Workshops

Being currently based in the West Midlands, I am available to travel, within reason, to your location.

Please use the contact page to email me to check availability.

Full-day courses: £249 plus travel expenses.

Half-day courses: £199 plus travel expenses.

I do not offer online courses but plan to in 2024.

Introductory

  • ‘The Broad Sweep and the Telling Detail’

  • “Dr N.O.’s” Ten Commandments of writing

  • The Broad Sweep: crafting a short story from (up to) 7 random objects

  • The telling detail: examining a small object and writing about it in 40 words (max.)

    Planning

    This is for those who prefer to plan before they write. The workshop looks at:

  • The three-act structure of (most) novels

  • Starts to examine how to apply that to our work, concentrating on the protagonist’s journey.

     

    How to edit your work

    ‘A Great Story is Made in the Re-write’

  • Essential for those who write before they plan, but useful for everyone.

  • For this workshop, you will be expected to read a short piece of your work aloud and accept a critique on how to improve it.

  • We look at openings, dialogue, and how a good ending will often mirror the opening, and character development and challenge.

     

    Characters

    This workshop follows on from the ‘Great Story’ one and looks at:

  • The protagonist

  • The antagonist

  • The minor characters. No matter how big a role they have in the protagonist’s story, the ‘minor’ characters have a lesser role and the reader should not be as invested in their story as the protagonist’s