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Creative Writing courses

Creative Writing Courses with Karen McLeod
The workshops are designed to help you find what you are interested in writing about and are by no means academic lectures on ‘how to write’. Karen’s approach is routed in Winnicott’s theory which is that all creativity comes out of play. On one hand she introduces the importance of craft while equally encouraging experimentation to discover and free up your writing voice.

Before the course starts students receive a suggested reading list which can be ordered from The Bookseller Crow. Practical feedback along with writing tips are offered along the way, with weekly email handouts and class notes.

The course runs for six weeks and since Covid-19 has dominated our lives, it has been run online via ZOOM. The structure has remained the same, happening in real time, we are just in other rooms. Classes are from 7.30 pm – 9.30pm and are currently only suitable for over 18’s. It is aimed at beginners or writers who wish to gain confidence and find the structure and motivation to write again.

Places are offered on a first come, first served basis with a maximum of twelve students in each class. The total cost is £149.

Information and booking
For information on upcoming course dates please email: scribblingcrow@hotmail.com

COURSE STRUCTURE
Exercises will be set each week during class time as well as explorative ‘creative assignments’ which will be completed outside of class. During the six weeks we shall introduce the following aspects of creative writing:

  • Writing autobiography/memoir
  • Autobiography and fiction
  • Building characters
  • Point of view
  • Place
  • Story structure/shape
  • Using dialogue

In the final week there will be a how to keep writing, editing and reading party.

Recent participant feedback
I got exactly what I wanted and needed on your course! I was looking for ways to access writing that felt all locked up inside of me and I didn’t want to ‘learn to write like everyone else’ … thank you for an absolutely fantastic course.

“I loved the course – it knocked me off my normal pattern of thinking and got me to try new things! Also I got some really useful feedback.”

Karen McLeod
Karen McLeodKaren McLeod is a prize-winning author (In Search Of The Missing Eyelash) and performer of comic poet Barbara Brownskirt. She holds an MA in Creative Life Writing from Goldsmiths University and is Bookseller Crow’s writer-in-residence and literary events coordinator.

For the last eight years she has run Creative Writing courses within the bookshop, and since lockdown has been delivering them online. These workshops have proved hugely popular, both creatively and for the community, linking creatives from Crystal Palace, South-East London and beyond.

Those attending the course have gone on to write successful TV dramas, radio plays, poetry, and performance. In 2019 Kate Davies had her debut novel published, In At The Deep End by Borough Press and in 2020 it won the Polari prize. Many writers have gone on to form strong friendships and continue to meet in their own writing groups. Karen also runs workshops for other organisations and recently has worked with Positive East and as a lecturer for University for the Creative Arts.

See Karen’s website www.karenmcleod.co.uk.

In Search of the Missing Eyelash

by Karen McLeod

In Search of the Missing Eyelash-Karen McLeod

Karen’s debut novel ‘In Search of the Missing Eyelash’ was published by Jonathan Cape, won the Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Best First Novel Award. Since then she has been widely published in the milieus of fiction and non-fiction.

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