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Writing the Short Story
UndergraduateGRF-CWR1112024
Course information for 2024 intake View information for 2025 course intake
Craft short stories while taking into account themes, viewpoints and structure. Query short story genres. Take a look at your own writing process and look for ways to improve it. Examine the writing industry and ask how you can break into it.
Enrolments for this course are closed, but you may have other options to start studying now. Book a consultation to learn more.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Entry requirements
- No ATAR needed, No prior study
- Duration
- 13 weeks
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Writing the Short Story
About this subject
At the completion of this subject you will be able to:
- recognise and understand theoretical and practical issues relevant to the craft of writing in the short story form
- analyse and discuss ideas relevant to creativity and creative/professional skills in their own work and in the work of others
- engage with the content of the subject through written skills, eg. in the production of an original creative folio (accompanied by exegetical writing) developed during the Study Period
- display critical judgment through reading and group discussion, eg. in an online discussion group based on subject readings.
- Introduction: what are short stories and what is writing process?
- How writing is produced and received: pre-writing/drafting/editing/the voice the audience hears/genre
- The short story anatomised: elements and history of the short story form
- How writing is narrated: narrative viewpoint
- Breaking out! Avant-garde short story writing/graphic forms and design elements
- How ideas are conveyed: theme, allegory and symbolism/action/the music, the beat, the emotion/imagery strands
- How writing is structured: structures for whole stories/structures for the prose sentence and paragraph/experimental structures/hypertext
- How writing uses setting: mood/atmosphere/symbolism/context for action/place, background, era, staging
- How writing creates characters and uses dialogue: the psychology of a character/the intimacy of dialogue/the pace and structure of dialogue
- Research and editing; the short story industry
This subject provides you with an understanding of technical aspects of writing in various genres, styles and viewpoints in the short story form. You will explore a range of practical, critical and editorial strategies. You will examine aspects of your own writing process in critical depth and also aspects of the nature of creativity and creative skills through reading acclaimed writers' works.
You will have opportunity to develop skills and understandings related to a variety of publishing outcomes and will be provided with a supportive environment for producing a folio of original work reflecting your development during the Study Period.
- Portfolio 1 (35%)
- Online Discussion (25%)
- Portfolio 2 (40%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
With a network of campuses spanning three cities in South East Queensland, Griffith University is committed to progressive multidisciplinary teaching and research and a valuable online provider with Open Universities Australia. Already attracting students from over one hundred countries, Griffith's dedication to academic excellence is available across Australia through OUA.
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- QS Ranking 2024:
- 18
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 20
Entry requirements
No entry requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
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What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
UndergraduateGRF-ART-DEG
UndergraduateGRF-COM-DEG
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