Creative Writing for Beginners

Aim of course:

The aim of this course is to give support, instruction and feedback to students who are interested in writing either fiction (short stories, novels) or poetry.

Content:

One learns to write creatively by (a) reading the works of other writers and (b) practice, practice, practice! The latter will be achieved through engaging with the exercises assigned in this course. They will help the student build discipline and confidence as well as experience with different styles and genres of writing. Students will share their completed exercises with others in the class and will receive feedback from them as well as the instructor. A mutually supportive atmosphere will be established. Writing is a lonely business; community is therefore important for the writer, and we will seek to establish a first community within the group.
The class will work on techniques for forming ideas and getting started; engaging the reader's senses; using figures of speech effectively; being alert to the importance of the sound of words, the rhythm of writing; how to manage the truth in a fictitious piece; the different forms of poetry; awareness of character and point of view in fiction; editing and polishing work.
Whether the student seeks publication, self-expression, a rewarding hobby (or possibly all three), this course is a wonderful place to start.

Course Tutor: Susan Millar DuMars

Susan Millar DuMars' debut poetry collection, Big Pink Umbrella, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2008. Her next collection, Dreams for Breakfast, appeared in April 2010. Her work features in Landing Places, Dedalus' 2010 anthology of immigrant poetry written in Ireland; and also in The Best Of Irish Poetry 2010. A fiction writer as well, she published a collection of short stories, American Girls, with Lapwing in 2007. She published a book of short stories in 2010: Lights in the Distance, published by Doire Press. Susan's third collection of poetry, "the god thing", will be published by Salmon Poetry in early 2013. She has been the recipient of an Arts Council Literature Bursary. She lives in Galway, where she and her husband have run the Over the Edge readings series since 2003.