Whether you are writing directly about your life or writing fiction, ultimately you base your stories on your experiences and those of others – the common human experience. This course will use life’s experiences as a source for your writing and will help you to bring them alive so that readers will want to keep reading.

You will consider the reliability of memory and use techniques to help you remember details from your past. It will look at the importance of observing with a writer’s eye in order to lay down rich memories in the first place, which will in turn provide inspiration for tomorrow’s stories. You will practise the skills needed to write about people so that they appear real and unique thus creating engaging characters. You will learn how to describe places you have visited or lived and use them as a source for your stories. Throughout the course, you will practise writing in a way which makes your experiences vibrant and interesting.

Working in a supportive, encouraging environment, you will explore each of these areas through class discussions and written exercises. Regular feedback and guidance will be provided by the tutor. There will be plenty of time for independent writing in and around the inspirational college and West Dean Gardens.

By the end of the course, you will have developed an understanding of how life’s experiences can be used to write both fiction and non-fiction. You will have written and edited several pieces and leave with new ideas for using your experiences, increased writing skills and have the confidence to write more.

What students need to bring

Writing materials – Notebook, pen or pencil and/or Laptop

Additional information

Please wear appropriate clothing/aprons for the workshop or studio. This includes stout covered footwear, i.e. no open-toes or sandals, and safety boots, if specified.

Arrival day
Residential students can arrive from 4pm, non-residential students to arrive by 6.45pm for registration
6.45pm: Welcome, followed by dinner (included)
8 - 9pm: First teaching session, attendance is essential

Daily timetable
Course teaching 9.15am - 5pm (lunch included)
Dinner: from 6.30pm (included for residential students)
Evening working: students may have access to workshops until 9pm, but only with permission from the tutor and provided any health and safety guidelines are observed

Departure day
Course teaching: 9.15am - 3pm (lunch included)
Residential students will need to check out of rooms by 10am

Please note, the tutor may make slight variations to the daily timetable as required

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