Short Story Writing: Create Fiction from Personal Experience
A course by Shaun Levin , Writer
Learn how to write stories that captivate readers by building a narrative with elements of fiction
Learn how to write stories that captivate readers by building a narrative with elements of fiction
Reading stories can transport you to other worlds. Writing stories allows you to create those worlds. Join writer Shaun Levin on an innovative journey to create a short story that brings your inner world and the world around you to life on the page.
In this Domestika course, explore Shaun’s creative process behind finding and writing short stories entirely from the imagination or based on personal experiences with a touch of fiction. Discover daily exercises that could lead to writing a collection of short stories, a memoir, or even a novel.
If you are interested in exploring other styles of writing, take a look at Shaun’s previous course Creative Writing for Beginners: Bringing Your Story to Life
What will you learn in this online course?
19 lessons & 16 downloads
- 99% positive reviews (785)
- 32,441 students
- 19 lessons (2h 8m)
- 16 additional resources (1 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English, Turkish
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Write a short story based on personal experience intensified with elements of fiction.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone interested in short story writing who would like to explore their creative process.
Requirements and materials
To take this course, you only need something to write with. It can be a notebook and a pen, or a computer. Access to a printer is optional.
Reviews
A course by Shaun Levin
Shaun Levin is a writer and creative writing teacher from South Africa who is based in Madrid. He also lived and wrote for many years in Tel Aviv and London. His writing has always been prompted by reading and closely examining the books he loves. He went on to study literature at university and soon started to get his stories published in magazines and anthologies. His passion for books has led him to a parallel career in bookbinding and producing handmade books.
Shaun has over twenty years of experience teaching creative writing in colleges, schools, art galleries, and other settings. He has published several novels and short story collections, including Alone with a Man in a Room, Seven Sweet Things, and Snapshots of The Boy, as well as three guides for writers taking on book-length projects, The Writing Notebooks. Today, Shaun continues to teach creative writing and work on his next novel and collection of short stories.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
How to Look For and Find Stories
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Where Do Stories Come From?
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Materials
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Brainstorming: the Quest for Stories
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Out of Many Possible Stories, One Story (or Three, Or Twelve)
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U3
Entering the World of Your Story
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Trust the Exploration: Stories Have a Life of Their Own
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Get Outside Help: Art and a Walk
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The Thread of the Story: What's Holding It Together?
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Honesty Is the Best Policy: There's No End to Stories
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U4
How to Make a Story
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Preparing to Write a Story
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Start Anywhere (but Not at the Beginning)
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Doing the Groundwork and Going Deeper Into Your Story
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Go One Step beyond the Ending
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Filling In the Gaps (Going Back to the Beginning)
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Give Your Story a Title
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U5
What Happens When a Story Is Finished? Another Story!
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How Big Is Your Story?
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The Importance of Abandoned Projects
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Yes, It’s All About You
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FP
Final project
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Short Story Writing: Create Fiction from Personal Experience
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
amarahgooding123
PlusGreat starter course although I would like to know more about the typical conventions of short stories
kafeto77
Voy por la 3 unidad y totalmente enganchado. Aprendiendo sobre todo cantidad de tips. Me encanta
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yo_canibal73
Todavía no lo termino. No entiendo muy bien qué tengo que poner en el final de la primera clase en lo del proyecto ¿un proyecto ya terminado? ¿Un proyecto que estoy armando ahora? ¿Fotos de qué? No tengo aún la suficiente confianza en el sitio como para subir cosas que todavía no he publicado. Y si ya las he publicado, ¿cuál es el sentido de subirlas y para qué me sirve respecto de lo escuchado en la primer clase? Realmente no sé cómo seguir.
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lukackovalerian
PlusGreat course!
martavicens11
Muy útil! Gracias!
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