TUTOR: Kerry Hadley-Pryce has had three novels published by Salt Publishing: The Black Country (Michael Schmidt Prize); Gamble (shortlisted for The Encore Award) and God’s Country. Her fourth novel, Lie of the Land, is due for publication by Salt Publishing in 2025. She has a PhD in creative writing from Manchester Metropolitan University, teaches creative writing, and has contributed to Palgrave’s Smell, Memory & Literature in the Black Country anthology. She has had short stories published in Best British Short Stories 2023, Takahe Magazine, Fictive Dream and The Incubator and read by Brum Radio.
Start Date: 14th January, 2025
Duration: Six weeks
Fee: $299
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Welcome to the Writing Dark and Uncanny Fiction Course
Are you ready to elevate your creative writing? Our online Writing Dark and Uncanny Fiction Course is designed for writers looking to craft haunting narratives that linger in the mind. With immersive lessons, engaging prompts, and insightful feedback, you’ll explore dark themes, unsettling characters, and eerie atmospheres. Whether you’re a newcomer or an experienced writer refining your voice, this course provides the tools and inspiration to create compelling, chilling stories. Join us on a journey into the shadows of imagination, where your darkest ideas can come to life.
Personalised Support from Dedicated Instructors
Our experienced instructors offer tailored feedback each week. Submit your work for review and gain invaluable insights to elevate your writing.
Global Accessibility & Lifetime Access to Resources
Our courses welcome aspiring writers from all over the world. Plus, enjoy lifetime access to all course materials after completion, allowing you to revisit lessons whenever you need a boost.
High Demand & Early Registration Recommended
Due to strong interest in our Writing Dark and Uncanny Fiction Course, we encourage early registration to secure your spot. Don’t miss this opportunity to refine your skills and unlock your storytelling potential.
Course Overview
This six-week online course offers a flexible and engaging learning experience tailored to busy schedules. With no set class times, you can navigate weekly text-based modules at your own pace, dedicating 2-3 hours each week to enhance your writing craft.
Each week, you’ll explore new topics and delve into the finer points of creative writing. Through interactive exercises, you’ll develop your fiction writing and expand your storytelling toolkit.
Week by Week Module Breakdown:
Module 1: Feeding your Fears to Fiction?
In this first module, we’ll look at what is meant by ‘Dark Fiction’ and start considering
starting points and ‘narrative springboards’ that aim to excite and entertain your
reader. We’ll explore how to convey the thrill and begin our journey into darkness.
Module 2: Unlikeable Characters
Compelling characters don’t have to be likeable – in fact unlikeable characters can often
provide much more narrative drive, as well as developing a shudder-worthy story. We’ll
tackle creating characters you might not want to be friends with in real life, but who will
be utterly memorable.
Module 3: Location Location Location
Where you set your story is a vital element to creating the right kind of atmosphere and
tone of the piece. We’ll experiment with those places – real and imagined – that can
inspire the kind of feeling you want to evoke.
Module 4: The Uncanny
We’ll examine what is meant by ‘the uncanny’ and how we can imbue our writing with
elements of the weird and the eerie. We’ll look at some contemporary themes and how
the everyday can be conveyed as bizarre in uncanny fiction.
Module 5: The Hook
We’ll learn about and practise ways of hooking our audience into our stories and of
maintaining their interest. We’ll pull them into the darkness of the story using a variety
of writerly techniques and styles.
Module 6: Putting it Together
In this final module, we’ll work on structure and endings. We’ll tackle the brutality of
editing and how this can really sharpen up that sense of foreboding and we’ll hunker
down on polishing an unsettling, powerful, dark story that will entertain and chill the
spines of our readers.
Embark on Your Writing Journey
Join us for an unforgettable adventure to discover the writer within you. Register now for our Writing Dark and Uncanny Fiction Course and let your imagination soar!