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An up close and personal course aimed at the experienced short story writer, entirely made up of tutorials with an optional masterclass. We’ll set tasks and exercises focused on each writer’s particular practice and help you mine theme, character and emotional development. We’ll also discuss the role of place in fiction, routes to publication and the resources that can help [read more…]

An up close and personal course aimed at the experienced short story writer, entirely made up of tutorials with an optional masterclass. We’ll set tasks and exercises focused on each writer’s particular practice and help you mine theme, character and emotional development. We’ll also discuss the role of place in fiction, routes to publication and the resources that can help [read more…]

Come celebrate writing for the theatre. Building on the foundation of what makes characters compelling, we will explore what is narrative structure and how do you weave those characters into a story? And what makes telling that tale on a stage different to other forms of storytelling? By the end of the week we hope to leave you enthused, confident, [read more…]

This course will help turn your will-to-write into compelling fiction. We’ll explore all aspects of story writing – from sources of inspiration, starting well, plotting and characterisation, to the discipline of selfediting – through practical workshops packed with examples and exercises. And we’ll help apply the theory to your own writing through one-to-one tutorials. Whether you have a full draft [read more…]

Have you finished a first draft? Do you feel that your work needs shaping but you aren’t quite sure how to go about it? Editing can sometimes seem like a mysterious process – even if you know that your work needs to be improved, it isn’t easy to know what to cut, what to hone and what should be left [read more…]

During this enjoyable and supportive course we’ll use a variety of inspiring exercises to develop your skills in creating both fiction and poetry. If you have trouble starting or you have trouble finishing, we’re here to help. You’ll develop characters, explore a sense of place and learn about structure and form. You’ll discover how to let your words find shape [read more…]

This week will cover the essentials of good crime writing: how to come up with an original and convincing plot, develop compelling characters, deliver realistic dialogue, manage pace, setting and narrative techniques. We will also make suggestions as to how to incorporate factual crimes into fictional stories. While ideal for those who already have a criminal idea they want to [read more…]

Write meaningful, unforgettable stories to inspire young people. Bring the seeds of a story and prepare to dig deeper into why you want to tell it and why the world needs to read it. During the course you will get to grips with who your central characters are, what they have to say, and why it matters. Develop the themes [read more…]

At Chasing Driftwood we are very, very passionate about writing and strongly believe writing offers many, many benefits to people. Our goal is to spread our passion and our love for writing and help others start writing and keep writing. This workshop aims to build confidence in writers and provide a safe and caring environment to share work, discuss problems [read more…]

A practical, example-driven session focusing on the importance of capturing a reader’s attention from the first sentence led by the author Jarred McGinnis. When submitting your short story to a publication or your novel to an agent, you have the tiniest sliver of their attention to stand out amongst the thousands of other entries. We will look at examples to [read more…]