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CWR1003 Writing for Young Readers

Semester 1, 2023 Online
Units : 1
School or Department : School of Humanities & Communication
Grading basis : Graded
Course fee schedule : /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules

Staffing

Course Coordinator:

Overview

This introductory first year creative writing course focuses on how to write short works suitable for young readers, including writing for pre-readers (including picture books), early childhood, younger readers, and young adult readerships. The course introduces you to some of the basic principles of creative writing practice, including the planning and developing a creative work; participating actively in a writing workshop; identifying, analysing, and responding to publisher guidelines; and responding effectively to editorial feedback on creative work. The course also introduces you to the principles of both critical thinking and analysis, and creative problem-solving. Through a focus on writing and publishing for young readers, this course provides you with a developing understanding of how emerging and professional writers engage with the writing and publishing industry.

This course serves as an introduction to writing for young readers by providing you with a range of techniques for producing engaging and effective works of fiction for young readers. During the course, you will focus on identifying a key market (pre-readers, early childhood, young readers, or young adult), create a planning document for your creative work, participate in peer-critiques, and develop a creative work. You will learn about industry standards for manuscript preparation and submission, as well as how to identify and assess potential markets for your work.

The course is delivered through a series of workshops designed to provide you with a developing understanding of the practice of writing for young readers. During the workshops you will engage in focused individual and group activities, including generative and developmental writing tasks. The workshops will also provide you with information and advice about current and emerging trends in the writing and publishing industry and provide information and advice about key issues for writers, such as communication with stakeholders, creating an author profile, working with publishers and editors, building a writing portfolio, and engaging with key agencies.

CWR1003 is practice-based course that equips you with a range of general skills that are highly valued in the workplace, including critical and creative thinking; the ability to write clear, effective, and engaging prose; and professional communication skills. No prior knowledge is required to successfully complete this course.

Course learning outcomes

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. conduct independent research to support your critical and creative thinking about writing for young readers;
  2. identify and take account of the social, cultural, and political issues that affect the production and reception of young adult and children鈥檚 writing;
  3. use peer-critiquing tools to provide effective, supportive, and critically informed peer feedback;
  4. apply emerging critical and creative thinking to effectively analyse different texts and contexts;
  5. produce new texts for young readers within the contemporary writing and publishing context;
  6. create clear, engaging short works for young readers that are relevant and appropriate for the market.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Writing for pre-readers 25.00
2. Writing for early childhood 25.00
3. Writing for younger readers 25.00
4. Writing for young adults 25.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

Burton, D 2019, The Man in the Water, 精东传媒app of Queensland Press.
Smith, J 2020, A New World, Big Sky Publishing.
Sulway, N 2019, Winter's Tale, Twelfth Planet Press.
Additional texts and materials will be provided via the 精东传媒app desk and UniSQ Library.

Student workload expectations

To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.

Assessment details

Approach Type Description Group
Assessment
Weighting (%) Course learning outcomes
Assignments Written Quiz No 5 4
Assignments Written Planning document No 10 1,2,4
Assignments Creative Portfolio No 45 1,2,3,4
Assignments Creative Creative work No 40 1,2,5,6
Date printed 9 February 2024