Life is a limitless source of incredible stories. But knowing how to do justice to reality’s nuances and unbelievable truths is a tricky task. Whether you want to write biography, memoir, travelogues or social history, creative non-fiction offers authors a unique opportunity to give emotional resonance to dry facts and empirical experience. This practical two-day course shows writers how to get the best out of the information at your disposal – whether you want to explore ancient history or immortalise current events.
Taught by renowned creative non-fiction author and lecturer Jacqueline Yallop, this stimulating weekend will show you new ways to research real lives and events, and convert them into long-form prose. You’ll learn techniques for carrying out revealing research, as well as the literary skills to turn accurate facts into sparkling prose.
This course is for you if...
- You’re planning a personal memoir or long-form autobiographical work, whether about your life as a whole or a period within it
- You’re interested in writing a biography
- You’re currently writing or planning a book based on events in your family history
- You’re a journalist or blogger who wants to write a long-form treatment of a true story
PLEASE NOTE: The second day of the course involves some workshopping based on participants’ work. Each attendee should bring along some of their research and/or writing that they are prepared to discuss.
Course description
This highly practical weekend course is largely composed of workshops giving attendees hands-on experience of the creative and technical elements of producing creative non-fiction. Topics covered over the weekend include:
- What is creative non-fiction and why should I write it?
- Getting the most from real stories and events
- The secrets of productive research
- Transfiguring research for the page
- The value of contexts and diversisons
- Places, people and politics: adding colour to facts
- Prose techniques for presenting real lives
- Participants’ research and experiences
Tutor profile
Jacqueline Yallop is the author of the critically acclaimed creative non-fiction work Magpies, Squirrels and Thieves: How the Victorians Collected the World, as well as three celebrated novels, Kissing Alice, Obedience and Marlford. Jacqueline lectures in fiction and creative non-fiction at the University of Aberystwyth, and frequently speaks at literary festivals and creative writing schools.
Details
Times: 10am-4pm
Location: The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU
Price: £449 (includes VAT, booking fee, lunch and refreshments)
Event capacity: 16
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.
