Short Story Course with Michelle Green, Liverpool

4 Feb 2020 - 6.30PM

Location: The Bluecoat, School Lane, Liverpool

Time: 6:30-8:30

Price: £180 for the full course + 2 x £100 fee for single-parent writers, or writers in receipt of a means tested benefit, personal independence payments, or disability living allowance (please contact info@commapress.co.uk for more information)

Attendees must pay for full course - individual course units not available separately.

Dates: Six workshops are held over a 6 month period, on the first Tuesday of the month (except workshop #6), to enable you to complete writing assignments:

4th February

3rd March

7th April

5th May

2nd June

30th June

Tickets can be purchased directly from the Bluecoat, click HERE! Bookings close on 21st January.

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This course is about the short story …

Over the course of 6 workshops, you’ll get a handle on the predominant narrative structures used by short story writers, and implement them in your own work. Completing set writing tasks between workshops, and receiving structured, peer-driven feedback, you’ll develop 3 short stories to completion, with tailored advice on how to shape the story, and how to improve the characterisation, dialogue, and narrative voice. Comma Press, one of the UK’s leading publisher of short fiction is always looking for new voices in short fiction and it’s hoped that this course will unearth and develop contenders for one of their showcases of new writers.

What you need to be familiar with …

You don’t necessarily need any practical experience of writing stories, nor of supervised creative writing of any kind, but it’s important that you have an interest in, and enthusiasm for, the short story form. To get the most from the course, you should be prepared do some background reading, undertake writing tasks between sessions, read the work of others on the course prior to each session, offer tactful – yet frank – feedback, and receive constructive criticism on your own work. The course isn’t geared towards any particular sub-genre within the short story form – be it literary fiction, sci-fi, or horror – we’ll be looking at techniques applicable to all these genres. This course will be taught by author, Michelle Green.

What we won’t cover …

This isn’t a course devised to help you write a novel, a novella, poetry, micro-fiction, or biography – it’s all about the short story, which presents its own specific demands and opportunities to writers (for the avoidance of doubt, short stories typically weigh in at somewhere between 1500 and 8000 words long, for the purpose of this course we will be looking at stories up to 5,000 words long).

Equipment you’ll need …

Something to write with (pen and paper will do) during sessions, and a computer and internet access at home, to upload your work in progress to the online drop box, or email to the group. If you prefer to print out other people’s work to read prior to the sessions (rather than reading from a screen), you’ll need to do this at your own expense.

About the Tutor, Michelle Green:

Michelle Green is a UK-based writer and artist. Their debut collection of short stories - Jebel Marra (Comma Press, 2015) - was nominated for a number of national and international awards, and described by the Irish Times as ‘exceptionally good writing; fifteen shards of shrapnel that will take your head off.’ Their ongoing work on disability aesthetics was featured at the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters 2019, and they are now working on a second collection: a map of short stories based on Hayling Island. More at www.michellegreen.co.uk

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For previous course feedback, testimonials and cancellation policy, click here.

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