Have you always wanted to write stories, but don’t know where to start? Welcome to Beginners Creative Writing. This course is perfect for new writers, established authors who need a refresh, and everyone in between. Learn the foundations of fiction storytelling through fun and practical exercises that will get you writing from the very first class. Craft characters, build plots and create magical worlds you and your readers will love. Beginners Creative Writing is a supportive environment for all writers that love fictional stories and want to create them. Please bring either a pen and paper or laptop/tablet for classes.
- Let’s Get Started! - Why do you write? Where do your ideas come from? In week one, we’ll begin by focusing on a range of warm-up exercises to ignite your creativity and help you get some words down on the page! We’ll also set some goals for the course and reflect on the written word.
- Heroes and Villains - Characters are a core component of any good story, but how do we make them come alive? What truly makes them tick? In week two, we’ll take a closer look at heroes and villains in popular fiction and how to create them.
- What A Wonderful World - Make your readers want to live in your fictional world and stay there! This week, we’ll take a dive into magical and mystical settings in fiction, as well as real-life locations. Then, we’ll create our own unique worlds through blocks of sensory detail.
- Compelling Plots - What makes a great plot? What obstacles should you put your characters through? In week four, we’ll analyse plot mechanisms like Freytag’s Pyramid and how to keep a story moving forward. You’ll have a reader hooked in no time!
- Putting It All Together - We’ll finish the course by putting everything we’ve learnt together. We’ll go through each element — character, setting and plot — and how they work together to create an exciting story. Then, we’ll help you write a short story of your very own.
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Strategies to ignite your creativity and beat writer’s block
- Learn the skills to create stories that readers will love
- Develop unique characters with compelling backstories
- Gain confidence in a supportive environment with an experienced tutor
