Faber & Faber

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.

Course begins on 7th October 2009.

Price: £3,500

‘Writing a Novel’ is the second six-month long course from the Faber Academy. Beginning in October 2009, 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 Louise Doughty and Richard Skinner - but there will also be guest seminars given by well-known writers, agents and publishers, including Erica Wagner, Helen Dunmore and Kazuo Ishiguro.

‘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 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 Wednesdays from 7pm-9pm. Full-day sessions will take place on Saturdays from 10.00am-5.00pm.

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

The subject matter of sessions as listed below 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.

Session 1:  Introductory session (07/10/09)

Session 2:  Creating ideas/Planning (14/10/09)

Session 3:  Character (21/10/09)

Session 4:  (Saturday - full day) ‘Kidnap a character’ (24/10/09)

Session 5:  Point of view (28/10/09)

Session 6:  Erica Wagner (04/11/09)

Session 7:  ‘Voice’ (11/11/09)

Session 8:  Dialogue (18/11/09)

Session 9:  Setting (25/11/09)

Session 10:  (Saturday - full day) Workshops + Guest Tutor (28/11/09)

Session 11:  Story vs Plot (02/12/09)

Session 12:  Guest Tutor (09/12/09)

Session 13:  (Saturday - full day) Workshops + Kazuo Ishiguro (10am-1pm) (12/12/09)

Session 14:  Conclusion of phase 1 (16/12/09)

Session 15:  Walter Donohue, Faber Editorial Director: Drama and screenwriting models (06/01/10)

Session 16:  The narrator (13/01/10)

Session 17:  (Saturday – full day) Workshops + Guest Tutor (16/01/10)

Session 18:  The passage of time (20/01/10)

Session 19:  Hannah Griffiths, Faber Paperback Publisher & Commissioning Editor: The Publishing Experience (27/01/10)

Session 20:  Pace (03/02/10)

Session 21:  Coincidence/convenience/credibility (10/02/10)

Session 22:  Research & Exposition (17/02/10)

Session 23:  (Saturday - full day) Workshops + Guest Tutor (20/02/10)

Session 24:  Editing (24/02/10)

Session 25:  Journalism: reviews, features, travel pieces (03/03/10)

Session 26:  Selling your novel: synopses, biographies (10/03/10)

Session 27:  (Saturday - full day) Lee Brackstone, Faber Editorial Director for Fiction + Literary Agents (13/03/10)

Session 28:  Round-up session, next steps (17/03/10)

NB This is a provisional programme and subject to change.

Course Directors

Louise Doughty
Louise Doughty (www.louisedoughty.com) is the author of five novels - Crazy Paving, Dance With Me, Honey-Dew, Fires in the Dark and Stone Cradle. Crazy Paving was shortlisted for four awards including the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and Fires in the Dark won awards from the Arts Council and the K. Blundell Trust. She has also won awards for short stories and radio drama. She is the author of one work of non-fiction, A Novel in a Year, based on her newspaper column of the same name, which drew tens of thousands of responses worldwide, and is a highly experienced teacher of creative writing. She was a judge for the 2008 MAN Booker Prize for Fiction and is working on her sixth novel.

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 32 places available on 'Writing a Novel 2009' (two groups of 16 - one with Richard Skinner, the other with Louise Doughty).

Applicants should write a letter of application and return it to c/o Patrick Keogh at the Faber Academy no later than Friday 19 June. 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. A stamped addressed postcard if they wish their application to be acknowledged.

3. A stamped addressed envelope for receipt of the results of their application.

Participants will be selected at the discretion of the Course Director 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 31st July 2009. The balance of the course fee, a further £2,500, will be payable in 4 further instalments of £625 on 6th October, 4th November, 2nd December and 6th January 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