Faber & Faber

Course begins on 12 January 2010

Price: £3,500

‘Writing a Novel from Start to Finish’ with the Faber Academy

'Writing a Novel From Start to Finish': a practical, workshop-based course for dedicated writers, covering all aspects of novel writing from first ideas for a book through character development, plotting and structure, to re-writing and ultimately publication.

Beginning in January 2010, students will attend weekly evening workshops designed to develop novel writing skills from the first conception of an idea through to getting words on a page, narrative structure and style and re-writing. In addition, there will be six full-day sessions to take place on one Saturday each month.

Most of the classes will be led by Course Directors - novelists Esther Freud and Richard Skinner - but there will also be guest seminars given by well-known writers, agents and publishers, including Rachel Cusk, Hanif Kureishi, and Erica Wagner.

‘Writing a Novel’ is an intensive course aimed at new writers who are considering writing as a profession and are prepared to engage fully in the hard work involved - perhaps the sort of student who might consider an MA in creative writing but is unable to give up full-time work or family commitments to attend a university.

Apart from the workshops, students will be expected to devote as much time as possible between classes to developing their work, the aim being that by the end of the six months, they will have created a body of material towards the first draft of a full-length book.

Towards the end of the course, there will be an opportunity to discuss next steps, time management for the writer, presentation of work for agents, publishers and so on. In addition, students will be expected to give a short reading at the Faber offices before a select audience.

The course will be selective.

Course Timetable

Session 1:    Introductory session - Tues 12 Jan
Session 2:    Creating ideas/Planning - Tues 19 Jan
Session 3:    Character - Tues 26 Jan
Session 4:    (Saturday - full day) ‘Kidnap a character’ - Sat 30 Jan
Session 5:    Point of view - Tues 2 Feb
Session 6:    Erica Wagner - Tues 9 Feb

Session 7:    ‘Voice’ - Tues 16 Feb
Session 8:    Dialogue - Tues 23 Feb
Session 9:    Setting - Tues 2 March
Session 10:    (Saturday - full day) Workshops + Rachel Cusk
- Sat 6 March
Session 11:    Story vs Plot - Tues 9 March
Session 12:     Hanif Kureishi - Tues 16 March
Session 13:    (Saturday - full day) Workshops + GUEST TUTOR
- Sat 20 March
Session 14:    Conclusion of phase 1 - Tues 23 March
Session 15:     Walter Donohue, Faber Editorial Director:
Drama and screenwriting models - Tues 13 April
Session 16:    The narrator - Tues 20 April
Session 17:    (Saturday - full day) Workshops + GUEST TUTOR - Sat 24 April
Session 18:    The passage of time - Tues 27 April
Session 19:    Hannah Griffiths, Faber Editorial Director:
The Publishing Experience - Tues 4 May
Session 20:    Pace - Tues 11 May
Session 21:    Coincidence/convenience/credibility - Tues 18 May
Session 22:    Research & Exposition - Tues 25 May
Session 23:    (Saturday - full day) GUEST TUTOR - Sat 29 May
Session 24:    Editing - Tues 1 June
Session 25:    Journalism: reviews, features, travel pieces - Tues 8 June
Session 26:    Lee Brackstone, Faber Editorial Director for Fiction,
+ Literary Agents - Tues 15 June
Session 27:    (Saturday - full day) Selling your novel: synopses, biographies
- Sat 19 June
Session 28:    Round-up session, next steps - Tues 22 June

Course Programme

All classes will take place at the new Faber offices:

Faber and Faber Ltd.
Bloomsbury House
74-77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA

The course consists of 22 two-hour evening sessions and 6 full-day sessions. All evening sessions will take place on Tuesdays from 7pm-9pm. Full-day sessions will take place on Saturdays from 10.00am-5.00pm.

Please note: There is a three-week Easter break between sessions 14 and 15.

The subject matter of sessions as listed above is a guide only. The exact course content will be finalized according to the experience and interests of the group and guest speaker availability. The detail of the course content is at the discretion of the Course Directors and the Faber Academy.

Course Directors

Esther Freud

Esther Freud was born in London in 1963. She trained as an actress before writing her first novel Hideous Kinky, published in 1991. Hideous Kinky was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and was made into a film starring Kate Winslet. In 1993 she was chosen by Granta as one of the Best of Young British Novelists. She has since written five more novels - Peerless Flats, Gaglow, The Wild, The Sea House, and most recently Love Falls, which was published in June 2007. Her new novel, Lucky Break, will be published by Bloomsbury in June 2010. She lives in London with her husband and three children.

Richard Skinner

Richard Skinner is a graduate of the MA in Creative Writing at UEA. His first novel, The Red Dancer, was published in 2001 by Faber and has been translated into seven languages. His second novel, The Velvet Gentleman, was published in France in 2008 and was shortlisted for the Prix Livres & Musiques. He has written a book of non-fiction - a writer’s handbook entitled Fiction Writing: The Essential Guide to Writing a Novel, published in 2009. His poetry has appeared in First Pressings and Staple magazines and has been adapted for music. He won an Arts Council Writers’ Award in 2004. Richard is a tutor at Goldsmiths College, London, where he teaches on the MA in Creative & Life Writing. He has also been involved in numerous writing workshops, courses and seminars for The Literary Consultancy, Spread The Word and the Skyros Centre in Greece.

How to Apply

There are 30 places available on ‘Writing a Novel 2009’ (two groups of 15 - one with Richard Skinner, the other with Esther Freud).

Applicants should write a letter of application and return it to c/o Patrick Keogh at the Faber Academy, Bloomsbury House, 74-77 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DA or email it to patrickk@faber.co.uk no later than Friday 20 November.

The letter should state briefly their writing experience and why they wish to attend this Faber Academy writing course. In addition, they should include:

1.    A sample of their prose fiction no longer than 1,000 words. Please do not send your only copy as this will not be returned.

2.    If applying by post, a stamped addressed postcard if they wish their application to be acknowledged.

3.    If applying by post, a stamped addressed envelope for receipt of the results of their application.
Participants will be selected at the discretion of the Course Directors and the Faber Academy.

The Faber and Faber Fellowship

Two places on the course will be allocated free of charge. These places will be chosen at the discretion of the Course Directors and the Faber Academy, and will be based on merit and not financial circumstances.

Disclaimer

The Course Directors and Faber and Faber take no responsibility for lost or damaged applications and no correspondence will be entered into with unsuccessful applicants, although they may be invited to apply for future courses.

Successful applicants will be asked to pay a non-refundable deposit towards the course fees of £1,000 by 5 December 2009. The balance of the course fee, a further £2,500, will be payable in four further installments of £625 on 6th February, 6th March, 6th April and 6th May 2010 respectively. No refunds will be given to students who miss sessions or drop out of the course once the full fee has been paid.

The subject matter of course sessions is subject to change due to the level of experience and interests of the group and availability of guest speakers. The content of the programme is determined at the discretion of the Course Directors and the Faber Academy.

Although the Faber Academy is run by Faber and Faber publishers, admission to the course does not guarantee publication by them or any other publisher.
 
How to Contact the Faber Academy

For further information and booking details:

Contact Patrick on either patrickk@faber.co.uk or tel. +44 (0) 20 7927 3822.

Alternatively write to:

Patrick Keogh
Faber and Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74-77 Great Russell St
London WC1B 3DA