Venice Retreat 2020 - booking now open

If ever there was an offering designed to provide you with the ultimate writer’s life, romance and all, it is our Venice retreat. We give you the opportunity to live and write as Byron and Hemingway did, and so many other writers who have lived and worked among the canals and cobbled alleyways of this ancient city.

Flash Fiction Challenge

This month, we’re seeking flash fiction (no more than 250 words) written from the second-person perspective. Write no more than 250 words. Paste your entry into the body of an email and send to pam@allaboutwritingcourses.com by midnight on 30 November. Win a literary assessment or voucher for one of our courses.

Announcing our 2020 courses and programmes

We have a broad range of courses available, some of which are suitable for the complete novice, and others aimed at experienced writers.You're sure to find a course that most meets your needs.

FIND OUT ABOUT OUR UPCOMING COURSES

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You’ll receive our weekly Monday Motivations for writers, a monthly newsletter and writing challenge, and news of our writing courses, workshops and retreats.

Constructive feedback and mentoring

Take your writing to the next level with practical advice which is honest, but always kind

Qualified & experienced instructors

Industry professionals will guide you every step of the way, using their many years of experience

Personal & individual attention

The focus is on you. Our courses will help you hone your craft and make your writing dreams come true

Supportive & friendly community

Share the experience with fellow writers in a safe space – our online network will help build your confidence

… this course has changed lives. We all sit with “that book” lying deep within us, though most of us remain too daunted, embarrassed and just plain inept to even get the first line down. Jo-Anne and Richard have (almost … they can’t write the whole book for you!) all the answers in their wonderful, warm, nurturing and “growing” writing courses.

Ingrid van den Berg Cape Town
It wasn’t until I was introduced to All About Writing that I really began to believe in myself as a writer with purpose. In particular, All About Writing weekend writing courses and international retreats have excelled in providing facilitative, creative and productive environments in which to explore and develop one’s writing talent. Working with Jo-Anne and Richard has been an inspiration. Critical input, insight, humour and encouragement are all part of the magic.

Linda Price Stow-on-the-Wold
Discovering the Creative Writing Course has been one of the most satisfying landmarks in my life and certainly in my writing journey… [They] offer I believe an unequalled forum for prospective writers of all skill levels. I am hooked.

Clive Goodchild-Brown Cape Town
All About Writing really did help me. A great deal. I’m very proud of my association with them.

Redi Tlhabi Author of Endings and Beginnings and winner of the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award
Having sent three of my best-selling authors, Redi Tlhabi, Bonnie Henna and Gia Nicolaides, to All About Writing and having been a student myself, I would recommend the course to anyone, from an aspiring writer to an already established writer looking to refresh and hone their skills. Satisfy your hunger for creative expression whether you have serious writing ambitions or simply want to explore your creativity

Thabiso Mahlape Publisher, Jacana Media
...since attending the All About Writing course in 2010-2011 I just can’t stop writing. My first novel won an important competition in Italy in 2015 and was published this year. The thing is, that having written essays and reports all my life, I had always wanted to write fiction but didn’t think I could. I was right, of course, but Richard and Jo-Anne unlocked that urge in me. And I’m having a ball!

Enrico de Agostini Ambassador of Italy to Zimbabwe and author of Un Prosciutto e Dieci Ducati
I have gained so much knowledge, acquired many skills and been given a plethora of fine tools that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I thank you so much for your time, your inspiration, your patience and your understanding. You are the best mentors I could wish for. Thank you for sharing your profound knowledge and experience with me.

Julien Erwin Western Cape
You are extraordinary teachers. You’ve taken our writing seriously and over the past 30 days with gentle nudges you have shown us what was good and what still needed to be worked on. You’ve made us believe we could be REAL writers.

Angela van Schalkwyk Paarl
It is amazing to me how Jo-Anne and Richard both manage to constructively, honestly and in the most positive way comment on the assignments. I know that acquiring skills, any skills, does not happen overnight and one has to keep practising. To then have people supporting you in this fashion is … well, clichéd or not, priceless!

Melanie du Plessis Gauteng
A big thank you to Richard for opening up your wealth of knowledge and understanding to us. As a young filmmaker, I consider that a great legacy that you are passing on to some of us. It's an honour and a privilege.

Amukela Moyo Johannesburg
I used to think I would never be able to write anything, but All About Writing changed that thought for me… If I did it, you can do it, too. Thank you so much, All About Writing.

Portia Qubeka Johannesburg
It was perfect timing to use the retreat for planning and starting a new novel. I found the brainstorming sessions extremely useful and Richard seemed to intuitively know exactly the tone I was reaching for and helped me both with plotting and finding the little nuances that will make the story come alive.

Penny Castle, Venice Writing Retreat Author of Cure

Latest Posts

Announcing the winners of our October/November Flash Fiction Challenge

Excellent crop of entries for our “memoir ten years hence” writing challenge. I can’t think of a single entry that wasn’t interesting for one reason or another. But inevitably, sigh, we have to pluck from the incoming tide just those items of sea wrack that particularly took our fancy. It’s difficult, as ever, to find […]
Writing Secrets: Revelations need not bash readers over the head

Readers are clever. They pick up the subtlest clues and don’t need the point hammered home for them. Last week I spoke about the subtle way Barbara Kingsolver leaves a trail of clues for us to come to a realisation – even before the character does. When it comes to the final reveal, though, the […]
Monday Motivation: A cowlick, an expression of eagerness and a crooked grin

Ann Patchett, in her new novel, The Dutch House, has her two primary characters, a brother and sister, meet for the first time a woman their widowed father has brought home. This is how the interloper is described at that first sighting: “We had not yet been introduced to Andrea, who, from the back, looked […]
December / January Flash Fiction Challenge: Try a new perspective

All About Writing’s latest writing challenge offers the winner a literary assessment on 5000 words of writing worth R 2750 / £ 150 or a voucher to the same value to use on one of our courses or programmes. This month, we’re inviting you to play with Point of View in an unusual way – to see what […]