Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but, most of all, endurance.
- James Baldwin
The most crucial of all authorial powers is determination – even the best and most established novelists despair sometimes about finishing what they’ve started. Writing is a long haul with lots of potential pitfalls. However, there is a way through the obstacle course.
Award-winning novelist Tim Lott will explain the challenges you will face and need to overcome, showing you the secrets of getting yourself in shape mentally. You will gain an understanding of the psychological qualities needed to become a novelist and acquire techniques for overcoming mental hurdles during the writing process.
Tim will also share tips on how to make time for writing when your day is full of other commitments, and keep faith in yourself as a novelist.
Content
- The personality of the writer: what kind of person becomes a novelist?
- Individuality, uncertainty, curiosity and fragility – how to use and cope with them
- Getting psychological support
- A way of seeing: how writing is about developing an “eye”
- Overcoming guilt: the shame of the committed writer
- Honesty – the key to all good writing
- Crises of confidence – and how to deal with them
- Fear – the terror of finishing, and thus being judged
Tutor profile
Tim Lott is the author of eight novels and Penguin Modern Classic memoir The Scent of Dried Roses. He is one of the most sought-after writing teachers in the country, particularly through his personal mentoring services. His writing has been highly praised by Hilary Mantel, Alan Bennett, Sebastian Faulks, Tony Parsons and Sarah Waters, among others. His students are equally enthusiastic – read their testimonials.
Tim’s help got me to a point where I was ready to write my next draft. That next draft got me an agent
- Ben McPherson, A Line of Blood
No one else could have taught me what Tim did. Without him I can safely say I would still be flailing around in piles of rejection slips
- Rebecca Thornton, The Exclusives
Details
Date: Saturday 12 May 2018
Times: Full-day course, 10am-4pm
Location: The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU
Price: £99 plus £5.35 booking fee
Event capacity: 36
Complimentary lunch and refreshments included.
You may also be interested in...
- Crafting compelling characters for your novel
- How to plan your novel and enjoy the writing process
-
Writing your novel: A six-week creative writing programme with award-winning author Ross Raisin
Information on Guardian Masterclasses
To contact us, click here. Terms and conditions can be found here.
Returns policy
Tickets may be refunded if you contact us at least 14 days before the course start date. Please see our terms and conditions for more information on our refund policy.
