276 courses
Writing a Novel (Evening)
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Tutors
Richard T. Kelly, Sarah May, Nikesh Shukla
Writing a Novel (Online)
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Tutors
Sarah May
Writing a Novel (Daytime)
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Shelley Weiner, Joanna Briscoe
Advanced Poetry
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Rachael Allen, Daljit Nagra
Advanced Poetry
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Maurice Riordan, Richard Scott, Rachel Long, Daljit Nagra, Don Paterson, Denise Riley
An Introduction to Writing a Novel (Newcastle)
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Richard T. Kelly, Preti Taneja
Collection Review
Create Brilliant Characters
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Tom Bromley
Create Brilliant Characters
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Tom Bromley
Create Brilliant Characters
Level
What do these levels mean?
Location
Length
Tutors
Tom Bromley
Create Brilliant Characters
Tutors
Tom Bromley
Find the right people to tell your story
Characters are at the heart of memorable fiction. Readers want to meet people they can go for a drink with or fall in love with or shout at. Characters they feel they know – or wish they knew. This four-week course helps you understand the conventions of writing characters and shows you how to create more engaging characters to keep your readers hooked. It will expand your range of techniques and challenge you to experiment with your writing.
Is this the right course for me?
This is one of our 'Improving' courses – you don't need to be an experienced writer to take it, but if you're a complete beginner looking for an introduction to creative writing, it might be better to start with one of our starting out courses. This one is ideal if you've got an idea (or several!) for a great story, but are struggling to get the people who'll carry it living and breathing on the page.
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
Monday 17 January – 30 January
Where do great characters come fro...
Session 2
31 January – 13 February
Five secrets of fantastic characte...
Tutor
Rachael Allen
Rachael Allen’s first collection of poems, KINGDOMLAND, is published by Faber & Faber. She is the co-author of a number of collaborative...
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Daljit Nagra
Daljit Nagra has published four poetry collections with Faber & Faber. He has won the Forward Prize for Best Individual Poem...
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Maurice Riordan
Maurice Riordan was born in Co. Cork. His first book, A Word from the Loki (1995), was nominated for the T. S. Eliot Prize...
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Richard Scott
Richard Scott was born in London in 1981. His pamphlet Wound (Rialto) won the Michael Marks Poetry Award 2016 and his poem...
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Rachel Long
Rachel Long’s debut collection, My Darling from the Lions was published by Picador in the UK, in 2020, and by Tin House, in the US, in 2021. It was shortlisted for...
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Richard T. Kelly
Richard T. Kelly is the author of the novels Crusaders (2008), The Possessions of Doctor Forrest (2011) and The Knives (2016)...
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Preti Taneja
Preti Taneja is a writer and activist. She has taught writing in prisons, worked with arts practitioners around the world mediating their own...
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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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Daljit Nagra
Daljit Nagra has published four poetry collections with Faber & Faber. He has won the Forward Prize for Best Individual Poem...
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Guest Tutor
Don Paterson
Don Paterson is the author of numerous works of poetry and non-fiction; his writing has won many awards, including the Whitbread Poetry Prize, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, the Costa Poetry Award, all three Forward Prizes...
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Guest Tutor
Denise Riley
Denise Riley’s books are War in the Nursery: Theories of the Child and Mother (1983), ‘Am I That Name?’ Feminism and the Category of 'Women' in History...
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