Who we are and what we do

Writing can be a lonely and daunting activity, especially for the beginner writer
Without the right encouragement it can be only too easy for the aspiring writer to never get started, or worse still, give up after only just beginning. Our aim is to get people who want to write writing, and keep them writing.

We differ from the traditional correspondence course
For all our writing courses we use an online conference program called FirstClass. This program allows participants and tutors to communicate with each other almost instantaneously. Gone are the days of waiting weeks on end for a postal reply from a tutor or colleague. But don’t panic if you’ve never used a conferencing program before. FirstClass is very straightforward to use (and help is only ever a phone call or e-mail away). The main benefit of the program is that it allows all participants to see each others’ work, and for “virtual” discussions to develop.

We work with small groups
Online, smaller groups work more effectively than larger groups, which is why we limit each creative writing course to between 6 and 10 participants. All our writing classes have a course tutor, who is always at hand for advice/help/queries and who comments on all work.

All courses last 10 weeks
The first week is a free orientation week, which is when participants are “virtually” introduced to each other and get a chance to get to know the conferencing program. The following nine weeks are a mixture of stimulating “notes” and encouraging creative writing exercises and/or assignments.

Staff
Co-director/Tutor Marianne Wheelaghan
Co-director/IT support Marc Pimbert
Writing tutor Elaine Murphy
Writing tutor Louisa Jones
Writing tutor Mark Woodward