UPDATE: Currently nearly all of our events are looking at a waitlist situation, but it’s worth enquiring. Please revisit us at the end of the Summer for an update on new dates. Our holiday let business is thriving, please check out holiday let page as an alternative.
DEVELOP YOUR NOVEL FIVE NIGHT WORKSHOP AND WRITING RETREAT
October 18th – 23rd 2021
North Devon
We are delighted to announce the following workshop with the fabulous Rebecca Horsefall. In May 2019 her retreat was full up and participants were delighted at the progress and how much she helped them get their next or first novel written. See below for in-depth summary of what is available.
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Full board, wine included at supper, mini gym, summer house, roaring fire in cooler months. Own room with an amazingly comfortable bed, crisp white sheets, writing table, tea and coffee making. Two ensuite rooms available (under enquiry) £645 for five nights (not four)
Ex215ne
Develop your novel-writing skills –
In-depth exploration and practice of key skills that mark out novelists as professionals, as well as detailed individual coaching, and oodles of quiet writing time.
The week will include daily 2-hour sessions of teaching and exercises, followed by private writing time. There will be in-depth one-to-one sessions, with follow-up meetings as the week progresses, and opportunities for evening gatherings to share our work through informal readings and supportive group discussions.
Tuesday morning 10 – 12: The idea for your novel. Often overlooked, having a strong core idea for your novel is the key to making it work wonderfully, and to making sure publishers and readers will want to buy it. We’ll work in depth to make sure the idea for your novel is strong enough, and improve it if necessary, and look at how to perfect what is known in the publishing world as “The elevator pitch”.
Wednesday morning 10 – 12: Writing a great opening for your novel. How and where do we start? – This is the trickiest thing to get right for every novelist, whether it’s our first novel or our twentieth. We’ll explore the many aspects to consider to make sure our opening paragraphs, pages and chapters really work.
Thursday morning 10 – 12: Techniques in fiction. We’ll look at the most important structural techniques in fiction writing, including “showing not telling,” writing dialogue, keeping the narrative pace strong, and avoiding the mid-novel slump, and try them out for ourselves.
Friday morning 10 – 12: Finding your voice as a novelist. We look at how to develop the mature style and individual voice of a professional novelist and try out techniques for writing prose that is not just competent but magical.
Rebecca Horsfall is a best-selling novelist as well as an experienced creative-writing coach and book doctor. Her first novel, the 740-page bestselling epic Dancing on Thorns was published in the UK and USA to critical acclaim in 2005. Over the past fifteen years she has worked as a book doctor and editor with more than 150 different new authors, a number of whom have gone on to achieve critical and commercial success as novelists. She runs courses and workshops for the literary consultancy Jericho Writers at the Festival of Writing in York, as well as teaching masterclasses at the University of Westminster and Regent’s University in London, and is a creative-writing tutor at West Dean College of Arts in Sussex.
Twitter: @HorsfallAuthor