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Take your fiction-writing and evaluation skills to the next level in this focused but friendly critique group convened by fiction editor Catherine Hill.

Prior to each meeting, three writers from the group will submit an extract of their work (maximum of 5000 words; can be a short story or part of a novel). At the meeting the other group members and the convener will provide constructive feedback on this extract. In providing such feedback, group members develop their analytical skills and learn to spot room for improvement in their own work. The feedback provided to the writers in turn helps them to identify the strengths in their novel or story, which areas of their writing they might work on, and helps them to push their writing further.

Catherine will also open the meetings with a discussion of a particular aspect of fiction writing, such as point of view, characterisation, description, or dialogue. Group members will learn to identify these and other elements in the extracts and be encouraged to address them in their feedback comments.

To ensure all participants receive focused feedback on their work, this course is limited to a maximum of eight participants.

Fiction Feedback: Week-by-week course outline

Week 1:
 Introduction + Feedback for writers 1, 2, 3

Week 2:
 Crafting story + Feedback for writers 4, 5, 6

Week 3:
 Point of view + Feedback for writers 7, 8, 1

Week 4:
 Building characters + Feedback for writers 2, 3, 4

Week 5:
 Descriptive prose + Feedback for writers 5, 6, 7

Week 6:
 Crafting dialogue + Feedback for writer 8. Troubleshooting/problem solving session for all writers

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Expected Learning Outcomes

1. Discerning whether your work is going in the right direction and how it could be improved.
2. Learning to closely read others’ work; and to identify its strengths and areas for improvement.
3. Gaining a deeper understanding of key aspects of writing fiction and how they impact story and storytelling.

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Participant Requirements

A body of work that is sufficiently formed to benefit from intensive feedback over two individual sessions; and the experience to be able to use the feedback constructively.