A great atmosphere, everyone so friendly and encouraging. Excellent courses. You can do as much or as little as you wish - plenty of time to push on with one's own writing.
A great atmosphere, everyone so friendly and encouraging. Excellent courses. You can do as much or as little as you wish - plenty of time to push on with one's own writing.
Autumn Barlow
More infoClose BoxSession 1
* The different types of erotica, with an emphasis on erotic romance
* Who buys this, and what are their expectations?
* Bored of billionaires? The common themes - and how to subvert them
* Specialist areas - "niche" erotica, kinks and fetishes. A place to tread carefully...
* The importance of title and blurb
* Covers, stock photography, fonts; making GIMP (free graphics software) work for you
Session 2
* Types of ebook and how to use Calibre (free conversion software) to make conversions
* Amazon KDP - file requirements, hints and tips. To go Select... or to not go Select
* Other distributors for UK authors (Kobo, Smashwords. With any luck, Barnes and Noble's PubIt will be online for us by the summer, too)
* Tax, royalty and payments - how to obtain an EIN from the IRS to ensure you get that 30% which Amazon withholds!
* Promotion - what works and what doesn't. Do you really need a blog? Mailing lists, social media (for erotica? It can backfire...)
There will be lots of handouts as there is lots of information to take in, and I will be producing a number of step by step guides.
Autumn is a full-time freelance writer and editor with her fingers in many tasty pies. She writes non-fiction and occasional fiction for magazines on any topic, but specializing in cycling themes. She is the publisher at Top Hat Books, a historical fiction imprint of John Hunt Publishing. She's a Managing Editor at loveyoudivine Alterotica, a US ebook company of erotica. And finally, she self-publishes erotica and erotic romance under two top-secret pseudonyms.
View Autumn's website
Alison Chisholm
More infoClose BoxWe all have a life story worth sharing. This course looks at the reasons we want to share, the readers we'll share it with, and the approach that will bring it to life. We'll look at using autobiographical material to inform short pieces of writing, and consider themes and boundaries, dynamic writing style and publishing options.
Session 1 will include discussion of the motivation for writing autobiography, exercises to explore themes and styles, a range of approaches and marketing options in blogging, publication and self-publishing .
Session 2 will include writing short autobiographical pieces, memory prompting, the multi-format autobiography, and devising a schedule to plan your autobiographical writing.
Alison taught creative writing in FE for 25 years, and co-wrote the Allison and Busby Writers' Guide How to Write about Yourself. She tutors weekend courses on autobiography, and marks on the distance learning Memoir Writing course for The Writers Bureau. She also writes poetry and non-fiction.
Meg Davis
More infoClose BoxThe agent is usually the first professional who sees a writer’s manuscript, and works with the author on the final edits before the book is submitted to publishers. This course will deal with what to expect from the process – and what a writer can do themselves first to make the final edits quicker and more efficient.
Meg took a degree in Russian before working in theatre, as a semi-professional musician, and in a bookshop. She worked at MBA Literary Agents Ltd before starting her own company, Ki Agency, in 2011. She represents writers in all media.
Meg has served on the council of the Association of Authors’ Agents and is also on the council of the PMA. She is also an external examiner for the MA in Scriptwriting at Sheffield Hallam University.
View Meg's website
Alex Davis
More infoClose BoxHorror is a literary form with a rich and prestigious history, taking in classic names such as Stoker, Poe and Lovecraft as well as modern figures such as Stephen King, Clive Barker and James Herbert. This two-part workshop will give attendees the chance to explore the art of horror writing, looking at key aspects such as creating atmosphere and building tension, as well as an insight into the world of horror publishing in 2013.
Alex Davis is a writer, tutor, proofreader and event organiser based in Derby, UK. His writing has previously been published in Dark Horizons, The Harrow, Carillon, SP Quill, Harlequin Magazine, Morpheus Tales and many more publications online and on paper. He has also spent many years organising literature festivals and conventions, including five years of the Alt.Fiction event, as well as two years working in publishing with Black Library at Games Workshop. His teaching work has seen him run eight and twelve week courses in Derby, Nottingham, Wolverhampton and Spalding, as well as many one-off workshops and day sessions. His debut novel, The Last War, will be released in 2013 through Raven and Bear Publishing.
View Alex's website
Curtis Jobling
More infoClose BoxSession 1
An in-depth tour of Curtis' extensive career in creative industries, this funny, irreverent but often relevant talk will touch upon creative writing, concept development, film, animation and publishing. Charting preschool TV past through to the fantasy horror present of WEREWORLD, no stone is left unturned as Jobling reveals embarrassing anecdotes from his past, providing unique insights into what's required to get ahead in life as a storyteller. Via powerpoint, cartoons, live doodling, rare behind-the-scenes pictures and a liberal dose of self-deprecation, there's something here for everyone.
Session 2
Informal Q&A to follow on from the morning session.
Curtis is the author/illustrator of numerous picture books and creator/designer of many well known, award winning children's series (Bob the Builder, Frankenstein's Cat, Raa Raa the Noisy Lion). More recently he has been concentrating on writing the acclaimed fantasy horror series of novels, Wereworld, for Puffin, the first of which was shortlisted for the Waterstone's Book Prize.
View Curtis's website
Zoe Lambert
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Zoe Lambert is a Manchester based writer. She has an MA in Creative Writing at UEA and a PhD from Manchester Metropolitan University. She lectures on the creative writing MA at the Universities of Bolton and Edge Hill. She was the founder of cult Manchester literature night, Verberate, and is a member of the board of the Northwest Short Story Network. She is founder of the cult Manchester spoken word night, Verberate, and is an active campaigner for the rights of asylum seekers. Her fiction has appeared in Lamport Court, Bracket and The Independent on Sunday. A sequence of her stories first appeared in Ellipsis 2 (Comma, 2006). Her first full collection The War Tour has recently been published.
Linda Lewis
More infoClose BoxSession One will give an overview of the magazines currently accepting fiction.
We will then study one of those markets (Woman's Weekly) to find out what they are currently looking for.
Session Two will begin with a discussion about what a womag story is and how (or if) it differs from a story for other markets and/or competitions. We will then look at The People's Friend in some detail.
Both sessions will include brief exercises and handouts.
Linda has been working full time as a writer since 2003, concentrating mainly on short stories. She also writes articles, fillers and books about the craft of writing. In 2012, her book THE WRITER'S TREASURY OF IDEAS was published by Filament Publishing and she also has a series of writers' guides available on Kindle thanks to a partnership with Byker books.
In August 2012 she started work as a tutor for The Writers' Bureau. She also runs various workshops and courses and is available to give talks and judge competitions. She lives in Leeds where she also boards dogs while their owners are on holiday.
View Linda's website
Kate McCormick
More infoClose BoxPart 1 of the course will cover tools and techniques that can be used by a writer to sharpen business skills, take the pain out of paperwork and free up more time for writing.
Part 2 of the course will look at finance systems from simple to complex and how to choose the most appropriate.
Kate McCormick has been writing technical non-fiction for the past fifteen years and has published a number of textbooks and articles under her own name. She has been writing creatively since 2006 as Elizabeth Ducie and has won or been placed in a number of competitions. She has co-authored two anthologies of short stories, has recently graduated with an MA in Creative Writing, and has just completed her first novel, set in Russia.
Kate also has an MBA and has been running a consultancy practice with her husband for more than twenty years. She has presented sessions on ‘Business Skills' and 'Writing as a Small Business' three times previously at Swanwick. She posts occasional articles on the same subject on her blog.
View Kate's website
Tarja Moles
More infoClose BoxThis course introduces you to the world of blogging in a non-techie way and gives you the essential tools to start your own blog.
Session 1
* What is blogging and why do it?
* Planning and setting up your blog
* Writing blog posts
Session 2
* Sourcing images
* Gaining readers and visibility
* Being prepared for and dealing with problems (incl. trolls, plagiarism, blogging 'fatigue')
If you have been afraid of dipping your toes into the waters of the online world, fear not: blogging is as easy as bish bash bosh!
Dr Tarja Moles is the creator of the No Naughties gluten- and sugar-free recipe books and blog; the author of The Xenophobe's(R) Guide to the Finns; the 'Research Tips for Writers' columnist for Writing Magazine and the director of an independent publishing house Luscious Books.
View Tarja's website
Syd Moore
More infoClose BoxJoin Syd to hear what inspired her to develop the idea of her latest book The Sacrifice and how she took a mixture of historical facts and legends which didn't mesh, and used them to fictionalise a 'history' of a small village in Essex.
Using Syd's techniques, you will then have the opportunity to develop your own plot lines from a selection of intriguing scenarios, facts and characters.
Syd Moore is the author of The Drowning Pool and Witch Hunt. She is currently working on her third book, The Sacrifice.
Before embarking on a career in education, Syd worked extensively in the publishing industry, fronting Channel 4's book programme, Pulp. She was the founding editor of Level 4, an arts and culture magazine, and is co-creator of Super Strumps, the game that reclaims female stereotypes. When she is not writing Syd works for Metal Culture, an arts organisation, promoting arts and cultural events and developing literature programmes.
James Moran
More infoClose BoxSession 1
Story to script, from the idea to finished draft, brainstorming, outlining, rough draft.
Session 2
Finding an agent, dealing with notes, people, and production.
James Moran is a British screenwriter for TV and film, whose work includes the films Severance, Cockneys Vs Zombies, and Tower Block, and episodes of Doctor Who, Torchwood, Spooks, Primeval, Spooks: Code 9, and Crusoe. He also wrote and part-directed Girl Number 9, a 6-part web thriller starring Gareth David-Lloyd and Tracy-Ann Oberman, which is now free to watch at www.canyousaveher.com. James has written several short stories, a Highlander audio play, and directed a short film starring Arthur Darvill and Hannah Tointon, which will tour film festivals throughout 2013.
View James's website
Michael O'Byrne
More infoClose BoxThis short course will look at six key areas of policing: Scenes of Crime, Surveillance, Interrogation, Search, Discipline, Inter-force and international enquiries and Profiling. We will cover what should happen and why crime writers need sometimes a little, often a lot, of poetic licence if the story is to work.
A police officer from the age of 19 serving in the Royal Hong Kong Police, The Met, Surrey, Thames Valley and Bedfordshire, retiring as chief constable. Since retiring he has concentrated on writing. Changing Policing - Revolution not Evolution was published in 2002 and The Crime Writer's Guide to Police Practice and Procedure (publisher Robert Hale) in 2009. He has written two crime thrillers which can be tasted on his website.
View Michael's website
Joyce Ward
More infoClose BoxWorking in groups, you will be given a brief outline and the first words of a play in the morning, from which you will write a short play to be read out in the afternoon session.
Joyce has been writing short stories and plays for more than 20 years. She runs a drama school in her village and they put on plays and a yearly pantomime. Joyce was secretary for four years, and president for four years, of the Scottish Association of Writers.
She has been hostess at Swanwick to our guest speakers and directed the Swanwick Spectacular for many years.
Xanthe Wells
More infoClose BoxInspired by Lucia Cappachione's The Power of the Other Hand, this one hour workshop will introduce you to the power of your subconscious mind and the amazing influence it has over our confidence and creativity.
Through visualisation exercises brought to life by sub-dominant hand drawing and dialogue techniques, we will discover the power of our inner writer and learn to trust its guidance as we embark upon, or continue with, our writing projects.
Xanthe holds a doctorate in creative writing and currently runs her own freelance business The Writerspace. She offers coaching and editing support for both professional and aspiring writers and has worked on a number of texts for the coaching industry as well as contributing research to a series of original philosophy. Her most recent project was as Creative Director of Make it Happen: A success guide for teenagers by Padraig Lawlor and Philip O'Callaghan.
As well as pursuing her own writing, Xanthe also enjoys teaching a variety of subjects, including creative writing, to adults and teenagers in various contexts. At Uppingham School she has been dubbed with the pseudonym 'Dr X' and works hard to maintain this slightly enigmatic identity!
View Xanthe's website
Stella Whitelaw
More infoClose BoxI've done it myself. Started a new book with great enthusiasm then found myself floundering after a few chapters and fast running out of that hot, misty stuff. It was from a lack of initial planning.
So we shall go through the varied steps of planning, do a spot of plotting major scenes or events, decide on a realistic time-table. It's essential to have a theme, know your characters, find the perfect setting, get the names right, use a good working title. And research, too much or too little?
Sprinkle it all with the magic of resonance (resonance you ask: what's that?) and the vital fourth ingredient - inspiration and determination - and we are set to rock and roll.
Stella is currently working on 51st novel and is already published by HarperCollins, Michael O'Mara, Mills & Boon, Allison and Busby to name but a few. She has written sixteen crime books, eights books of short stories, and four How-Tos, as well as over 300 short stories published in national magazines and the BBC. Stella has won the Woman's National short story competition, the Art of Writing competition in the London Magazine judged by Sheridan Morley and other national competitions. Sadly, the film option on her cruise crime series is now a vague memory. She is a descendent of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, playwright.
Each day there is a selection of two-part courses for you to choose from, each lead by an expert tutor. The courses cover a range of genres and subjects, from non-fiction to novels, performance to poetry. Follow your favourite area throughout the week, or branch out and try something new - the choice is yours.
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