Author talks and workshops

Middle and senior schools: As a qualified teacher with many years of experience, and as a published author, I love talking to students about creative writing. From the nuts and bolts of planning and plotting, to developing skills in descriptive detail, characterisation, setting, and considering the needs of the reader, as well as editing and proof reading, I can provide sessions with discussion and practical exercises to help students improve their work. We can also look at genre: writing the uncanny and the gothic, or historical fiction. Alternatively, I can talk to groups about studying creative writing, and the route to being published, be it a first short story in a magazine, or a debut novel with a publisher.

SAMPLE PROPOSALS:

What is the uncanny? 2 hour workshop to discover what uncanny writing is, looking at extracts and completing practical exercises to get started on a piece of uncanny writing

Using the uncanny to make your work stand out: 2 hour workshop looking at elements of the uncanny on a more granular level and how this can make your work stand out from the crowd.

How to make your writing sing. 4 hour workshop on using detail and description, including describing place, character, using concrete detail, the senses and colour.

Using what you know: 3 hour workshop for 14-16 year-olds on developing a story from memories and real-life events. This approach has proved particularly successful for IGCSE imaginative writing coursework/ exams. Students will examine creative non-fiction extracts and use their own life experience and interests as a starting point for a piece of short fiction or creative non-fiction.

Author talk on writing a debut novel: 1 hour (including time for questions) on the journey from initial idea to getting published, including the drafting process, the submission process, working with a literary agent, working with an editor, and being published.