Helen's Paws for Thought » OpenUniversity http://helenspawsforthought.hkpress.co.uk cats, animal welfare, jewellery and things that concern me Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:36:14 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Open University Course http://helenspawsforthought.hkpress.co.uk/2009/06/22/open-university-course/ http://helenspawsforthought.hkpress.co.uk/2009/06/22/open-university-course/#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:38:10 +0000 helen http://helenspawsforthought.hkpress.co.uk/?p=98

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]]> A few weeks ago I have started a Open University short course in fiction writing. I have never studied with OU before and it takes a while to get used to how it works. You basically have to do lots of really challenging writing activities which you post on the forum -via a software you get from OU- and then you give each other feedback. This doesn’t always work well because some participants tend to use the smallest font – so I won’t read it, because I can’t. And some students are further ahead of others so you end up reading exercises you haven’t tackled yet. However, when there is feedback (and this does unfortunately not always happen) it is always polite and encouraging. The exercises do challenge you. I am now about to start block 4 and have to think about my final assignment which supposed to be a short story or an excerpt of a potential novel. I find this the hardest – coming up with a strong plot idea. The assignment also wants you to explain why you have chosen the point of view you narrate your story in, the time scale etc. So it really makes you think. I do enjoy it, but it is really does require a lot of time to do all those exercises – however they help and keep you writing. Would love to come up with a strong idea for a novel.  It makes a change from the usual feature writing which needs to be factual.

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