Writing Workshops & Courses
The Snapshot Story
11th & 12th October, 5pm-8pm BST (9am-12pm PDT)
This 2-session weekend workshop explores how to transform ordinary observations into compelling “snapshot” flash fiction stories with depth, shape and nuance.
In this intensive workshop, we’ll look at:
Identifying and collecting everyday moments with story potential
How to tell the difference between a beautiful moment and a complete story
Finding the emotional core that elevates a vignette into publishable flash fiction
Using liminal space to create urgency and anticipation in quiet moments
Layering time, subtext, and characterisation in our stories
How to generate story ideas from photographs, memories, and daily observations
Over two 3-hour live Zoom sessions, we’ll draft brand new flash pieces based on prompts and techniques, analyse masterful examples, and discuss the approaches and skills that turn an ordinary observation into an impactful flash, with plenty of opportunity to share and discuss your work. Sessions will be recorded, and you’ll also receive detailed ‘snapshot’ downloadable resources.
(Subsidised tickets available on request.)
P.S. I’m also running a FREE Ask Me Anything session on 27th September at 5pm BST / 9am PDT, so come along and say hi!
Past Workshops & Ongoing Series
(join in and catch up anytime)
THE STORY IN A SONG
A Love Letter to Writing & Music
Find the music in your writing with this 4-part workshop series. Each lesson will invite you to immerse yourself in a varied playlist of songs to inspire stories, characters, settings, scenarios, details, vibes, ideas — all that jazz (and maybe some actual jazz).
We’ll explore songs that are secretly tiny stories. We’ll learn how to translate a melody into a literary mood. We’ll borrow songwriting techniques for our fiction. We’ll get inspired by love songs and heartbroken songs, revenge songs and revolutionary songs. We’ll step into the music and discover whole worlds of people and places that only exist for three-and-a-half minutes at a time.
By the end of the course, you’ll look at (and listen to) music in a whole different way — and maybe even make it a more integral part of your writing process.
Try out some FREE Story in a Song exercises here, and sign up for a £5/m subscription at The Joy of Fixion to join in with the full series (and all my other workshops).
WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW
Bring Authenticity to Your Writing
‘Write what you know’ is one of those familiar pieces of writing advice, but it doesn’t just mean sticking to your own limited experiences.
My interpretation of Write What You Know (WWYK) is to delve much more deeply into what it means to be human — to learn how to imbue your writing with empathy and nuance, transferring your lived experiences and emotions into new scenarios, characters and settings.
Join in with a series of exercises and workshops exploring a range of Write What You Know techniques, including:
Cultivating your observation skills
Creating a ‘life resume’
Drawing from physical experiences
Exploring emotions
Writing about places you’ve never been to
Crafting three dimensional characters
Using detail and description
Working from photos and memories
Transferring real life into fiction
Each WWYK post will encourage you to draw from your unique perspective on the world and develop your writing with realism, authenticity, and personal detail.
Apply it to your fiction, your non-fiction, and everything in between to add originality and meaning to your words, and connect more deeply with your readers.
Sign up for a paid subscription at The Joy of Fixion to access the full Write What You Know series (along with all my other workshops), or try out some of the FREE exercises here.
CREATIVE HIBERNATION
Overwinter Your Writing
Does your work-in-progress need a nap? (I know I do.)
Let your writing rest for a bit while you indulge in a series of supportive, holistic and enthusiasm-building exercises that’ll help you reconnect with your ideas.
Work through six gentle exercises to keep your creativity ticking over — even if your brain needs a break.
Each workshop will look at a different aspect of your writing and experimenting with low-pressure ways of supporting your WIP’s progress during downtime.
Including:
The benefits of taking a break from your WIP!
Taking stock of progress so far
Finding the flow and immersing yourself in your story
Building your writing confidence
Reigniting excitement in your work
Embracing the unknown
Making a masterplan for absolutely smashing it in the new year!
And by the end of the series, you’ll be ready to get back on track with your head straight and your creativity champing at the bit – without even getting out of your pyjamas.
Sign up for a paid subscription at The Joy of Fixion to access the full Creative Hibernation series (as well as all my other workshops), or try out some of the FREE exercises here.
SMASH YOUR FLASH
The Craft of Short (Short) Fiction
A 12-part asynchronous workshop series at The Forever Workshop*
Everything you need to get started with flash fiction, develop and expand your skills, and experiment with a range of forms and styles. Including:
The fundamental ingredients of flash fiction
Building (and borrowing) structure
Mining for subtext and identifying the ‘turn’
Manipulating time and space
Interweaving story threads
Experimentation and magical realism
Difficult subjects: how to write around them
Developing and editing your flash drafts
Whether you’re new to flash or a seasoned flasher, there’s a smorgasbord of techniques and approaches to play with, award-winning examples to learn from, and generative writing exercises to try out. Find the right structure, voice, and style to suit your story idea, and explore the endless potential (and fun!) of flash fiction.
*This workshop originally ran throughout April 2024 but is available anytime via a subscription to The Forever Workshop:
TAKE IT FROM SHAKESPEARE
A 4-part asynchronous workshop series at The Forever Workshop*
What can we borrow from Shakespeare when it comes to our writing? A love of linguistics and a bold disregard for the literary ‘rules’!
In this generative workshop, we’ll use Shakespearean techniques to experiment with rhythm, rhetoric and repetition. We’ll explore methods of manipulating and subverting language to create layers of meaning. We’ll push boundaries, play with form, mix up syntax, and have a whole load of fun mucking about with our writing.
Whether you write prose, poetry, long or short, borrowing methods from Shakespeare can help to elevate each sentence, bring a unique voice to your work, and make every line sing. No previous Shakespeare knowledge or literary snobbery required — just a passion for words, words, words.
*This workshop originally ran throughout April 2025 but is available anytime via a subscription to The Forever Workshop:
Workshops Available on Request
I have been devising writing workshops, courses and retreats for over 10 years, so if there’s a subject you would like to commission me to teach — online or in-person — please get in touch.
Here are a few of my recent live workshop subjects:
How to Make Your Submission Stand Out
Unfuck Your Writing
Characterisation
Setting & Place
Intro to Flash Fiction
Intro to Editing
Writing with Sensory Detail
Break Through Writer’s Block
Reflexive Novel Plotting Techniques
World-building
Finding the Truth in Your Fiction