The special place of fiction in creative practice research: a screenwriting approach

Creative practice research has become a staple of many university research cultures, and is core to the work of many members of the Australian Screen Production Education and Research Association community. We know of its potential as a site of knowledge production and dissemination; we know of its fabric and guiding principles; and we know how to articulate it to others, such as in the form of accompanying research statements that distinguish it from professional (or commercial) practice. Little, however, has been written about the form that this type of research takes; specifically, why one might choose fiction over non-fiction to express, embody or otherwise perform research. In many ways, non-fiction screen works are straightforward to argue as research, usually because the research is explicit in its content. But what of fiction: of film, television and web drama screenplays set in imagined worlds? In this paper I explore the special role that fiction plays in the academy when it comes to creative practice research. I draw on existing frameworks and my own experiences of writing research-led screenplays to discuss the ways in which creative practice screen researchers can use the tools of fiction storytelling to present ideas and findings in imaginative, innovative - and sometimes fun - ways that expand both our understanding of and encounters with scholarly debates.