by Henry Sutton, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at UEA
The great America noir novelist Jim Thompson once said there are 32 ways to write a story, and that he’d used every one – by then I think he’d written 32 novels. But he then added, crucially, that there was only one plot.
For as long as creative writing courses have been in existence, people have questioned not just their validity but the idea of whether you could ever teach someone how to write. You can’t create genius, but I’ve always believed that you can teach people to be better writers.
However, when it comes to genre – and in particular crime fiction – there are lessons to be learned, technical issues to be mastered, tips to revere. Furthermore, crime writers seem particularly generous with both their wisdom and time, and are especially clear and insightful about how they approach their craft and art.
All writers can learn a lot from Patricia Highsmith, for example, who penned a great little black book of writing advice back in the 1980s – Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction. In addition, Elmore Leonard’s extraordinarily pithy 10 Rules of Writing has achieved something of iconic creative writing status, not least for the rule that if it sounds like writing, rewrite it.
At UEA, where institutional creative writing began in the UK over 40 years ago, we are about to pioneer a brand new Crime Fiction MA (to be taught over two years, on a part time, low residency model), which mixes crime author-inspired critical and creative advice in a number of specific modules, helping students to complete a full length crime novel. We believe that to write great and original crime fiction you need to understand something of the canon and how the best writers operate. Then you need to put it into practice.
This is the world’s first, fully ratified, purpose-built Crime MA. And as such, this has been warmly embraced by the publishing industry. Publisher Little, Brown are sponsoring an award of £3,000 for the best completed manuscript each year, while the literary agency David Higham Associates will be donating an annual £5,000 bursary to go towards student fees.
What no one will be prescribing, however, is that kernel of an idea that just might lead to a great plot. This is for the students to determine. What did Jim Thompson have to say about that plot then, the only plot he ever used? ‘Things are not as they seem.’
Henry Sutton is a novelist and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at UEA. His most recent novel is My Criminal World. He has also worked as a journalist and critic.
Find out more about MA Creative Writing Crime Fiction at UEA.
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