If these halls could talk: writing historical fiction

Aims

This course aims to: 

• help inspire a curiosity-led, historical fiction inspired by the setting, archives, and/or history of the college
   
• provide tools to help you to develop complex characters
   
• help you to develop questions to explore through your writing
   
• give you the confidence to share new writing within a supportive group through workshopping

Content

The course sets out to help you get started researching and writing historical fiction. We will use the history and setting of the college, pictures, newspaper articles, headlines, archives/artefacts, and curiosity to generate ideas you might explore using historical fiction. Through a series of research and writing exercises you will create characters, setting, and potential questions to develop the narrative. The course also includes writing time and a workshop with peer feedback to help you continue to develop the piece after the course. We will discuss balancing research and writing in historical fiction, research resources, and how to stay curious and avoid writers’ block. 

Presentation of the course 

The course will generally be taught in a classroom setting though some sessions may take place outside, weather permitting, and walking through other parts of the building/campus. Sessions will include discussion, PowerPoint presentations, online research (headlines, pictures, historical events), and may include reading newspapers, magazines, etc…in class. Participation in workshops is required to make the most of the opportunity to give and receive feedback on ideas and/or writing. 

Course sessions

1. On this day: researching historical events using newspaper articles, headlines, historical timelines, photos, and other literature to generate ideas and questions. A good starting point is considering events 100 years ago.
    
2. A Time and a Place: using research to discover characters and character development using character interviews. Developing questions inspired by character, setting, and versions of truth.
    
3. A Time and a Place: developing setting and context based on space, technology, access, history, place, memory, etc…
    
4. Burden of Truth: research to uncover stories, facts, inspiration (walking, archives, writing).
    
5. Next steps: balancing research and writing on and off the page.

Learning outcomes

You are expected to gain from this series of classroom sessions a greater understanding of the subject and of the core issues and arguments central to the course. 

The learning outcomes for this course are:

• identify potential databases/sources for historical fiction research
   
• generate ideas based on character, setting, historical context and research
   
• develop characters inspired by research and history

Typical week: Monday to Friday 

Courses run from Monday to Friday. For each week of study, you select a morning (Am) course and an afternoon (Pm) course. The maximum class size is 25 students.   

Courses are complemented by a series of daily plenary lectures, exploring new ideas in a wide range of disciplines. To add to your learning experience, we are also planning additional evening talks and events. 

Evaluation and Academic Credit  

If you are seeking to enhance your own study experience, or earn academic credit from your Cambridge Summer Programme studies at your home institution, you can submit written work for assessment for one or more of your courses.  

Essay questions are set and assessed against the University of Cambridge standard by your Course Director, a list of essay questions can be found in the Course Materials. Essays are submitted two weeks after the end of each course, so those studying for multiple weeks need to plan their time accordingly. There is an evaluation fee of £75 per essay. 

For more information about writing essays see Evaluation and Academic Credit. 

Certificate of attendance 

A certificate of attendance will be sent to you electronically after the programme.