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EXPERT FEEDBACK, PROFESSIONAL GUIDANCE...
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Creative Writing Course in an Evening, June
Wednesday 12 June 2013, 6-8pm at the Freeword Centre, London
Throughout 2013, NAW is offering a monthly 'Creative Writing Course in an Evening'. This is a two-hour event that condenses the information writers usually keep to themselves. It is Creative Writing without the academic flab.
The first hour is the unique NAW Masterclass with NAW Director Richard Beard. Everyone who attends the event can submit a text of up to 2000 words, and two of these texts will be chosen at random for a public edit.
In June, the novelist Jennie Rooney will then talk about her process as a writer. Jennie's debut Inside the Whale was shortlisted for the Costa first novel award, and her third novel Red Joan is published this month by Chatto. Jennie will be talking about how she writes her books - how she gets the words on the page - and there will be plenty of time for questions at the end.
The event takes place from 6-8 pm at the Freeword Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA.
Numbers are limited to 25, but this Creative Writing Course in an Evening is suitable for writers of all levels.
Tickets £20, Concessions £15, NAW Members free.
Places will be allocated to the first 25 writers to book.
After booking, please send Masterclass submissions (optional) by midnight on Friday 10 May to: richard@thenationalacademyofwriting.org.uk
To book:
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'Creative Writing Course in an Evening'
Tuesday 14 May 2013, 6-8pm at the Freeword Centre, London
Throughout 2013, NAW will be holding a monthly 'Creative Writing Course in an Evening'. This is a two-hour event that condenses the useful information that can be passed from one writer to another. It is Creative Writing without the padding.
The first hour is the unique NAW Masterclass with NAW Director Richard Beard. Everyone who attends the event can submit a text of up to 2000 words, and two of these texts will be chosen at random for a public edit.
In May, the second hour is a chance to hear novelist Jess Richards talk about her process as a writer. Jess's debut novel, Snake Ropes (Sceptre 2012), was longlisted for the Green Carnation Prize and shortlisted for the Costa first novel award. Her second novel, Cooking with Bones, is published this month. Jess will be talking about how she writes her books, how she gets the words on the page.
There will be plenty of time for questions at the end.
The event takes place from 6-8 pm at the Freeword Centre in London.
There are 25 places, and the places will go to the first 25 to apply.
Tickets £20, Concessions £15, NAW Members free.
Freeword Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA
After booking, please send Masterclass submissions (optional) by the end of Friday 10 May to: richard@thenationalacademyofwriting.org.uk
To book:
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Next 'NAW Creative Writing Course in an Evening'
Wednesday 17 April 2013, 6-8pm at the Freeword Centre, London
Following the success of the first 'Creative Writing Course in an Evening' in March, NAW will be holding a similar event once a month during 2013.
The NAW 'Creative Writing Course in an Evening' is a two-hour event that condenses the useful information that can be passed from one writer to another. It is Creative Writing with the useless bits cut out.
The first hour is the unique NAW Masterclass with NAW Director Richard Beard.
In April, the second hour will be a chance to hear prolific novelist, radio and TV writer Simon Brett talk about his process as a writer. An author of eighty-eight (88!) published books, how does Simon get the work done? What does it take to get the words on the page?
There will be plenty of time for questions at the end.
The event takes place from 6-8 pm at the Freeword Centre in London. There are 25 places, and the places will go to the first 25 to apply.
Tickets £20, Concessions £15, NAW Members free.
Freeword Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA
After booking, please send Masterclass submissions (optional) by 12 April to: richard@thenationalacademyofwriting.org.uk
To book:
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NAW's 'Creative Writing Course in an Evening'
Tuesday 12 March 2013, 6-8pm at the Freeword Centre, London
The 'Creative Writing Course in an Evening' is a two-hour NAW event that offers insights into the skills needed to write and re-write effective texts.
The first hour is the unique NAW Masterclass with NAW Director Richard Beard. The NAW Masterclass is an innovative public edit that answers the need to learn about craft in the most direct possible way, by looking closely at a specific piece of writing.
Anyone attending may submit a text of up to 2000 words, in any genre of fiction or non-fiction. Two texts will be chosen at random, the writers notified, and the two texts distributed to the other participants in advance (9 March). Richard Beard, novelist and non-fiction writer, will then make a public edit of these texts - the NAW Masterclass works on the Conservatoire principle that all writers face similar problems. An edit for one is an edit for all.
Each edit takes about 15 to 20 minutes, and the writers of the texts have a right of reply. The writers and audience receive a copy of the detailed Masterclass edit to take away.
The second hour: award-winning novelist and short-story writer Keith Ridgway will talk about his process as a writer. This is a a chance to hear established writers take the 'pen or word-processor?' question seriously. How do writers get the work done? What does it take to get the words on the page? NAW works on the basis that every writer is best qualified to talk about themselves, and each writer approaches this talk in a different way.
Keith will also give a short reading and there will be plenty of time for questions.
The event will take place from 6-8 pm at the Freeword Centre in London. There are 25 spaces at this NAW 'Creative Writing Course in an Evening', and the places will go to the first 25 to apply.
Tickets £20, Concessions £15, NAW Members free.
Freeword Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA
After booking, please send Masterclass submissions to: richard@thenationalacademyofwriting.org.uk
To book a place:
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Pembroke College-National Academy of Writing Summer Programme 2013
The National Academy of Writing has joined with the International Programmes Department at Pembroke College Cambridge to design a Creative Writing Summer Programme for 2013. The course will run from 21st July to 9th August and offers a unique opportunity for committed writers to meet and work with leading practitioners while enjoying the atmosphere and hospitality of Pembroke.
Pembroke College is one of Cambridge’s oldest Colleges, and the Summer Programme combines the most effective features of National Academy of Writing and Cambridge teaching. The course will be led by the National Academy of Writing’s Director Richard Beard and by Fiona Sampson, and is designed for those with at least some and possibly quite an extensive background in creative writing.
The course is above all about the practice and art of writing. Six plenary lectures will look at a range of challenges that face creative writers, from making readable narrative from real lives to the distinction between genre and ‘literary’ writing. The skill of adapting a novel for the screen is an excellent introduction to various techniques for communicating action and emotion, while the disciplines of poetry offer lessons to writers of all kinds. The lectures will also examine strategies for creating tension, and the secrets of how to keep a reader reading.
The objective of the programme is for students to understand how best to apply these principles to their own writing. The plenary lecturers:
Sir Michael Holroyd on biography and narrative non-fiction
Deborah Moggach on structure in screenplays and novels
Ion Trewin on literary and popular fiction
Sophie Hannah on creating suspense
Richard Beard on editing
Fiona Sampson on poetic effects
Supervisions, sometimes known as tutorials, are at the heart of Cambridge University teaching and learning. Small groups of students meet with an expert in the field – the supervisor – to review and progress their work. In groups of five, writing students will submit a piece of writing and the supervisor will facilitate a constructive discussion of the work. Writers can ask for feedback on work they bring to the programme or on new writing that emerges from the Cambridge experience. The supervisors are practicing writers:
Kerry Hudson, Nicholas Hogg, Pete Salmon, Francesca Brill, Richard Beard, Fiona Sampson
The course timetable is structured to allow plenty of time for writing and reflection, especially on weekends. Full details of the course, and how to apply, can be found at the Pembroke College website.