Nottingham Writers' Days

Jon McGregor will be bringing some "mighty red pens" to help you edit your work.

Thinking of writing a novel and not sure where to start? Got an idea for a play but can’t decide how many characters to use? Or perhaps you need the courage to take the editorial cleaver to your work? Well, Nottingham Writers’ Days - a programme of one-day intensive writing workshops, led by award-winning writers from Nottingham Writers’ Studio – could be just the thing to help make your wordy dreams come true. Each day will include workshop sessions, writing exercises and peer reviewing, plus individual discussions about your work. The sessions will be held at Nottingham Contemporary Art Gallery from 10.15am-5.30pm, followed by some fancy grub at 6pm. Places will be limited to 12 participants for each workshop so get enrolling now because they’ll go faster than Sol Campbell down the M1 after his first appearance at Meadow Lane. 

Saturday 10th July 2010
‘From Idea to Screenplay’ with Michael Eaton
Writers who wish to participate in this workshop must have no inhibitions, for they will be required (in the company of folk they have never met before) to develop an idea of their own through various stages: the pitch, the outline, the treatment and, at last, the screenplay. In the history of cinema the genesis of most films has come from a story which already existed, so the focus will be on ‘Adaptation’. Each participant should bring a five minute statement of an idea they would like to turn into a screenplay (of any length). This founding notion might derive from a newspaper article, from another medium, perhaps even from an incident in their own lives. In the morning we will benignly share these tales and in the afternoon we will critically work together to wonder how the principles of narrative structure might be mobilised to turn base metal into dramatic gold.

Saturday 25th September 2010
‘Planning and Developing Your Novel’ with Nicola Monaghan
This course will focus on the issues faced by a novelist producing an extended piece of work. Looking at plot, narrative structure, character and practical approaches to planning your work, the session will involve writing exercises, discussion and analysis of other writers' work. Ideally participants will have been writing for a while and, to get the most out of the day, will bring ideas about a project to develop during the workshops.

Saturday 23rd October 2010
‘Cross It Out and Start Again: Editing Fiction’ with Jon McGregor
This course will look at the art of editing, where much of the work of writing is really done. We'll study some before-and-after examples from published writers' work, and consider some of the aims and challenges of insightful editing, before moving on to wield the mighty red pen over some of our own work. The workshops will concentrate on editing shorter pieces, but we will also cover ways of approaching the overall structure and shape of a novel. Participants should bring a piece of writing with them: either a short story, or a novel extract with associated synopsis/outline. Mighty red pens will be provided. 

And if you thought the workshops were impressive, check out their biogs...

Jon McGregor	Nicola Monaghan	Michael Eaton

Michael Eaton MBE, is a screenwriter who specialises in docudrama. His work includes Shipman, Shoot To Kill and Who Bombed Lockerbie. His fictional work includes Flowers of the Forest and the TV series Signs and Wonders. He has adapted works by George Eliot and Charles Dickens for BBC Radio 4, and is visiting Professor in the School of Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University.

Nicola Monaghan has worked as a teacher, a financial analyst and a software guru. She gained an MA in Writing from Nottingham Trent University in 2004. Her first novel, The Killing Jar, won a Betty Trask Award, the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Prize and the Waverton Good Read. She has subsequently published a second novel, Starfishing, and a novella, The Okinawa Dragon. She also writes the occasional article for us here at LeftLion.

Jon McGregor is the author of the critically acclaimed If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things and So Many Ways To Begin. He is the winner of the Betty Trask Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award, and has twice been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. He was born in Bermuda in 1976. He grew up in Norfolk and now lives in Nottingham. Even the Dogs is his third novel.

Cost: £45 NWS Members and Concessions. £75 Non-members per event. This will include tuition, tea/coffee on arrival (replenished throughout the day), lunch, and dinner. To book, please contact: admin@nottinghamwritersstudio.co.uk
 

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