Read Like a Writer
Read wider, read smarter and find new ways to get your words onto the page.
Level
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Location
Length
Learn to read from a writer's perspective – and how to write for your reader
Reading like a writer is different to reading for pleasure or to studying literature. It involves thinking about the craftsmanship and writing techniques authors use to keep readers turning the page. This four-week course teaches you how to read and discuss books from a writer’s perspective in order to inform your own work. It also challenges you to experiment with new writers and genres, and to find new ways of engaging readers with your own writing.
Is this the right course for me?
This course is suitable for beginners and experienced writers alike. If you're an avid reader – or even a reluctant one – the sessions will help you start to approach the work of other authors with your own fiction in mind, teaching you to identify techniques and styles and how they can be best applied.
Over two fortnight-long sessions, you'll work through guided reading, practical exercises and creative writing prompts. You'll have video introductions to the topics covered from your tutor, and instructions and tips on how to craft a satisfying story.
You'll be joined by a supportive group of fellow writers to read, discuss and feedback on your work, and we'll host forum discussions about hooking and keeping your readers engaged with your setting. We'll give you guidance on how to turn a sharp lens on your creative work and become a better editor of your writing, as well as honing those skills giving feedback to your classmates.
You'll have a special Q&A forum to keep in touch with and post your critical writing questions for your tutor during the four weeks. And at the end of the course, you'll find carefully curated additional reading and resources so you can take your interests further, as well as the opportunity to produce a piece of writing of up to 2,000 words based on one of the exercises you've worked on during the course.
This course is formed of two fortnight-long sessions. During the two weeks, you can work through the session's materials at your own pace, at a time that suits you – you don't need to be online at a particular time. You'll be able to join in discussions with your classmates on the forums, and post some of your own writing in order to get feedback from them.
Course Programme
Session 1
3 October – 16 October
Reading like a writer...
Session 2
17 October – 30 October
Writing for your reader...
Tutor
Tom Bromley
Tom Bromley is an author, editor and ghostwriter. He has written ten books under his own name, both fiction and non-fiction...
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