Writing historical fiction for children

Learning outcomes:

This course has been designed to enable you to:

• acquire an appreciation of the opportunities and responsibilities inherent with using historical settings and subjects
• gain an understanding of children and book formats at different stages of childhood
• understand what ‘story’ is, and how story works
• be equipped with a variety of story writing techniques
• gain insights into historical research, and how to use that research
• acquire an understanding of how to create a convincing yet accessible world from the past for modern young readers
• practice assessing the success of writing by considering each other’s written pieces
• have some understanding of how to approach getting published

Course sessions:

1. Why write historical fiction for children?
Looking at the role of history in giving children and their society perspective, but also the fun to be had with a historical story. Considering what historical topics and fictional treatments work best for different stages of childhood and formats of book. Thinking about the personal history we have in our own experiences.

2. Where to find your story
The things, big and small, which plant the seeds of stories in our minds, and ways to grow those seeds into fully realised stories. Should we aim to write stories about the big moments and characters in history, or focus on the more ordinary? The potential to develop historical fiction via fantasy of different kinds.

3. Taking us there
Considering the importance of character and story structure in making a story live in our imaginations. Working on story openings; the need to introduce characters, set the historical scene, and set the tone of the story, all whilst getting the story action going. How much historical background do we need to describe?

4. Finding your, and your characters’, voices
Is it better to mix telling what happens with dialogue in a traditional narrative way, or to write in the first person? Should characters speak in the language of their time? Considering how to use other written forms, such as diaries or letters. What happens when writing shares the story telling with pictures?

5. Doing your research, and what comes next?
Considering different sources for information and ideas. What, and how much, do we need to know? How do we find those things out? And how do we fill the inevitable gaps?
Where to find help in developing your historical story writing skills, and potential routes to publication.

Non-credit bearing

Please note that our Virtual Summer Festival of Learning courses are non-credit bearing.

Certificate of Participation

A certificate of participation will be sent to you electronically within a week of your Summer Festival course(s) finishing.

Welcome week: Before the course starts

Courses are delivered online via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). A week before your course starts you will receive an email from our Teaching & Learning (TEL) team confirming your VLE login details. Once you have logged into the VLE, you should:

• Access the ‘Course Information’ and ‘Welcome to the course’ areas.
• Carry out any technical checks, including video checks.
• View the VLE ’Online course tour’ and familiarise yourself with your learning environment.
• Watch the Course Director’s welcome video.
• Introduce yourself to the Course Director and other students using the general forum.
• Access and carry out any pre-reading or activities for the course provided in the ‘Welcome to the course’ area.

Study week: Course delivery, video content and study time

• You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded talks, designed to help you address different aspects of the main topic. These will be released on a daily basis, Monday to Friday. All of our videos are subtitled. There will also be an element of interactive work: a daily writing exercise to which you may respond by posting a short piece on the Student Forum on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You may also, if you wish, post questions related to the day’s teaching and the associated daily writing exercise, to be answered by the tutor on a separate ‘Your Questions’ Forum. 
• Please note: Your course director will read your posts daily, and will comment in broad terms on the group’s work, but it won’t be possible to provide feedback on individual exercise assignments, though questions arising from the assignment will be welcome. Depending on the number of questions, your tutor may have to work selectively. Where this applies, selection will tend to favour questions of general interest to the group as a whole. 
• The first talk will be introductory, and thereafter a typical session might run as follows, with the Course Director providing: 
  • a broad account of the territory to be covered in the session 
  • close analysis of relevant published texts or images posted on the course VLE  
  • a writing exercise based on the session's focal concerns, and giving you guidelines and making you aware of key issues 
  • a summary of the session's concerns and a brief outline of the next day's focus
• We suggest that you set aside around 2 hours each day to watch the videos, view course materials and resources, complete any related reading, pose questions and undertake the writing exercises. This does not need to be done in one sitting, you have the flexibility to access content when and where you want, and to go back and review it as often as you wish. 

At the end of the course

• Content for each course will remain available on the VLE for 5 weeks after the course has finished
• Course forums will close for postings on the Monday after the course, but existing messages will still be visible for 5 weeks after the course has finished
• You will receive a certificate of participation via email within a week of your course finishing

Resources, reading lists and activities

During the course and up until 5 weeks after the course has finished you will have access to a number of learning resources which may include links to websites, readings and research papers. These are provided by the Course Director to support the teaching and will be available on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

You may wish to consider these additional related courses on offer in the Festival:

If you are able to study more than one course or for more than one week, you may wish to consider streams of related course subjects.  There will be many other options – this is just an illustration of possible course combinations:

And don’t forget to watch the series of talks included in your course booking (usually charged at £50). Further details and a link to access the talks will be sent to you a week before the Festival starts.

Booking a course

To book a Festival course please click the Book Now button at the top of the course page. You will be taken to our secure bookings portal where you can set up an account using your email address, and pay for your course by credit or debit card.

All of our courses are limited to 50 places, in order to allow students and Course Directors the opportunity for interaction via the discussion forums on the VLE.

Bookings will remain open until midnight the day before the course starts. If your preferred course is full at the time of booking you can add yourself to a waiting list. You will be notified, by email, if a place becomes available. We recommend that you book early to avoid missing out.

Please note that if you book a place the weekend before a course starts, it may take up to 48 hours to process your application and notify you of your VLE log in details. You may therefore not have access until the end of the second day of the course, but can go back and review sessions which have already been released.

‘How to book a course’ video

Our short video below talks you through the necessary steps to register and create an account before booking on to your chosen course(s) via our secure payment portal.

Before booking, please ensure that you have read and understood our Booking terms and conditions

Talks

As part of our Summer Festival we will also be offering a series of talks showcasing the variety of subjects on offer here at the University, as well as research, global current affairs and a range of other topics.

By booking a Summer Festival course, you automatically qualify for free access to these talks (usually charged at £50). Further details and a link to access the talks will be sent to you a week before the Festival starts.