Do you have a novel-in-progress that you feel is nearing completion? Would you like to carve out some time to finish your draft, to refine and edit, or to take a step back and consider your project from all sides? Toby Litt and Julia Armfield will give you the tools to complete and polish your draft, with a view to getting it ready for submission and publication.
Learn editing techniques to elevate your line-level writing, with opportunities to workshop the plot and structure of your novel, as well as plenty of focus on action, tone and prose style. There will be opportunities for free writing time, more prescriptive exercises to get your writing muscles working, and open spaces to ask questions and share your thoughts with the group. Your tutors will be on hand to give professional advice on the business side of writing and to ensure you feel prepared in the lead-up to submission.
Come with an open mind, a red pen, and a real desire to finish your project!
After you have booked a place, you will be invited to provide a sample (no more than 1500 words) from your project, as well as a rough plan or plot summary (no more than 700 words) by Friday 8 January 2027. We will send you more information about this closer to the time.
Please see the detailed timetable here.
Is this course for me?
These courses are often attended by writers who:
• Want to commit time to their writing but life keeps getting in the way
• Want to set aside five days to focus on their writing
• Need the flexibility and accessibility of attending from their own space
• Would love one-to-one feedback from two professional writers
• Want a live, fully interactive experience with a group of no more than 14 writers
What will I gain?
• Daily interactive mornings workshops to propel your writing forward
• Two 25 minute one-to-one tutorials with experienced tutors
• Free passes to any webinar events happening elsewhere at Arvon at Home during your week with us including masterclasses (each worth £40; we will explain how to access these on the first day)
• A reading and Q&A with your tutors
• Daily check-ins
• A group of creative peers who you may decide to keep in contact with after the course
• Support at all times from friendly Arvon hosts
• An inclusive and supportive environment in which to open up creatively
How does it work?
The week starts with an introductory session to get to know you and your writing, and the chance to meet the other writers in the group. Then each day there will be morning workshops designed to move you and your writing forward, and check-ins at the end of each day. You will also be offered one-to-one tutorials with each tutor + a free pass to all readings and masterclasses happening elsewhere at Arvon at Home.
All sessions are delivered live via Zoom meetings, with the option of cameras off or on. Groups are limited to 14 writers so the experience has a bespoke feel.
A more detailed timetable can be found here.
Why Arvon?
Arvon is a not-for-profit charity that has been running since 1968.
At Arvon, everyone who crosses the door of one of our writing houses is a writer – no matter what their age or writing experience – and all are welcome.
About Arvon – Home of Creative Writing since 1968 – Arvon
We are committed to making our Arvon at Home programme accessible to as many people as possible.
Our FAQ page may also helpful.
Across all of Arvon at Home
- All sessions will have auto-generated captioning
- There is a Chat facility to ask any questions.
Online Writing Weeks
- Courses are delivered by Zoom meeting, which means they are not recorded.
- Online writing weeks and months have smaller groups than our other events of up 14 participants, and are interactive with tutors and your fellow course participants. We encourage everyone to participate in the way that is most comfortable. You are welcome to keep your camera and audio on or off, take breaks as needed, and contribute either on audio or in the chat.
- Tutors and participants often use the zoom chat to interact and share resources. If you have access barriers to using the chat, please let us know.
- We use Padlet as a landing page for all course materials, and to provide an optional platform for interaction with your tutors and fellow course participants. If you would like some more information about this, or if you have any access barriers to using this platform, please email arvonathome@arvon.org.
A note on the use of AI and recording
- Due to concerns around privacy, we do not allow the use of external AI transcription services during our online events and courses. Auto-captioning is available across all of our online courses, and the transcript can be viewed during the session. For recorded events (Masterclasses, The Obsidian Black Poetry Lectures and Online Writing Days), the auto-captions, transcript and chatbox can be viewed alongside the recording. Please get in touch via access@arvon.org if you would like to discuss this further.
Subject to funding/permissions/availability (please contact arvonathome@arvon.org for more details)
- Recording of Writing Weeks and Writing Months
- Downloadable transcripts
- BSL interpretation
- Live captioning
If you have any access needs that we have not covered here, please contact us on access@arvon.org
See here for more access information.
Toby Litt
Julia Armfield
