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February is finally here (hooray!) and in this month’s W&A
Events Bulletin we’re
looking forward to the range of events and courses we have coming up between
now and Spring. Whether you’re getting ready to submit to literary agents,
honing dialogue, immersed in the editing process or just started work on
those exciting first few pages of a story, it’s always worth taking a look to
see what we’ve got in store.
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How To Hook an Agent
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Saturday 17th February, 9:15am-1:30pm (UK time) |
Bloomsbury Publishing, London | £175
Are you writing a book for publication but unsure of how to find
an agent? Get the inside track on the submission process from leading UK
literary agents at this intimate half-day event in the heart of literary
London.
Literary agents Laura
Macdougall, Juliet Pickering, Kerry-Ann Bentley and Monica MacSwan
will be sharing their expertise on the publishing process, and offering
guidance around how to pitch your book, how to choose the right agent and how
to get an agent’s attention with your submission package.
Just a handful of places remain available for this event, so
please move quickly to reserve your place. And for those of you wishing to
discuss a payment instalment plan, please email events@writersadartists.co.uk
and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
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How to Edit Your Manuscript
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Wednesday 21st February - Wednesday 27th March, 7:00pm-8:30pm
(UK) | Online | £350
All writing is rewriting. This short course will develop your
ability to reflect critically on your own creative work, to take what you’ve
put together and refine it into a story that can reach out and grab readers.
Have you given them memorable characters? Has that moment in your story
broken hearts as intended? Have the twists and turns of your plot kept people
on the edge of their seats? Have you managed to make your readers feel what
you want them to feel?
Over six weeks, students on this course will work with editor
and mentor Alex
Hammond to develop self-editing skills across all of the
following key areas: pace, structure, tension and dialogue. And in looking at
each of these key elements, students will apply the guidance they have
received to both their full synopsis and a redrafted opening section of their
current work-in-progress. A guest literary agent will also speak to the group
about the process of submitting their manuscript.
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Children’s Writers &
Illustrators Festival
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Saturday 23rd - Sunday 24th March, 10:00am-5:00pm (UK time) |
Online| £45-£80
Are you writing and/or illustrating for children? We're proud to
present this full-weekend line-up of authors, illustrators, agents and
industry professionals, who will talk tips, offer advice, share experiences
and pass on knowledge. Through a combination of live masterclasses and panel
discussions plus exclusive pre-recorded videos, festivalgoers will get the
opportunity to develop their craft with leading authors and illustrators,
have the chance to receive live feedback from literary agents on their manuscript
pitch, and hear from industry professionals about the current children's
publishing marketplace.
A range of ticket prices are available, and our speakers on this
year’s festival bill include
Alex Wharton, Andrew Wright, Holly Bourne, Sandra Agard, Hannah Gold, Rikin
Parekh and
Julia Churchill.
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Spring
Masterclasses
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Writing
as Activism
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Wednesday
13th March, 6:30pm-8:30pm (UK time) | Online | £5
Writing is
protest. In this masterclass, award-winning writer Aude Konan will
be offering you the tools to make change through writing.
She’ll delve into different media, and discuss how to make
your writing more impactful by targeting a specific
audience, to help you shine a light on issues that matter
to you and to the communities you are part of.
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Building
Your Profile as a Writer
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Wednesday
24th April, 7.00pm-8:30pm (UK time) | Online | £30
Do you want
to build your profile as a writer? Best-selling author S J Watson
is here to help you navigate the world of self-promotion
and build your profile as a writer. He'll delve into
everything from social media to subscription newsletters,
to show you how you can use the tools available to you to
find your readership and get your name out there.
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Dialogue
Screenwriting Secrets
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Wednesday
1st May, 7.00pm-8:30pm (UK time) | Online | £30
What can
all writers learn about writing dialogue from screenplays?
Whether you’re writing for the page, stage, or screen this
masterclass, led by screenwriter and novelist Angela Clarke (BBC,
Netflix, Hachette, Harper Collins), focuses on tools to
write convincing speech, manage subtext, avoid exposition
dumps, and turn dowdy dialogue into the star of the show.
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Upcoming
Courses
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Writing Horror
Fiction
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Monday 22nd
April - Monday 20th May, 7.00pm-8:30pm (UK time) | Online |
£350
Back by
popular demand, author Kirsty Logan
returns to deliver this five-week online course dedicated
to the craft of writing horror fiction. The course
is designed to take you through the steps
essential to writing in this genre.
Attendees will explore how to develop the seed of an
unsettling idea, discover - through plotting and
writing techniques - how much one can leave to
the reader's imagination, and analyse what makes
a good horror story for the 21st century.
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Writing Your
Children’s Book
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Wednesday
8th May - Wednesday 12th June, 6:30pm-8.00pm | Online |
£350
Are you
crafting a story for young people? The stories we read when
we are young shape us. This May, join Lesley Parr,
award-winning writer of children's fiction who will be
delving into the writing process, helping you create
memorable characters, build a world, and structure your
story. Students can also expect her to share insight into
the children's book market and how to improve your chances
of getting your work published.
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Last Chance: Writing Police
Procedurals
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Saturday
3rd February, 9.00am-3:30pm | Bloomsbury Publishing Offices, London | £125
Are you writing a police procedural? Led by author Caroline Green,
this event has been designed to delve into everything you need to know about
writing, and publishing, police procedurals.
The day of masterclasses and panel discussions will cover
research, authenticity, suspense and the submission process. Authors Kate London and Tony Kent will
share their experiences as writers and as people who have worked within the
criminal justice to help you write credible detectives and criminals. And
you'll have the chance to hear from an agent and an editor who will share
what makes a piece of work standout to them.
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Accessible to All
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Writers & Artists make bursary places available for our
courses and events as part of our accessibility scheme. Please visit
our bursaries page to find out how to
apply.
Payment instalment plans are available for all W&A events
and writing courses. Contact us at events@writersandartists.com so
that we can find a payment schedule that works for you.
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Copyright (c) 2023,
Writers & Artists
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP
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Welcome to W&A on
Writing, our monthly newsletter dedicated to expert advice
articles and inspirational interviews with creatives. Our focus
for this month is writing vividly and how to make your words come
to life, while there’s also a reminder to enter our annual short
story competition before the February deadline.
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What I Learned About
Writing from Being a Visual Artist
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“To create strong sensations
through writing, we have to work with
attention: first our own, and then the
reader’s.”
Author
and artist Isobel Wohl discusses
how her artistic craft has influenced her
relationship with language.
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LAST CHANCE TO BOOK:
Writing Vividly
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Wednesday 31st
January | 7-8.30pm | Online
Some books fill your head
with images you'll never forget. So how can you make sure your
readers can see every bit of the story you're telling them?
Writer and visual
artist Isobel
Wohl will share techniques and tips for
writing more vividly in this online masterclass, looking at how
you can pull from life to build the world and characters of your
book.
This event is being run in
collaboration with Book Aid International, and
proceeds from ticket sales will go towards their Generation Reader campaign.
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Short
Story Competition 2024
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Submit
a short story (for adults) of no more than 2,000
words on the theme of risk
to be in with a chance of winning a place on an
Arvon Residential Writing Week (worth £850), as
well as seeing your story published on our
site.
Our
annual short story competition
closes for entries at midnight on 12th
February.
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Mapping
a Historical Novel
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‘If the historical detail that
underpins your work has been modified,
demolished, or buried, how does a writer begin
to steer their characters along these sunken,
long-forgotten streets? How can those
characters inhabit buildings that no longer
stand?’
Author
Nicola
Edwards shares how she
navigates historical settings.
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Five
Tips on Establishing a Sense of Place
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‘You could decide to write about a
fictional place, but drawing on emotions,
weather, architecture, landscape and
demographics from first hand experience will
help lend a sense of authenticity and
originality.’
Author
Francine
Toon offers tips on how to
establish a sense of place in your writing.
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Write Better Fiction
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Monday 4th
March-Monday 25th March | 6-8.30pm | Online
Are you
serious about taking your writing to the next level?
Write Better Fiction is
an introduction to the essentials of storytelling, and is a
perfect opportunity to learn about the writing process.
Critically acclaimed author William Ryan will
guide you through key elements including point of view, conflict,
setting, crafting scenes and writing dialogue. You'll delve into
these and more, developing your confidence as a writer and
learning how to apply these concepts to your own work. Throughout
the course you'll receive invaluable critical feedback on
both your prose and story structure to help you elevate your
fiction.
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CWA
Debut Dagger Award
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Aspiring
crime novelists have until 29th February to
enter the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA)
Debut Dagger, renowned for opening doors for
new writers.
Entrants
are invited to submit the opening 3,000
words and a synopsis of the
full novel of up to 1,500
words. The novel does not need
to be completed at any stage of the competition
– although if longlisted, writers will need to
submit a second section, from further in the
novel.
Find
out more
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New
BBC Maestro Courses
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Bill Lawrence and Harlan
Coben are the latest names to
join BBC Maestro’s collection of world-class
experts, sharing their creative expertise in
two new and exclusive courses: Writing
Comedy for Television and Writing
Thrillers.
The
BBC Maestro platform features a series of
extended, in-depth lessons filmed in 4K,
allowing participants to explore new areas of
learning from the comfort of their own home.
So why not start today? (P.S. There’s 40%
off all courses in January!)
Find
out more
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Copyright
(c) 2024, Writers & Artists
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B
3DP
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