Online 5-Week Evening Course: Non-fiction | Growing your life writing | Arvon
Online 5-Week Evening Course: Non-fiction
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Online 5-Week Evening Course: Non-fiction

Growing your life writing
Tutors
  • John-Paul Flintoff
  • Alice Jolly
    Alice Jolly
Date Monday May 20th - Tuesday June 18th 2024
Location Online

Life writing can feel lonely and self-indulgent. But you know in your bones how much it matters. Whether you’re writing about your own life or someone else’s, this five-week non-fiction course will show you how even the dustiest research can be made to shine, how to turn bald utterance into dramatic dialogue, and galvanise frozen moments into driving narrative. Two multi-talented tutors, Alice Jolly and John-Paul Flintoff, will share fresh approaches from fiction, theatre and journalism – and general non-fiction too, of course. Whether you’re an experienced writer or just starting out, you’ll be eager to try these ideas on your own material. As the final week approaches, you’ll be tweaking furiously up to the last minute, and the warm support you receive – as you read aloud to each other on the last session – will assure you that the time was well spent.


Do you want to commit time to your writing but can only manage a couple of hours a week? Would you like a writing boost and a network of writing buddies? Then join us for this Arvon Evening Course which unpacks our popular 5-day online writing week over 5 weeks of evening classes. Each week, your tutors will deliver a workshop designed to propel your writing forward, with one-to-one tutorials offered mid-course, alongside tutor readings and weekly socials.  You will develop a regular writing routine and come away from the course with a whole new network of contacts and companions for your writing years ahead.

Online: £450

Concessions: £315

As part of our effort to increase participation in the arts, we offer limited concessionary places at a 30% reduction. You can select this option at checkout if available.

Grants are available to help with the course fee

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.

Week 1

Monday

18.00-18.15 Everyone gathers online in Arvon’s Zoom Writing House. Your Arvon host will welcome you and the tutors. You’ll get to meet everyone, ask questions, and settle in. Your tutors will ask you to start thinking about your writing, perhaps setting an exercise.

18.15-19.00 Tutors first session

19.00-19.15 Break

19.15-20.45 Tutors second session

Tuesday

17.00-19.00 Please keep this time pencilled in your diary. Over the course of the 5 weeks you will have 2 x one-to-one tutorials lasting 25 minutes (one with each of your tutors). These will be allocated for you and sent to you a week before the course starts.

Week 2

Monday

17.45 Arvon host opens up Zoom room for any questions/queries

18.00-18.25 Sharing work from the previous week/discussion about how the week has been going (you are invited to post an extract of what you have been working on/your homework exercise to Padlet by Sunday 1pm)

18.25-18.30 Short 5 min comfort break

18.30-20.45 Tutor 1 workshop

Tuesday

17.00-19.00  Please keep this time pencilled in your diary. Over the course of the 5 weeks you will have 2 x one-to-one tutorials lasting 25 minutes (one with each of your tutors). These will be allocated for you and sent to you a week before the course starts.

Week 3

Monday

17.45 Arvon host opens up Zoom room for any questions/queries

18.00-18.25 Sharing work from the previous week/discussion about how the week has been going (you are invited to post an extract of what you have been working on/your homework exercise to Padlet by Sunday 1pm)

18.25-18.30 Short 5 min comfort break

18.30-20.45 Tutor 2 workshop

Tuesday

17.00-19.00 Please keep this time pencilled in your diary. Over the course of the 5 weeks you will have 2 x one-to-one tutorials lasting 25 minutes (one with each of your tutors). These will be allocated for you and sent to you a week before the course starts.

Week 4

Monday

17.45 Arvon host opens up Zoom room for any questions/queries

18.00-18.25 Sharing work from the previous week/discussion about how the week has been going (you are invited to post an extract of what you have been working on/your homework exercise to Padlet by Sunday 1pm)

18.25-18.30 short 5 min comfort break

18.30-20.45 Tutor 1 workshop

Tuesday

17.00-19.00 Please keep this time pencilled in your diary. Over the course of the 5 weeks you will have 2 x one-to-one tutorials lasting 25 minutes (one with each of your tutors). These will be allocated for you and sent to you a week before the course starts.

Week 5

Monday

17.45 Arvon host opens up Zoom room for any questions/queries

18.00-18.25 Sharing work from the previous week/discussion about how the week has been going (you are invited to post an extract of what you have been working on/your homework exercise to Padlet by Sunday 1pm)

18.25-18.30 short 5 min comfort break

18.30-20.45 Tutor 2 workshop

Tuesday

17.30-19.00 Closing comments by your tutors, followed by group readings. An opportunity to share some of the new words you have conjured over the past 5 weeks in a celebratory atmosphere among new friends.

And then...

Next steps: The 5 weeks don’t stop here. You now have a writing community. Stay in touch. Share your work with each other, and take it forward!

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