The 60 minute writer

What is the course about?

This is an exciting opportunity to fit creative writing into your hectic week. Running as an informal rolling programme, you can come for just one term or stay throughout the year, knowing that for a precious hour you’ll be thrown ideas that will take your writing in new directions.

What will we cover?

We will be experimenting with poetry and prose, working with dialogue and descriptive language, finding sources of inspiration in unexpected places and playing with imagery and figures of speech.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

- Appreciate how to get new ideas for writing from a wide variety of sources
- Seek out new sources of inspiration
- Have the confidence to push your own writing boundaries
- Enjoy sharing work with other students
- Understand how literary techniques can be applied to your own work.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

This is for writers of every level of experience. While it is designed to appeal to those who want to practise writing in the same way as musicians practise the scales, it is also suitable for complete beginners wanting to discover the writer within.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

You will be introduced to new ideas through discussion, confidence-building class exercises and by looking at the work of established writers. Optional homework assignments will be set regularly. However, you will still get a lot out of this course even if other commitments mean that this hour-long session is the only time you can devote to writing.

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?

Please bring writing materials.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

This is a rolling programme and, if you enjoyed the course, you can continue to attend it in future terms. Alternatively, City Lit offers a huge range of creative writing courses covering all genres and levels of ability. Start with Ways into creative writing or pick up our prospectus or browse our website for courses on poetry, novel writing, playwriting, screenwriting and more.

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.