Last chance to study this subject for 2025—enrol by 20 July
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Writing the Past, Building New Worlds: Fiction and Non-Fiction
PostgraduateMAQ-ENGX80172025
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 20 July 2025
- Entry requirements
- Part of a degree
- Duration
- 13 weeks
- Start dates
- 28 July 2025
- Price from
- $3,070
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- FEE-HELP available
Writing the Past, Building New Worlds: Fiction and Non-Fiction
About this subject
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how creative writers incorporate different types of research into different forms and genres of writing.
- Identify and analyse written works that engage with relevant historical, social, cultural, global and ethical issues within particular genres of writing.
- Apply specialised research skills and creative language skills to produce a narrative or other textual forms of creative writing.
- Create a major written work that incorporates specialised knowledge and understanding of a specific period of history, or that explores current issues within contemporary, futuristic or fantasy writing.
- Analyse and appraise the work of others in writing communities.
- A week-by-week guide to the topics you will explore in this subject will be provided in your study materials.
Research is fundamental to creating innovative writing and constructing a believable storyworld: the shared universe within which settings, characters, and events unfold in a narrative. This unit focuses on developing the different types of research skills needed to create believable characters and vivid settings, and to use historical and contemporary events to ignite the imagination. Students learn how to engage in research that provides: relevant factual information for their topic; background material to assist with world-building; up-to-date scholarship on their genre of writing to gain a critical understanding of how their field has developed, and to identify current trends. Skills learned apply to different genres of writing such as historical or contemporary fiction, fantasy or futuristic writing, romance, crime, local or family history, and biography.
Assessment tasks to be advised.
- Participatory task (30%)
- Creative work (40%)
- Project plan (30%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
This research-intensive university in north-western Sydney offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. With over 44,000 current students, Macquarie has a strong reputation for welcoming international students and embracing flexible and convenient study options, including its partnership with Open Universities Australia.
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- QS World University Ranking 2025, within Australia:
- 11
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- 10
Entry requirements
Part of a degree
To enrol in this subject you must be accepted into one of the following degrees:
Elective
- MAQ-MCW-MAS-2025 - Master of Creative Writing
Others
Admission to Master of Creative Writing.
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
Related degrees
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
PostgraduateMAQ-MCW-MAS