Please note: this course is now sold out
How To Write A Page-Turner is a six-session online writing course that requires just 90 minutes of your time each week.
Designed by best-selling author of crime fiction, Caroline Green, this is an essential introduction to developing a manuscript that hurls your protagonist – and readers! – through the sort of twists and turns synonymous with a can’t-put-down, page-turning novel.
Practical elements include plot development, pacing, creating characters, and building tension.
Attendees are not required to have a work-in-progress ready to share but those who are already working on an original manuscript can, of course, apply in-session and homework writing exercises to their writing as they see fit. Participation in homework exercises is not mandatory, though Caroline will offer collective feedback on all work submitted at the beginning of each week’s session.
All students may also submit up to 2,000 words of original material to Caroline at the end of the course, and receive up to two pages of feedback on their work.
Course benefits
Students on this course should expect:
- 9 hours of practical writing advice and tuition
- Feedback from Caroline Green on up to 2,000 words of your writing
- Peer-to-peer review; amass a wealth of objective feedback from fellow students
- Deadlines issued for homework exercises
- Course materials available to view ahead of each session
- A copy of the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook and the W&A Companion Guide to Writing Crime & Thriller
- Exclusive discounts on W&A products including editing services and books
Each week sessions will combine tutorials with practical exercises, discussion and feedback.
Schedule
Week One: Monday 22nd February
Heroes, villains and victims: How to create strong, believable fictional characters, including authority figures that live off the page.
Week Two: Monday 1st March
Point-of-View and Voice: Finding the right way to tell your story and coming up with a ‘voice’ that hooks and intrigues your readers.
Week Three: Monday 8th March
Plotting a book: Getting the initial inspiration and where to start, plus how to plan and structure your story so it hangs together tightly.
Week Four: Monday 15th March
Pace and Tension: How to write so that your readers will keep turning the pages.
Week Five: Monday 22nd March
A Sense of Place: Creating settings that add atmosphere and depth to your story.
Week Six: Monday 29th March
Editing your book and pitching to the industry, with guest speaker Katie Ellis-Brown
Writing as Cass Green, Caroline's debut adult novel The Woman Next Door was a Number 1 e-book bestseller and her second, In A Cottage, In A Wood was a Sunday Times top ten and USA Today bestseller. She is also an award-winning author of fiction for young people. Her first novel, Dark Ride won the RONA Young Adult Book of the Year and the Waverton Good Read Award. Cracks was recommended on Radio 4’s Open Book programme and Hold Your Breath won the Oldham Book Award. She is the Writer in Residence at East Barnet School and has taught writing at City University and for Writers & Artists. In 2021 she will publish the first of three genre-bending police procedurals, all to be published by HarperCollins.
Katie is editorial director at Raven Books, an imprint of Bloomsbury, which specialises in fiction and non-fiction with a touch of the dark side. She has worked in publishing for over a decade, beginning her career at arts agency Riot Communications, before moving to Headline and then to Orion, where she co-published Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams. Raven Books authors include the winner of the Costa Best First Novel award, Stuart Turton; Laura Purcell, author of the award winning The Silent Companions; and critically acclaimed crime and thriller writers including Eva Dolan, Alex Reeve and Holly Watt.
The course fee of £350 (inc. VAT) is payable in full online.
Please do contact us if you wish to discuss an instalment payment plan by calling 0207 631 5985 or by sending an email to writersandartists@bloomsbury.com.
If this event is Sold Out, please look out for other writing courses by visiting our Events homepage.
Event Details
This is an online course presented via video-conferencing software. Joining instructions and full guidance will be provided before the course start-date.
