Advanced Non Fiction Writing (JOUR90009)

Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

Availability
Semester 2
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This subject focuses in the intersection of journalistic skill and literary technique in the genre broadly defined as ‘creative non-fiction’. The weekly workshops discuss classic and contemporary authors of narrative journalism, personal essays, polemics and features such as Joan Didion, Hunter S Thompson, James Baldwin, Michael Paterniti, Rachel Kushner, Caity Weaver, George Orwell and others. Each week examines different aspects of the craft of non-fiction: research, interviewing, structure, voice, characterisation, metaphor and so on. The subject also emphasises practice, simulating the experience of writing for publication. Through the course of a semester, students choose their own topic and angle, and then pitch a non-fiction article to a guest editor from a major magazine or other outlet. They submit a draft for feedback before writing a polished piece of creative non-fiction.

Intended learning outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

  • Critically analyse the tradition of creative non-fiction writing;
  • Prepare appropriate questions and conduct effective interviews;
  • Design effective pitches and proposals for non-fiction writing;
  • Utilise in their own writing multiple techniques for researching, structuring and editing high-quality creative non-fiction.

Generic skills

At the completion of this subject, students should gain the following generic skills:

  • High level ability to analyse writing techniques and affects
  • High level ability to express thoughts, ideas and observations in accessible written English.

Last updated: 4 March 2025