I have spent the day immersing myself in my OU course material. Literally the whole day. There is a LOT to it.
I read the course guidebook a few days ago; today I waded through the accompanying audio CD and transcript, and anthology of short stories and novel extracts which have been chosen to demonstrate various aspects of the writing craft (character, narrative, etc).
The hour-long CD contains interviews with the likes of as Louis de Bernières (who wrote Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, a novel special to me as a famous passage from it was our wedding reading) and Alex Garland (The Beach), about their inspiration and tips for successful writing.
The anthology contains works by such diverse authors as Ernest Hemingway, Henry James, Laurie Lee, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dashiell Hammett and Toni Morrison. I’ve enjoyed reading them. Swotty as it sounds, I’ve been inspired to do a spot of Wiki research into the writers and their works.
It’s almost like doing A-level English again, but…well…enjoyable.
Leigh's Scribblings 