Get Writing at The Biscuit Factory
I’m delighted to share details of a new creative writing course at the Biscuit Factory Gallery. Get Writing is a four-week course that will run on consecutive Saturday mornings between Saturday 17 January-Saturday 7 February (11am-1pm). The course will cover some fundamentals of creative writing and I’ve designed it so it’s suitable for beginners as well as anyone wanting to refresh their practice and develop their skills. It’ll feature new content to other recent courses so it’s fine to attend if you’ve been to anything I’ve done before.
If we’ve not met before, here’s what you can expect at one of my workshops or courses:
A friendly, supportive and relaxed atmosphere where everyone feels safe and comfortable.
Interesting and inspiring exercises that will get you writing and help you get over the fear of the blank page.
The freedom to try out new ideas and experiment without feeling you have to produce anything perfect – in fact, you’ll be encouraged to share messy and unpolished pieces.
Positive, encouraging and constructive feedback on your writing and ideas (but no pressure to share your work if you’d prefer not to).
Detailed handouts giving written instructions for all tasks as well as plenty of information to take away including further writing prompts, reading lists and useful links.
An enjoyable experience. I want people to learn at my classes (I’m a qualified adult education teacher) but also hope they have a good time and leave feeling happy and positive.
The Biscuit Factory is a great venue – we have a large, comfortable and quiet room (pictured below) and attendees get 10% off the lovely café upstairs in the gallery for drinks or lunch after the session. Tickets are £120 and you can book through the Biscuit Factory website.
Other Courses and Workshops
A reminder that you can find full details of all of my upcoming courses and workshops on my website, but here’s a quick round up of what’s happening in the next few months:
Winter Writing at The Biscuit Factory - Sunday 16 November (11am-2pm). £30.
Gather Online Writing Group – 2 October, 6 November, 4 December (6.30pm-8.30pm). £14 per session. Email me to book.
Time to Write at Koru Pizza, Gosforth – 28 September, 26 October, 23 November (11am-1pm). £20 per session. Email me to book.
Mentoring Service
Did you know that I offer a mentoring service for writers wanting to make progress in their career or on a specific project? Mentoring can take place in person (if you are near to Newcastle) or via Zoom and is tailored to your individual needs. It might be a one-off session to chat through an idea or piece of writing or a series of sessions where we set practical actions to help you achieve a particular goal. Whatever the case, I’ve got lots of experience of working with all sorts of writers on all sorts of projects, so do get in touch if I can help.
I charge £25 an hour for mentoring sessions and can also offer vouchers if you’d like to buy a session for someone as a gift. Email me to find out more.
Writing Opportunities
This month’s competitions and opportunities are all free to enter:
The Happiful Poetry Prize celebrates the best in mental health and wellbeing writing. Submit a poem of up to 25 lines on this subject by the deadline of 14 November.
Leven Street Press are currently open for poetry submissions. Poems will be published on an A6 postcard (suited to 10-16 lines) which will be available in local libraries in Glasgow. Submit 1-4 poems as a PDF by 11pm on 3 November. Writers will be paid £50 for each poem accepted.
The Manchester Cathedral Poetry Competition 2025 is open for poems of no more than 30 lines with the theme of bells. The first submission is free, with additional entries costing £5 per poem. Submissions close at midday on 14 November.
The Welkin Writing Prize is for microfiction on any theme of up to 100 words. It’s free to enter (one piece only) and opens on 1 December. The deadline is 2 January.
Fictive Dream accepts microfiction (up to 400 words), flash fiction (up to 1,000 words) and short stories (up to 2,500 words). Send one story at a time. No deadline.
The Live Theatre’s North East Playwriting Award is open to all writers over the age of 16 who are from, living or working in the North East of England. Submissions should be of full-length original plays, not sketches, screenplays or adaptations. If a full play has not yet been written, treatments will be considered provided they offer a clear sense of: a full story outline with characters; a description of the play’s world and style; and a sample scene from the proposed play. The winning play will receive a full commission with a view to a production on Live Theatre’s stage. The deadline is 5pm on 31 October.
Arc Poetry Magazine accepts poems on any subject and in any form. Submissions must not exceed three poems or 360 lines of poetry and should be made by the deadline of 31 December. They pay US$50 per page.
Ghost Parachute Literary Magazine accepts flash fiction of 1000 words or less. Send one story at a time. No deadline.
For more free to enter competitions, see the following useful websites:
Christopher Fielden Short Story Competition List (includes free to enter competitions)
Games Writing Prompt
I’ll leave you with a writing prompt inspired by a recent workshop I ran at Newcastle City Library for National Poetry Day. The theme for this year was play, and I started the session by asking people to free write about their memories and experiences of playing games – as a child and as an adult. If you’d like to, you could try doing this yourself for five minutes. Then look back at what you’ve written and highlight anything interesting or that you’d like to develop further. You could write a poem (like we did in the session) or a piece of fiction or memoir if you’d prefer.
Happy writing!
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