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# Introduction

Welcome to this free course, Start writing fiction: characters and stories. Start by watching the introductory video from course author, Derek Neale.

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Transcript

Start writing fiction: characters and stories focuses on a skill which is central to the writing of all stories and novels – creating characters. You’ll hear from a variety of writers talking about how they started and how they created their stories and characters. You’ll learn the benefits of using a writer’s notebook or journal, how to read like a writer and how to edit, as you start writing your own stories.

Derek Neale is your guide through the course. A novelist and short story writer – his latest novel is The Book of Guardians – Derek has recorded many interviews with novelists, playwrights and biographers about their approach to writing. He’ll introduce each week, reminding you of what you’ve learned and mentioning the highlights of the week ahead. The course map gives an overview of the course.

Each week’s work is designed to take about three hours – but if you want to develop your skills as a writer you may well spend longer than this. Even just a short paragraph can take a while to get right – though sometimes, of course it can work more or less immediately. How long you spend on the writing exercises is up to you – but you will develop best as a writer if you recognise that writing can’t usually be done quickly, it’s something you need to live with and return to again and again. This course is designed with that in mind.

Here’s a run-down of features that have been developed to help you study. The course is designed to run on desktops, tablets and mobile devices; however, some of the material is quite detailed and using a larger screen will enhance your experience. Materials are best viewed running the most up-to-date software available for your device and using the most recent version of the web browser.

## Downloads

From time to time you’ll see downloadable PDFs as links within the text. These are provided to help your learning. They include extracts and information sheets that you may want to save for future reference.

## Quizzes

Some of the weeks include a quiz about an extract you will have just read. The final week has a quiz to help you review your learning.

## Sharing your work

This course previously incorporated a forum where you were able to share your writing, and evaluate the writing of others. Following changes in 2018 to data protection regulations, it has been decided to remove this forum from the course. But it is still highly beneficial for a writer to share their work with peers, to receive feedback, and to evaluate others' work. You might consider finding somebody you can engage with on this level, maybe a friend or colleague or family member who would like to read your work and give you their thoughts. Perhaps you already know some other writers you can exchange ideas with. There might be a local writing group in your area, or otherwise an online group set up for this purpose. Finding some fellow writers and sharing work can be an invaluable exercise, both for obtaining some feedback on your writing, and for practising your critical skills by evaluating the writing of others.

At times in this course you are encouraged to make use of your memory and experience in transformative ways. It can be exhilarating to make use of personal observations and history in writing your fiction. But it is sensible not to share writings that are deeply personal during the course unless you are certain that you will not mind them being discussed impersonally and evaluated as artistic products rather than as slices of your life.

In your writing and any online discussion it is important not to reveal personal details about yourself that might place you at risk.

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OpenLearn - Start writing fiction: characters and stories
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