Masterclass: Planning and Writing The Mirror
One of a series of ten intensive, impactful masterclasses from Faber Academy's Director of Fiction.
Level
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Location
Length
After eleven years directing our flagship Writing a Novel course, helping over a hundred students gain publication deals, Richard Skinner has developed our new series of ten masterclasses. Covering the essential elements of fiction in his fullest, most impactful workshops, this series is perfect if you’re looking to sharpen your skills, improve particular elements of your writing, or aren’t able to commit to one of our longer courses.
'I spent five years thinking through the story in The Mirror before I started writing it. For this session, I’ll show you my plan for The Mirror – plot points stuck onto a long piece of wallpaper – and how I settled on its order. I’ll also be talking about using playlists for character development, about colour coding the novel and using the humours as the basis for the four main characters.'
Schedule
The course will take place on Zoom, using a mix of teaching and discussion time with practical exercises to get you writing.
18.30–18.45
Welcome and introductions
18.45–19.45
Planning and plotting
The planning and writing process, and how it leads to the idea that plotting is a ‘process of elimination’ to an ending that is both surprising and inevitable.
19.45–20.00
Break
20.00–21.00
Delving deeper
Using playlists, colour-coding and the four humours to build character and create conflict.
Richard Skinner is a great teacher [...] After every one of his classes, I return to my writing feeling inspired
Richard Skinner
Richard Skinner is a novelist, poet and critic. His most recent book, The Mirror, was described as ‘beautifully written...
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