Course description

If you've always meant to write, or you wrote at school and then stopped, this course helps you start again and keep going. It's about writing for pleasure: short stories, poems and pieces about your own life, written in your own voice.

You'll build a small, regular writing habit and learn to read like a writer. You'll find ideas in your own memories, in places and in prompts, then learn the craft one skill at a time: description and the senses, character, dialogue and how to punctuate it the UK way, point of view and tense, and the shape of a story from first line to last. You'll write flash fiction, try the haiku, the sonnet and free verse, and write about your own life honestly and kindly. Then you'll learn to edit in layers, give and get feedback, read your work aloud and send it out safely. You finish by putting together a small portfolio: a short story, three poems, a life piece and a log of how one piece changed from draft to draft.

There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, each with a worked example, common slips, questions people often ask and a short exercise to try, and each section ends with a short quiz. You follow Zelah, a pharmacy technician in Guisborough, and Obed, a retired bus mechanic in Middlesbrough, through their first year of writing, from a new notebook in January to an open mic night in October. Every story, poem and extract in the course was written for it. Every section has a practice pack with a worksheet, example answers and a cheat sheet, plus prompt cards, model pieces, planners, checklists and a writing log.

What you'll learn

• Getting started: what counts as creative writing, setting up a notebook, a writing habit that fits your real week, freewriting and a writing log.
• Reading like a writer and finding ideas: reading twice, borrowing methods rather than words, ideas from your own life, prompts and constraints, and an ideas bank.
• Description and the senses: showing and telling, all five senses, the precise word, a sense of place, mood, weather and fresh comparisons.
• Character: wants, fears and contradictions, character through action, inner life, secondary characters and a character in a scene.
• Dialogue, point of view and tense: what dialogue does, setting out speech the UK way, tags and voices, first and third person, and past or present tense.
• Plot, structure and flash fiction: what makes a story, openings, middles, endings that land, and very short stories where every word counts.
• Poetry basics: what a poem does, imagery, line breaks and sound, the haiku, the sonnet and free verse, and revising a poem.
• Memoir and life writing: small moments with big meanings, memory and truth, writing about real people kindly and safely, hard times, and shaping a life piece.
• Editing, redrafting and feedback: reading with fresh eyes, editing in layers, proofreading and presenting, giving and getting feedback, and writing groups.
• Sharing your work and your final portfolio: reading aloud, magazines, anthologies and competitions, copyright basics in the UK, your portfolio and keeping going.

Who it's for

Adults who want to write for pleasure, whether you're starting from nothing or coming back after years away. You don't need any experience, and you don't need to want to be published. You'll need a notebook and a pen, or a computer or tablet, a PDF reader for the practice packs and, if you'd like to use the writing log as a spreadsheet, a spreadsheet app.

What this course is, and isn't

This course is about the craft and habit of writing for pleasure. It doesn't promise publication or prizes, and it doesn't name or recommend any publisher, magazine or competition; it shows you how to check guidelines and entry terms for yourself and how to avoid paying to be published. The copyright lesson gives general information based on GOV.UK guidance, not legal advice. Zelah, Obed and every other person in the course are fictional.

What will I learn?

• Build a small, regular writing habit with a notebook, freewriting and a writing log
• Read like a writer and find ideas in memories, places, objects, prompts and an ideas bank
• Describe with all five senses, precise words, a sense of place and fresh comparisons
• Create characters from wants, fears and contradictions, and show them through action and inner life
• Write natural dialogue, punctuate speech the UK way, and choose a point of view and tense
• Shape a short story with a strong opening, a moving middle and an ending that lands, and write flash fiction
• Write poems with clear images and deliberate line breaks, and try the haiku, the sonnet and free verse
• Write about your own life honestly, and about real people kindly and safely
• Edit in layers, proofread, give and receive feedback, and get the most from a writing group
• Read your work aloud, check entry terms before sending work out, understand UK copyright basics and build a portfolio

Frequently asked questions