboratively in a writers' room. Students will also improve their communication skills, refining their scripts through workshops and industry expert input in seminars and masterclasses.

The module embeds key employability skills: leadership and motivational skills, analysis and problem-solving, creativity and enterprise, professional written and spoken communication, financial literacy, planning and organisation, digital capability and teamworking and collaboration. 

In this module, students will learn how to propose novels effectively, understand their target market, and master the art of crafting compelling opening chapters. They'll also explore various novel genres and develop essential narrative skills. Through peer workshops and hands-on practice, students will prepare work suitable for the publishing industry, all while gaining valuable insights into genre, market, and narrative craft.

This is an opportunity to spend one semester of your second year at one of LJMU's partner universities around the world. 

This module aims to provide students with an additional year of study at an approved overseas partner that will complement their studies in Liverpool.

In this module, students are encouraged to advance the work-shopping skills that they have developed over the previous four semesters to give and receive constructive criticism in peer-led sessions as well as tutor-led work groups. Key employability skills are embedded throughout. These include: analysis, problem-solving & decision-making, communication, ICT, numeracy & financial literacy, planning & organisation and team work and collaboration, as well as creativity and enterprise. 

The focus on published collections encourages students to focus on how a poet's'voice' is developed and how individual poems are collated to inform the collection asa whole.

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

The module will be a mix of class and group activities, sessions with guest speakers, and independent research and planning. It will draw on the expertise of the university's Student Futures team, alongside the subject-specific knowledge of the module teaching team, and a range of guest speakers from the creative industries, to deepen students' understanding of potential employment opportunities and to help them map and plan their own routes towards this. Through a series of guided activities, students will be enabled to reflect on their existing skills and experience, identify areas for development, and explore ways of presenting themselves as writers and creative-industry professionals. They will also develop their skills in research, analytical writing and clear written communication, through researching case studies in the creative industries and writing these up in a comparative analytical study.

This module builds on key employability skills providing a work-based learning opportunity whilst also continuing to develop students' skills in research and analytical writing suitable for postgraduate study.