Beat writer’s block
Choose a starting date
Learning modes and locations may be different depending on the course start date. Please check the location of your chosen course and read our guide to learning modes and locations to help you choose the right course for you.
- Start Date: 19 Jul 2025End Date: 19 Jul 2025Sat (Daytime): 10:30 - 16:30In PersonFull fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Centre for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
What is the course about?
Bring in a project you're stuck on, or an idea you can't seem to get started with, or just a blank notebook. This course will help you identify what you want to write, and why, teach you how to generate a surfeit of ideas, solve plot problems, being characters to life and rediscover the joy of creative writing.
What will we cover?
Generating new ideas for plots and characters
Revisiting existing work and bringing it back to life
Resolving plot problems
Delving deeper into characters
Rediscovering the joy of writing.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- generate new ideas for your projects
- understand the common plot pitfalls and devise ways to avoid them
- revitalise your writing practice.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is suitable for writers of all levels. You will need an active interest in writing creatively and fluency in written and spoken English.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
You will learn through a mixture of interactive tutor presentation, discussion, and writing exercises. You may also be asked to participate in optional acting exercises to free up your creativity. This is a one-day course and there will be no work outside class.
All writing courses at City Lit will involve an element of workshop. This means that students will produce work which will be discussed in an open and constructive environment with the tutor and other students. The college operates a policy of constructive criticism, and all feedback on another student’s work by the tutor and other students should be delivered in that spirit.
For classes longer than one day regular reading and writing exercises will be set for completion at home to set deadlines.
City Lit Writing endeavours to create a safe and welcoming space for all and we strongly support the use of content notes in our classes. This means that learners are encouraged to make their tutor and classmates aware in advance if any writing they wish to share contains material that may be deemed sensitive. If you are unsure about what might constitute sensitive content, please ask your tutor for further clarification and read our expectations for participating in writing courses at City Lit.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
There are no additional costs. Please bring writing materials.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
City Lit offers a fantastic range of creative writing courses covering all genres and levels of ability. You can progress to Developing your Creative Writing, where you'll continue to experiment with a range of forms. Or you can take a course in a particular medium, including novel and short story writing, screenwriting, playwriting, and creative non-fiction. To browse our full range of creative writing courses, visit www.citylit.ac.uk/writing.
All students are invited to join us at Late Lines, our regular performance night for City Lit writers. Students are also encouraged to submit their work to Between the Lines, our annual anthology of creative writing. For the latest news, courses and events, stay in touch with the Department on Facebook and Twitter.
Writer and visual artist Claire Collison was awarded the Women Poets’ Prize, 2018. Her first novel was a finalist in the Dundee Book Prize, 2005. Her poetry appears in magazines and anthologies, and has been placed in Winchester, Resurgence, and Hippocrates prizes. She has worked as subeditor for MAKE, the magazine of Women’s Art, and Arts Editor for Disability Arts Magazine. Claire was the first MaxLiteracy writer at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, and designs engagement resources, including for the Government Art Collection, National Maritime Museum, and Photographers’ Gallery. She has led creative projects within hospitals and schools, and with refugees and asylum seekers, vulnerable adults, elders, and young children. Her recent cross-disciplinary project, Truth Is Beauty was performed in venues across the UK. She is a founder member of Poets for the Planet.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.