MA Creative Writing Scriptwriting

Key details

MA CREATIVE WRITING SCRIPTWRITING

Start Year

2022

Attendance

Full Time

Award

Degree of Master of Arts

Duration (years)

Prepare for a career writing for theatre, film or television with an MA that allows you to explore and produce dramatic writing across the media.

You’ll study both the theory and practice of dramatic writing, addressing contemporary critical debates, analysing written and performance texts, and experimenting with a range of techniques in original writing. You’ll develop your skills in constructive criticism and creative editing of your peers’ writing, creating a supportive writers’ network in the process.

You’ll be taught by renowned theorists, practitioners and visiting specialists through seminars, presentations, screenings, workshops, readings and performance visits. All with the rigour and professional insight that are the hallmark of our creative writing teaching.

About

The scriptwriting strand of our world-renowned MA Creative Writing has three core modules.

First, Dramaturgy, in which you will study the core principles of drama as explored from Aristotle to McKee and as embodied in a range of plays, films and TV programmes, from Antigone to Game of Thrones.

You will also take part in the Scriptwriting workshop, building upon your study of dramaturgical theory, where each week you will benefit from the scrutiny and feedback of your fellow writers and workshop leaders, such as the renowned scriptwriters Steve Waters, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Molly Naylor, Ben Musgrave and Sian Evans. You will incorporate this theory into your own writing practice in weekly creative development workshops, completing scriptwriting and planning exercises. Over the course of the workshop, you and your fellow writers will bring your exercises to the group for discussion and evaluation.

Alongside these modules runs the Process module, where you will develop a script for your choice of medium, building an idea from concept to realisation under the keen eye of an industry expert and exploring the modes of script development that are common practice for working writers.

Over the summer you will also write a dissertation, under the supervision of a member of our faculty.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

You’ll be independently assessed for each module – through an analytical essay, original creative writing and working process materials.

Your modules will be worth 20 credits each (with the exception of Research Methodology which is worth 10 credits) and the dissertation is weighted at 90 credits.

Structure

You will take four taught modules (two in the autumn semester, two in spring) and write a dissertation during the summer, with tutorial supervision. This structure gets you writing from day one. From the moment you arrive, you’ll have the chance to engage with the work of your peers and study some of the most important plays and films in the repertoire. Your first semester is assessed through a portfolio of shorter works and a long comparative essay. The Process module is assessed by submission of a story document, a 30 minute extract of a script, and a portfolio of professional documents.

In your second semester, you’ll also choose an optional module from a range offered within the School (excluding other Creative Writing workshops). These choices allow you to design your own course of study and enable you to extend the range of your teaching, your fellow students and indeed your breadth of ideas.

In the spring semester you’ll embark on your dissertation, benefiting from close supervision and advice as you write a full-length drama for the medium of your choice. You’ll create an original script, written to at least second draft stage, for stage, screen (TV or feature film), or radio. With expert supervision you will take your story from initial idea, through a series of drafts, to a fully realised script. Along the way you will have an extract workshopped and presented by performers to an invited audience of industry professionals. You’ll also be able to publish a short piece of your choice in our professionally produced anthology.

Throughout the year you will have one-to-one supervision, whilst also working closely with your peers who’ll read your work and offer you their notes. In addition you’ll enhance your studies by attending screenings, theatre productions and talks by visiting writers. In recent years these have included Christopher Hampton, Roy Williams, James Graham,Lucy Kirkwood, Simon Stephens, Winsome Pinnock and Inua Ellams.

Teaching and Learning

Teaching

You’ll benefit from a distinguished and experienced team of lecturers on this course, all of whom are working writers who are celebrated in their given media. Our team has included the lecturers below, listed with their research specialisms.

Steve Waters is an acclaimed writer for stage, radio and screen, his plays include Temple, which was staged at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in 2015, and Limehouse, which opened in 2017 at the same venue. He has also written on dramatic writing for The Guardian and in his book The Secret Life of Plays.

Timberlake Wertenbaker is one of the most celebrated contemporary playwrights, with her plays such as Our Country’s Good and more recently Jefferson’s Garden performed across the world. Her radio adaptation of War and Peace in 2015 is a highlight of contemporary radio.

Molly Naylor is an acclaimed playwright, screenwriter and poet who is a graduate of the MA. Her works include Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think of You for stage and Radio 4; After Hours, a sit-com for Sky; and the forthcoming stage show Lights! Planets! People!

Ben Musgrave is an award-winning playwright whose plays include the Bruntwood Prize winning Pretend That You Have Big Buildings and more recently Crushed Shells and Mud.

Siân Evans is a highly successful writer for stage, screen and radio; she has translated plays by Racine, written libretti for new operas by Noise music theatre, written for returning TV series such as Peak Practice and Holby City as well as extensive work for the National Theatre, Theatre Clwyd and BBC Wales.

Independent study

You’ll work independently on your dissertation with supervision from one of our tutors. They’ll give you support and expert advice, guiding you through the different drafts of your script

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Assessment for Year 1

You’ll be independently assessed for each module – through an analytical essay, original creative writing and working process materials.

Your modules will be worth 20 credits each (with the exception of Research Methodology which is worth 10 credits) and the dissertation is weighted at 90 credits.

Compulsory Modules

CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP: SCRIPTWRITING

Code LDCC7004A

Credits 20

This module is the heart of your course, the place where you write together and critique each other's work. It's a core module for all Scriptwriting MA students, complementing your other core module Scriptwriting: Dramaturgy (full-time students); part-time students complete Dramaturgy first in year 1 before joining their Workshop group. This module puts your study of dramaturgy into practice by enabling you to find your voice across the dramatic media - film, television, theatre and radio. It allows you to experiment with a variety of forms and writing contexts on a weekly basis. Initially we workshop everyone and build the discussion group; then we focus the discussion on a handful of writers a week, with the class all offering their thoughts. This all culminates in a portfolio of short works and also enables you to embark on your dissertation project with a week given over to exploring the idea in outline.

CREATIVE WRITING: SCRIPTWRITING: DRAMATURGY

Code LDCC7007A

Credits 20

How does drama work? Dramaturgy explores dramatic theory across the media of theatre, film, television and radio, and attempts to find shared principles between them. Weekly seminars will develop your understanding of dramatic structure, character, time and space, the distinction between plot and story, as well as encouraging you to examine the dramatic forms in isolation. To achieve this we’ll study a range of contemporary films and plays as well as classics, dip into radio and television and draw on a body of readings and theories. You’ll find that the learning will be practical and reflective, and it will have direct applications for your work in drama whether as a writer or a director. You’ll also have fun, with screenings, discussion and presentations. The module will end with you writing a comparative essay that draws on what we have studied, but it can also respond to dramas you love. Some prior experience of dramatic writing is useful for this module, but a love of drama is essential.

CREATIVE WRITING: SCRIPTWRITING: PROCESS

Code LDCC7005B

Credits 20

This module aims to ready students for lives as professional scriptwriters. Good scripts do not simply ‘get made’. Instead, scripts are produced as a result of a complex interplay of relationships and processes – between writers, producers, production companies, funders, performers, directors, designers, cultural policy-makers, arts marketers and audiences. Writers need to grasp the opportunities and challenges this interplay presents: new projects must be carefully pitched to producers, who will then develop this work with writers– for better and for worse – into drama they feel they can place in front of an audience. Developing a raw idea into a fully realised script involves a series of processes requiring skill, craft, research, sensitivity, adaptability, creativity, resourcefulness, planning and resilience. This module introduces writers to those processes. Beginning with techniques for research, creativity, generating material and innovating ideas, the module then considers approaches to ‘pitching’ ideas, before students rigorously structure and plan two ideas for Screen and Theatre. Finally, students write the first 30 minutes of one of their ideas, workshopping their scenes much as they would in an industry context. By the end of the module, students will have a number of industry-focused ideas ready for future development. Additionally, contextual classes introduce students to the nature of the different professional worlds of scriptwriting (looking, for example, at funding, living as a writer, self-marketing, commissioning systems etc). Students submit a portfolio of written tasks relevant to their future lives as scriptwriters (eg website copy, funding applications etc) This module introduces writers to those processes. Beginning with techniques for research, creativity, generating material and innovating ideas, the module then considers approaches to ‘pitching’ ideas, before students rigorously structure and plan two ideas for Screen and Theatre. Finally, students write the first 30 minutes of one of their ideas, workshopping their scenes much as they would in an industry context. By the end of the module, students will have a number of industry-focused ideas ready for future development. Additionally, contextual classes introduce students to the nature of the different professional worlds of scriptwriting (looking, for example, at funding, living as a writer, self-marketing, commissioning systems etc). Students submit a portfolio of written tasks relevant to their future lives as scriptwriters (eg website copy, funding applications etc)

CREATIVE WRITING (SCRIPTWRITING) DISSERTATION

Code LDCC7502X

Credits 90

The scriptwriting dissertation is the climax of the MA course; it's your opportunity to develop a full length script for stage, screen, television or radio with your supervisor. You bring together your skills acquired on other modules to fashion a character-driven, tightly-plotted and designed story in your chosen dramatic medium. The work should be original, compelling, rigorously plotted; it can be in any style or genre you are drawn to The supervision process will take you through four meetings to first draft stage; then you revise and deepen your idea and submit it.

CREATIVE WRITING RESEARCH METHODOLOGY CONFERENCE

Code LDCC7006B

Credits 10

This 10-credit module consists of a day-long series of presentations and plenary discussions delivered by Creative Writing and Critical faculty of direct relevance to the practical aspects of researching and writing a major piece of creative work. It is intended for all students on the Prose Fiction, Poetry, Scriptwriting and Biography and Creative Non-Fiction MA courses. Attendance is compulsory.

Optional A Modules

(20 credits)

ANALYSING HOLLYWOOD CINEMA

Code AMAM7011B

Credits 20

'Hollywood' as an industry, cultural institution and maker of films has dominated the global cinematic imagination for decades. On this module, we investigate the history, production cultures and texts made by the US film industry from its classic period to contemporary filmmaking. This will include analysing Hollywood from a range of perspectives, which may include things like studio filmmaking, independent filmmaking, genre filmmaking and the blockbuster. In doing so we will discover the multiplicity of cinemas at work within the concept of Hollywood.

ADAPTATION AND INTERPRETATION

Code LDCC7010B

Credits 20

Critical reading and creative writing collide when adapting a text for performance in another medium. The very process forces a string of questions: Is it possible to separate a story from its expression? What, if any, are the obligations owed to the source text? Must the adaptation always be ‘secondary’? Can we define a ‘good’ adaptation? The questions only grow more interesting if we consider changes in reception and more complex when we alter era or cultural setting. This module focuses on key questions in dramatic adaptation, establishing a foundation in basic theory and then focusing on readings of source works and screenings or performances of adaptations. Seminar discussions probe the choices offered by original texts and explore the possibilities and limitations inherent in different forms. In the later sessions, you will have the opportunity to workshop an adaptation for a final project. Writers are expected to produce scripts, while theatre directors will have to option to produce a script or a performance. The module is a must for scriptwriters, but no prior scriptwriting experience is necessary as the seminars teach the basic techniques of dramatic writing. Class workshop will further develop skills in the specific dramatic forms.

PUBLISHING - A PRACTICAL APPROACH

Code LDCC7012B

Credits 20

Are you interested in how a book is selected for publication, in how to write for an online readership, or in learning how to edit? Whether you are a writer or a would-be publisher, this module will give you an introduction to the modern publishing industry and equip you with some of the practical skills involved in the successful publication of texts. As well as becoming acquainted with the structure and economics of the contemporary publishing world, the opportunities and challenges posed by digitalisation, you will examine the process whereby books are chosen by literary agents and publishers, review principles of text and jacket design, acquire basic copyediting and proofreading skills, learn tips for publicising books online, write jacket 'blurbs' and press releases. You will also engage with the principles and practice of blog-writing, with copyright law and aspects of publishing finance. In recent years speakers such as Chris Hamilton-Emery from Salt, Philip Gwyn Jones of Scribe, Rosie Sherwood of art-publisher Elbow Room and Eloise Wales of The Literary Platform have addressed the seminars. We have examined correspondence between authors and publishers in the UEA Archive of Contemporary Writing, visited the Jarrold's Print Museum in Norwich and the London International Book Fair. Towards the end of the module you will also have to opportunity to become involved in the editing of the annual MA Creative Writing anthologies. Assessment is by formal essay OR creative-critical assignment such as a literary blog.

CONTEMPORARY FICTION

Code LDCC7020B

Credits 20

Various attempts at (sub-)categorising contemporary fiction interpret it as a departure from previous aesthetics or a response to political or historical events or movements: post-modern; post-colonial; post-feminist; post-communist; post-9/11; post-millenial; post-national; even post-post-modern etc. As a prefix, “post-“ suggests supersedence rather than novelty; at worst it is merely an aspirational syllable. Its proliferation co-exists with more conventional attempts at temporal taxonomy such as monographs and student guides dedicated to specific decades. One way of reading “post”-something-or-other is to think of it as an engagement with, and critical reassessment of, the past it so assiduously hyphenates: its literary conventions, cultural heritage, philosophical traditions, political ideologies, and - paradoxically - its long shadows way beyond the present moment. The manifestations of these engagements and reassessments can be rather contradictory. The memory boom of the 1990s put paid to claims about “the end of history” or skepticism over Grand Narratives. The renewed popularity of the (neo)historical novel and period drama also chafes against the recent turn towards trauma studies. The effects of new market forces, media and digital technology on the form of writing and the construction of the “author” could also be seen as one of the legacies of modernism. A focus on mindfulness, ethics and affect sits uneasily alongside the necessity for art to provoke and push boundaries. Expressions of the regional contend with an increasing awareness of transnational subjects, diasporic identities and global issues, and some of the most interesting writing today comes from ‘the East’ or writers with hybrid origins and hyphenated identities. Can fiction still be formally inventive and how might it enter into dialogue with other art forms (photography, sculpture, painting, cinema)? In the light of the critical and commercial success of ‘creative non-fiction’ we might also want to ask precisely how narrative can perforate disciplinary and generic categories. On this module we will attempt to construct a (naturally provisional, selective and incomplete) genealogy of the contemporary by examining some of the discernible trends and tensions of relatively recent writing. Much of this writing will be Anglophone but you should be prepared for adventures in reading translations. We will also have to opportunity do some work in UEA’s Archive of Contemporary Literature: what and who is being archived according to which criteria, and what do archivists, academics and critics consider archival about the contemporary?

THE NON FICTION NOVEL

Code LDCC7022B

Credits 20

Some of the most exciting and innovative fiction of the moment is in fact a hybrid form of fiction, borrowing subject matter and techniques from traditionally non-fiction modes such as memoir, criticism, journalism, reportage and life-writing. These novels depart from the usual concerns with character, realistic dialogue and plot to focus on voice, place, and time, employing strategies of literary craft to be formally innovative. This course looks at original non-fiction and also at contemporary ‘realist’ novels which are pushing boundaries and gaining attention in the wider literary culture. We will study the forms, techniques and thematics of both non-fiction and fiction, with an aim to experimenting with and improving students' writing in both forms. Some writing in class and between classes will be required. The second half of the module will include workshopping student work-in-progress. This is a practice-based module taught by a novelist and non-fiction writer and aimed primarily at students on the creative writing strands but is also open to students studying for critical MAs.

THE POETICS OF PLACE

Code LDCC7023B

Credits 20

This module will allow you to explore innovative and experimental forms of place writing, from the critical and theoretical to the literary and artistic. You’ll study critical and theoretical approaches such as (though this may be subject to small changes each year) psychogeography, ecocriticism, critical heritage studies, deep mapping, animal studies, and literary activism. At the same time, you’ll consider a number of original works of literature from recent years, thinking carefully about the relationship between theory, method and form. Some of the authors that you’ll consider (though this may be subject to small changes each year) are: Richard Mabey, Alice Oswald, W.G. Sebald, R.F. Langley, Italo Calvino, Kei Miller, Sue Clifford and Angela King, Tim Robinson, Paul Farley, Kathleen Jamie, Iain Sinclair, and J.A Baker. During the module, you’ll explore some of the following questions: how have different ways of 'framing' place influenced the sense of cultural identity associated with that place? What role might literature play in this? How might recent developments in theory and practice inform your own methods of place writing? How might they encourage you to experiment with new methods? What surprising literary forms might this lead to? And finally, what new ideas might this prompt about publication, exhibition and public engagement? On this module, you’ll not only gain a strong foundation in debates concerning literature's relationship to the environment, to heritage, and to ideas of community but you’ll engage with these debates following your own line of inquiry, and/or through your own developing practice, in ways that will equip you to take on similar projects after the MA as well.

CREATIVE ENCOUNTERS

Code LDCD7007B

Credits 20

Themes and focus: Place-based work - site-specific, walking, ecologically focused performance writing Self and performance - solo shows, story-telling, autobiography in performance Between Fact and Fiction - dramatising research, documentary material Going Digital - adventures in the digital realm - AR/VR/online Between the Ears - podcasts and audio writing Words and Music - writing for composers, libretti, song-writing Experiment and collaboration - writing beyond categories

EAST ANGLIAN LITERATURE

Code LDCE7002B

Credits 20

Throughout the medieval and Early-Modern periods Norwich was one of England’s most important cities – probably second only to London – and East Anglia one of the country’s culturally liveliest and richest areas. In this module you will explore the literature of these periods in its material contexts (the region’s prosperity and power may still be seen in its architecture and in the rich holdings of its libraries and museums) and ask whether there was a specifically East Anglian cultural tradition. You will explore East Anglia’s rich dramatic traditions, its devotional literature and practices (in orthodox forms and in those that brush against the heterodox), and, insistently, the manner in which its literature participates in its broader social and cultural worlds. This module may particularly appeal to you if you have an interest in the cultural traditions of Norwich and East Anglia or, more generally, in the literature of place.

CREATIVE-CRITICAL WRITING

Code LDCE7004B

Credits 20

Too often, academic critical writing seems to bring pre-packaged language to bear on works whose whole essence and aim is to change the ways in which we see and describe our world. And too often such writing fails to acknowledge the ways in which it itself participates in the literary ‘creativity’ it is also about. How, then, to write criticism? Criticism which responds inventively to the literature which it analyses? Criticism which registers, in its own form, language, method and the ways in which it has been transformed by the work(s) of art it encounters? Criticism which recognises that it cannot rest on received concepts and categories? In this module you’ll explore these questions. Over the course of the semester we'll read, ponder and experiment with a broad range of possible ways of practising creative-criticism, including the essay form, auto-commentary, conceptual writing, inventive ‘theoretical’ writing, and diaristic writing. Your assessed work for the module will be in two parts: a piece of creative-critical writing of your own and a critical reflection on a particular aspect of the theory and practice of creative criticism.

LUDIC LITERATURE

Code LDCE7006B

Credits 20

The aim of this mixed creative-critical module is twofold: both to explore together some of the major works of playful or ‘ludic’ modern literature across various languages, and to develop our appreciation of style and form by practising various forms of writing that are themselves ludic: creative imitation, parody, transposition from one style and form to another, creative translation. In play, we will find, the boundary between the ‘creative’ and the ‘critical’ becomes unclear. The module is generally taken by a mix of students from the various critical and creative writing MAs, as well as by students in Literature and Philosophy. On the ‘critical’ side, the module traces the evolution of leading postmodernist styles and themes, especially ludic ones, back to their origins in Dostoevsky, Joyce, Kafka, Borges, and Nabokov. Using these enormously influential authors as a starting point, we read a range of ludic authors, passing back and forth between languages, nations, and genres. Each week we usually pair two authors. In previous years we have studied, for example, Dostoevsky against Nabokov, Kafka against Borges, Perec against Queneau and Calvino, Carter against Coover, Muldoon against Heaney, Pynchon against Barthelme, and Ashbery against Mallarmé. There is also a strong philosophical element of the module, you will be encouraged to explore the philosophical theory of aesthetic play in Kant, Schiller, and Nietzsche, and later in Huizinga and Derrida. On the ‘creative’ side in previous years we have, for example, read Kafka’s short tales against Borges’s re-writings of them, tried to write like Kafka or Borges, turned a Kafka story into a Dostoevsky paragraph or a Nabokov poem, explored the various translations of these authors, and played with re-translating them. We have taken a story by Coover and re-written it as a sestina, two kinds of sonnet, and a villanelle. In doing all this, we are asking fundamental questions not only about play but also about style and form, how they shape meaning and make possible certain kinds of writing and thinking. We are also returning to the way in which literature was studied, and creative writing engendered, before the invention of professional literary criticism and creative writing courses in the twentieth century. All students will be encouraged to try their hand at parodying and imitating the texts we are studying, though this is not compulsory. Final assessment can take the form of a 5000 word critical essay or of a combination of a creative piece and a critical essay, to make up 5000 words.

PHILOSOPHY OF LITERATURE SEMINAR

Code PPLP7001B

Credits 20

In a collaborative seminar or group-study format, you’ll explore (together with the teacher) a range of topics in the philosophy of literature. Topics that you’ll study will typically include: the definition and purpose of literature; the status of fictional characters; the relevance of author's intention and the role of interpretation in fixing meaning; aesthetic evaluation, taste, subjectivity and objectivity; the value of fakes and copies; the emotional effect of literature; whether literature can convey truth and knowledge, and the relationship between aesthetic judgement and ethics. You’ll also look at examples of ‘philosophy in and as literature’, exploring such case studies as the literary Wittgenstein and the philosophical novel. You’ll prepare a package of two essays relating to different parts of the course, preceded by formative drafts and essay tutorials.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring and review of modules. Where this activity leads to significant change to a programme and modules, the University will endeavour to consult with affected students. The University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. Availability of optional modules may be restricted owing to timetabling, lack of demand, or limited places. Where this is the case, you will be asked to make alternative module choices and you will be supported during this process.

Entry Requirements

Degree classification

Bachelors (Hons) degree - 2.1 or equivalent preferred

Degree subject

Any subject

Additional entry requirements

Candidates will be expected to submit a portfolio of writing for assessment - up to 30 pages of dramatic script/screenplay.

Students for whom english is a foreign language

We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English. To ensure such students benefit from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:

IELTS: 7.0 (minimum 6.0 in each section and 7.0 in writing)
PTE (Pearson): 76 (minimum 64 in each section and 76 in writing)

Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.

Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests

INTO UEA also run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please contact intopre-sessional@uea.ac.uk

Intakes

This course is open to UK, EU and International applicants. The annual intake for this course is in September each year.

Please note that those candidates offered a place on the course will not be able to defer their offer to the next year if they are unable to take up the offer of a place, however they are welcome to reapply the next year.

September 2023 opportunities. Discover more

UEA Live

LEARN MORE >

TWITTER

Follow us on Twitter for all the latest news about the UEA Creative Writing programme and the achievements of our alumni: @NewWritingNet

#NEWWRITING.NET

For a window onto the exciting new writing coming out of the UEA Creative Writing programme, visit our website NewWriting.Net

FIND US HERE >

Course Reference Number: 4478210

MA CREATIVE WRITING SCRIPTWRITING