Skip to 0 minutes and 10 seconds We all enjoy reading novels, but have you ever wondered how the story’s put together, what makes us believe in the characters, how far can we trust the narrator, and what impact does a setting have on the development of plot? Over the course of this MOOC, we’ll be looking at four of the key building blocks of fiction - plot, characterisation, dialogue, and setting. You’ll be encouraged to think about how characters thoughts and motives are communicated to the reader. You’ll explore how a particular atmosphere can be created depending on where a novel is set, and you’ll learn how to spot when a narrator is unreliable. You’ll learn how to read novels more incisively, drawing on a range of examples from classic texts.
Skip to 0 minutes and 45 seconds You’ll also hear from authors about how they use these building blocks when writing their own novels. Every year the James Tait Black Shortlist gives you some of the very best fiction written in the English language. What a fantastic opportunity for people to get an insight into the shortlisted books using the University of Edinburgh’s great experts, and then to meet the authors at the end as well. It’s already 10 years since the James Tait Black prizes started to be awarded at the book festival in Charlotte Square Gardens.
Skip to 1 minute and 16 seconds This is a really extraordinary opportunity, a way of understanding reading in a totally new way, which takes all of the best of what the university has to offer and adds to it the thrill and excitement of the live event that you get at the book festival. Now that we’ve reached 10 years together, I think this is a great new chapter in our journey.
Skip to 1 minute and 39 seconds We hope you’ll join us on this course in order to delve into the fascinating world of fiction. We’ll be taking you on a thrilling journey that offers you all the tools you need in order to learn how to read a novel.