Authenticity is the crucial quality of all good writing – even if it’s a piece of wildly inventive fiction. In this Masterclass for anyone interested in vivid storytelling, author and journalist Hattie Crisell will explain how writers produce work that is honest about the experience of being human. She will draw on her own years of professional writing, and also on the dozens of conversations she’s had with those who’ve mastered the art of storytelling – including fiction writers Brandon Taylor and Meg Wolitzer, screenwriter Jesse Armstrong, essayist David Sedaris and poet Wendy Cope. In this class, you’ll be led through the techniques employed by successful writers of different kinds. A novelist might use imaginative empathy to write a character who feels utterly real; a journalist can use interviewing to get to the heart of somebody else’s story. Confessional writers find that it’s only when they’re brave enough to expose the uncomfortable truth that their work really connects with readers. In a friendly and supportive session, Hattie will explain how specificity helps a writer to access something universally relatable. She will go beyond the process of putting words on the page, to explain the essential role played by editing – and will argue that, counterintuitively, a writer must select and control the facts in order to guide the reader to a more profound truth.
The Masterclass will be delivered via Zoom webinar, so you can take the session at your own pace, without the pressure of having your video or camera on. Sessions are also recorded so if you are unable to attend live, you will have access to the recording for a month afterwards.
Online: £40
Concessions: £20
As part of our effort to increase participation in the arts, half-price concessions are available for this course at checkout. There are a limited number of free subsidised places for those who cannot afford the concession price.
We are committed to making our Arvon at Home programme accessible to as many people as possible.
Across all of Arvon at Home
Masterclasses
Online Writing Day
How I Write
Online Writing Weeks and Evening Courses
Subject to funding/permissions (please contact arvonathome@arvon.org for more details)
If you have any access issues that we have not covered here, please contact us on access@arvon.org
See here for more access information.
"These zoom opportunities are really helping to open my world and keep me inspired to write."— Masterclass participant
"Arvon at Home creates a model to participate in inspirational tutoring for writers, at a distance. The feeling of attending to my writing life in an excellent fashion, and still having a half-day for my work and caring responsibilities at home, felt like a good balance."— Masterclass participant
"It was an absolutely brilliant session and very very useful. And it made me realise how much I’ve missed this kind of workshop because of having children and family that I can’t leave. Now we’re all in the same boat the online stuff is truly transformative."— Masterclass participant
May 24
Online
How to write a poem when you've got 100 more important things to do (and how it can help)
May 31
Online
Nailing the mechanics of metaphor
Jun 1
Other
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Jun 3-8
Totleigh Barton
Writing place as character
Jun 4
Online
Five types of experience
Jun 7
Online
Get unstuck in a day – from fear to joy
Jun 14
Online
Understanding character and inspiring plot
Jun 17-22
The Hurst
Start with the facts, finish with a story
