Residential Course at the Manoir de la Foulquetière in the Loire
This course is designed to inspire you, to deepen your understanding of how fiction works, and help you shape and structure your work. Every morning there will be a workshop including exercises, discussion, reading and feedback to help you find new ways of tackling problems and encourage you to explore new dimensions in your fiction. Students will have the opportunity to read “work in progress” and discuss individual areas of difficulty and each student will have a ‘one-to-one’ session with the tutor to discuss their work. Numbers are limited to a maximum of 8.
The course will take place in the attractive surroundings of the Manoir de la Foulquetière in the Loire Valley, with its extensive grounds, medieval buildings, and comfortable rooms. The next course will take place from 17-24 June 2012:
Cost:
The course costs £895 per person (£695 for writing course partners sharing a room, £495 for non-writing partners sharing a room). To book, please use the Paypal button to pay a deposit of £295, or contact us. The price includes: 15 hours workshop-style tuition and a one-to-one session based on reading a sample of your work in progress; accommodation, breakfast, lunch and four evening meals. Flights and transfer costs are not included. We plan to include an optional trip to one or two Loire chateaux free of charge and two evening meals out (very reasonably-priced restaurants). You will need to take out your own travel insurance for the journey.
Travel:
There are Ryanair flights to Tours from Stansted every day. You can also drive, taking one of the many ferry routes or the Channel Tunnel. More details about travel and a map for drivers are available on request.
Booking:
Cancellations will be accepted up to two months before the course takes place, and your fee will be returned less a £95 administration fee. If a place is cancelled after this time, the fee becomes non-refundable. We will do our best to find someone else to take your place and will then refund your fee minus the £95 fee. If we fail, we reserve the right to the full fee. We do not provide cancellation insurance and advise those booking places to take out their own.
Accommodation:
There are a variety of rooms available all with en-suite bathroom facilities and luxury beds. Please let us know if you would like to bring a partner, either participating in the course or as a guest.
Course content:
- 'Character is plot' - the interaction between character development and narrative structure.
- Openings and set-up - the inciting incident - defining the central narrative question.
- How fiction unfolds in space and time - creating a sense of place and using techniques such as a flashbacks, a 'gap in the narrative' and more complex time structures.
- Using dialogue, descriptive writing and different points of view to create narrative drive and suspense.
- Climax, resolution, endings.
Each student will also receive an hour's one-to-one tutorial.
Feedback from previous residential courses:
- 'I was so impressed by your breath of literary knowledge and ability to remember a range of plots and characters. The great fear of any writer, however experienced, is to be judged, and I never felt judged, only encouraged.'
- Beverley Glick - '10 out of 10. I felt very fortunate to have taken part.'
- Alison Booth
