Details of our specialist courses...
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- Running on :
- Sunday
- Monday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
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- Running on :
- Sunday
- Monday
- Wednesday
- Thursday

Alison Chisholm writes regular poetry columns in Writing Magazine and Springboard, and has written instructional, humorous and autobiographical articles for magazines, radio and newspapers. Author of nine collections of poetry, a poetry correspondence course and a range of textbooks about the craft of writing, she has taught creative writing in adult education for nearly 30 years, and visits schools to encourage young people to write.
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Different ... but not too different
- Running on :
- Sunday
- Monday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
This course will be exploring writing genre fiction through the use of its archetypes, and considering how using these in an original - or even a traditional way - can result in great stories. Each of the first three sessions will offer practical tips on how to write in each genre, as well as allowing time for a writing exercise. The final session will spend some time looking at how genre publishing works, and the markets specific to each field of writing.
Session One: Magic and monsters
Exploring fantasy archetypes (elves, dragons, wizards etc)
Session Two: Demons and darkness
Exploring horror archetypes (vampires, werewolves, zombies etc)
Session Three: Spaceships and cyborgs
Exploring SF archetypes (robots, spaceships, aliens etc)
Session Four: Genre publishing
Tips on getting published - introducing a selection of magazines, presses and agents.

Alex is a writer and events organiser specialising in science-fiction, fantasy and horror. As well as running three literature festivals and the East Midlands' first Writing Industries Conference, he has run three years of Alt.Fiction in Derby. He has also spent two years working as Desk Editor for the Black Library, working on author synopses, proofreading and copy-editing.
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- Running on :
- Sunday
- Monday
- Wednesday
- Thursday

Linda began writing articles about tropical fish in 1990, gradually switching to fiction from 1997. She now writes full time. Her main markets are Take a Break/Fiction Feast, Woman's Weekly, My Weekly and The Weekly News. Linda has won short story competitions, as well as organizing and judging her own competitions. She has a monthly column in Writers Forum called Short Story Success.
Linda used to do a lot of fillers i.e. tips, letters and photos, and still does this every now and then for fun. She has tried novels and radio without much success, but has had several stories published in anthologies. She belongs to Leeds Writers Circle and Leeds Savages and is also on Twitter.
View Linda's website
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Writing fiction aimed at children from ages 9 to 16
- Running on :
- Sunday
- Monday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
Realising who your children's book is aimed at can be stumbling book for many writers - what works well as an idea for one age group can be a disaster for another. But lots of different factors influence the appropriate age group for a book, from writing style and tone, to the emotional age of characters and the subject matter. To some extent, the boundaries are artificial, but getting the target age group right is crucial to help navigate your book from your imagination to the readers'. We'll be looking at what makes Middle Grade (ages 9-12) different from YA (ages 12+) as well as using a variety of exercises to help you develop or revise an idea for the children's market.

Benjamin Scott has ghost-written five books in the new Star Fighters series - Books 2, 4, and 6 published this year under Max Chase with two more books 7 and 9 still to come. He has taught an online course in Writing Fiction for Young Adults for Oxford University and has been a reviewer for the children's book specialist magazine Carousel since 2008. He reviews fiction for all ages. He is the Assistant Regional Advisor for the British Isles chapter of the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators), one of the largest organisations in the world for published and unpublished children's book creators. He is currently working on several projects of his own.
View Benjamin's website
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Specialist Courses
Our selection of specialist courses form the backbone of the Swanwick programme, running throughout the week on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. These in-depth courses provide the opportunity for you to learn more about your chosen subject and develop your skills over the four sessions. Choose your favourite from the selection opposite. You may find you are spoilt for choice.
Don’t miss this year's Summer School.
7 - 13 August 2010
Book now>>