If you're hoping to work on your writing in the New Year - whether it's a specific project or a more general feeling that you need more tools, skills and inspiration - then let me help you kick-start your creative development. I've been busy planning new events, from an online evening about Showing and Telling with Blue Pencil, to a whole January learning to Make Your Novel Shine, with RNA Learning. They're all up on my website, and there are more in the pipeline, but here's a taster: it would be lovely to see you online, or in person!
And if you're interested in one-to-one mentoring or tutoring help, click through here to find out more about how I work with individual writers, or get in touch.
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MAKE YOUR NOVEL SHINE: DEVELOPMENTAL SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION: one month online course
Join me for this one-month online course, hosted by RNA Learning - education arm of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Whatever genre you write in, self-editing is about a whole lot more than tidying up the sentences. But what should you be looking for when you set out to revise and edit your writing to become the best it can be? How do you set about changing things? And how do you give it that extra polish which will raise it above other novels seeking the same readership?
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WRITERLY YOGA: WRITING FIT AND FLEXIBLE: online tutorial
If your language-wrangling skills and experience are limited, your storytelling will always be limited too. It’s the same with the imaginative work: learning to direct and develop your imagination, and knowing when and how to let it go off-track fruitfully, can make a huge difference to the quality of your writing. Join this intereactive, online workshop, to find out more.
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THE HISTORY QUILL VIRTUAL WRITERS' CONVENTION: keynote presentation and Q&A
The History Quill Online Convention runs 1st-5th February, and Emma is delighted to have been asked to give a keynote presentation on the Saturday. When authors want to take their writing to the next level, there is no better way to do this than by exploring advanced writing techniques. As part of The History Quill’s five-day online convention, Emma’s keynote presentation will discuss techniques which will stretch and challenge authors and encourage them to embrace new ideas, and will include a Q&A. Note that the time for the presentation is 4-5.30pm GMT, and 11-12.30 am EST
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SHOWING AND TELLING: online tutorial
Probably, you were first told, ‘Show, don’t Tell’ – or maybe you know it’s nonsense, but not what to do instead: you just know that what writers mean by these two apparently simple terms has big implications for how effective your writing can be.
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HOOKS, OPENINGS AND PITCHES: online tutorial
It’s not only agents and editors who judge a book by the first page: readers do too. In an industry driven by pitches, hooks, blurbs and the first paragraph of Look Inside the Book, writers need to get to grips with how a potential reader would first encounter their novel. Join Emma for this interactive online tutorial.
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FIRST DRAFT TO FINAL DRAFT: spring away day
Do you get the first draft of a novel or creative non-fiction down fairly easy, but find it hard to move on to the next stage? Does your motivation sag – or does your plot – when you start revising? In this fully-catered Away Day in a lovely private house, we will explore what a writer needs to do to move on from that first-draft stage without losing touch with the passion that makes you want to write this story.
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WRITING WITH SCRIVENER: A ROUGH GUIDE: online tutorial
Scrivener software is the writing program most used by professional writers of all kinds to help them structure and plan – or erase – their drafts, then revise, edit polish and even format and publish book-length projects and scripts. Emma is a working writer who has used Scrivener for Windows for many years; she will help you understand the core principles of how Scrivener works, and support you as you get a feel for how to make it work for your own, individual writing process.
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SELF-EDITING YOUR NOVEL: six-week online course
- Online: four times a year (usually January, March, June and September)
- Hosted by Jericho Writers
This course, which Debi Alper and I developed together for Jericho Writers and run four times a year, is sold out for all currently scheduled presentations. New dates will be announced later in the year. Our alumni have gone on to all sorts of achievements: one has sold over a million copies of her fiction, and another has just landed a TV deal; others have simply taken huge pleasure in developing their writing to its maximum potential, and many groups have formed lasting bonds of friendship, for beta-reading and support.
For current courses there is a waiting-list and we do sometimes have drop-outs, so it's worth getting in touch with Jericho. And on every course we have one bursary place available for a writer from an under-represented group. To find out more about the course, click through to Jericho Writers.
