I’m a great believer in the power of detail in creative writing. Carefully observed specific details can transform a manuscript and bring it vividly to life. That’s why I was […]
Paul O’Rourke is a New York dentist, and the eccentric hero of Joshua Ferris’s Man Booker short-listed novel To Rise Again at a Decent Hour. Ferris is a dazzling young […]
Without conflict, there is no story, right? It’s a truism, and one we should all know. Something disturbs the balance of life, which is where a story begins. What new […]
“Nobody knows anything…… Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what’s going to work. Every time out it’s a guess and, if you’re [...]
I just wanted to check in with you to see if you’ve had a chance to think about joining Michele Rowe and me for our Guide to Creative Screenwriting course. […]
Welcome to this month’s newsletter Many of our community, it seems, have earmarked 2018 as their year for writing. We’ve had so many requests for help and support, we’ve decided […]
For the past week or so I’ve feasted on a memoir called Educated by Tara Westover, a Cambridge PhD history graduate who began life as the youngest daughter of […]
Our fresh-out-of-the-box Guide to Creative Screenwriting is a ten-week on-line course starting on 15 March. The course runs you through the essential skills required by anyone who wishes to write [...]
I’ve been wondering why conflict is that absolutely essential element of drama that we’ve always argued it is. We’ve said that conflict creates uncertainty, uncertainty creates suspense – will he [...]
What would our fourth annual Venice Writing Retreat give you? That’s easy, if we quote one of our past participants, who called it “a life-changing experience”. It will certainly provide […]