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# Introduction

This free course, Start writing fiction, looks at how characters might be drawn and how setting is established. It explores the different levels of characterisation, from flat to round, and how character and place interact. It also works on the effect of genre and how genre can be used.

The main teaching material in this course is taken from an existing publication, The Fiction Writer's Workshop by Josip Novakovich (1995).

Novakovich is an award-winning writer (of short stories mainly), who teaches fiction writing at the University of Cincinnati. His chapters on ‘Character’ and ‘Setting’ are included within this course. I’ll indicate when you should read these extracts and I’ll also outline the listening and writing activities that accompany them.

This course is split into the following sections:

- Character
- Setting
- Genre

This OpenLearn course provides a sample of Level 1 study in Creative Writing.

You might be particularly interested in the following courses offered by The Open University:

- A215 Creative Writing
- A363 Advanced Creative Writing
- BA English Literature and Creative Writing
- MA Creative Writing Part 1
- MA Creative Writing Part 2

If you identify as being from a Black background, you could be eligible to study our MA in Creative Writing for free: Open Futures – Creative Writing Scholarship.

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OpenLearn - Start writing fiction
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