Some of you may dream of becoming a successful author, whether of fiction or non-fiction.  You may already have ideas for the next crime thriller, chick-lit romance, YA or children’s book.

But not everyone who signs up for a Creating Writers’ course has that ambition.  It may be that you simply want to become a better writer, because that may help your career.

Our role is to help you to understand what makes good writing.  The literary components that fit together to form a well-told story.  If you understand them, and their relationship to one another, then you’ll be well on your way to becoming a better writer.

We offer two creative writing courses – an introductory course and a Diploma course, with an accredited qualification.  Our Diploma course is our flagship course and designed to actually start you writing that book of yours.

The tutor on both courses, Charlie Laidlaw, is an established author.

Feedback

During each course, we’ll be on hand to answer your questions.  Provide you with detailed feedback either through the school portal or by Skype.  Our courses are online, but each week we’ll have face-to-face discussions.

Our objective is to give you the building blocks for better writing.  What you choose to build with them is up to you but, don’t worry, we’re always here to help.

Remember: creative writing is all about being a storyteller.  To be a storyteller you need a story to tell and the skills to tell it well.  Creating Writers aims to give you those storytelling building blocks.

There are four elements that make up any novel: context, character, story and plot, and conflict resolution.  Understanding how they fit together is an important element in good writing.

Reading a good novel is like listening to classical symphony.  Between the loud, fast passages it should have its slower, softer interludes.  The reader must have time to catch their breath and make sense of what they’ve just read.

Books, like great classical music, should echo that structure. There should be louder action and time to pause.  Places where sentences might be short and punchy; and other places where descriptive narrative adds peaceful interlude.

We’ll help you understand all of that and much, much more.