Dear All,
Our online Weekend Schools are on writing dialogue and generating dramatic tension. We have the excellent Beth Miller and Tammye Huf running them this year. They are first come, first served, so if you're interested, I would book soon rather than later to avoid disappointment! You'll find the booking links at the bottom of each Weekend School description.
All best, Mark
Speaking of
which: Improving your dialogue
Tutor: Beth Miller
Date: Saturday 25th March
Time: 10am to 4pm
‘Lots of people really enjoy writing dialogue.’
‘And people love reading it.’
‘It’s hard to get it right though, isn’t it?’
‘Begorrah, it is, to be sure.’
‘For instance, in attempting to give someone an accent, you can fall into embarrassing stereotypes.’
‘Some writers allow the dialogue tag to carry more weight than the actual dialogue,’ she yelled furiously.
‘And others dump dull information into dialogue that either isn’t necessary or goes on far too long when dialogue should be short and snappy, you can’t write how people talk in real life or it comes out, er, like weird, uh, or something.’
‘I wish there was a weekend school where we could test out and hone our dialogue.’
Please bring a section of dialogue (up to 500 words) that isn’t working yet.
Beth Miller has published six novels, including the bestselling The Missing Letters of Mrs Bright (2020). Her most recent novel, The Woman Who Came Back to Life (2022), will be published in seven languages. She has also published two non-fiction books about Shakespeare and the Archers. Beth is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Brighton University, and teaches creative writing at various places, including for Arvon and the University of Surrey. She also works as a mentor and book coach for other writers. She really likes writing dialogue. https://bethmiller.co.uk/
Cost: £30
Link:
Dramatic Tension
Tutor: Tammye Huf
Date: Sunday 26th March
Time: 10am to 4pm
Why does a reader keep turning the pages of some books and abandon others halfway through?
Many elements come into play when crafting an engaging book, but to hold your readers’ attention and keep them on the edge of their seats, you need dramatic tension. There is no single method to create this essential element, so in this session, we will look at a variety of ways this might be done. Manipulating what is said and left unsaid, the interplay of setting and character, and the time and order in which events unfold all contribute to the dramatic tension. In addition to exploring some ways to create it, we will consider how to control it so that it works hard for you when you need it most.
Tammye Huf is a former teacher whose historical fiction debut, A More Perfect Union, won the Diverse Book Award 2021 and was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2021. It was also selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club as well as for several prominent Best Books lists. Her short stories have been published in various magazines, including Diverse Voices Quarterly, the Penman Review, and the London Magazine where her story was runner-up for the 2018 Short Story Prize.
Cost: £30
Link: