We have regular Zoom sessions on all aspects of fiction and creative non-fiction writing. Some are only for our community members while others are pay as you attend. All are recorded so you can watch the replay after the live event.
If you’re a creative writing tutor and would like to host a session for us, you can apply here.
December
Sunday 10th – 10.30-11.30 GMT
Secrets and Lies with Amanda Saint
Secrets and lies are not only great tools for creating tension, pace and misdirection in our stories, they are great to use as prompts as well. In this interactive and generative workshop, we’ll look at how we can use secrets and lies to create new flash fiction stories that can send our work in unexpected directions. Come armed with some secrets and be prepared to be creative with the truth to leave with some new story starters and ideas to develop.
Workshop Leader: Amanda Saint started Retreat West in 2012 and launched Retreat West Books in 2017 (Winner: Most Innovative Publisher 2020 Saboteur Awards). Between 2018 and 2023 she published 24 books – a mix of novels, memoirs and short story collections and anthologies. She has been designing and teaching online courses, and live workshops, for many years and has worked as an editor on hundreds of manuscripts. In 2022, she launched the online literary journal, WestWord.
She’s the author of two novels, As If I Were A River (2016), which was longlisted for the Guardian Not The Booker Prize, a NetGalley Top 10 Book of the Month and a Book Magnet Blog Top 20 Book of 2016; and Remember Tomorrow (2019 ). She’s just completed a novella-in-flash, has almost finished a flash fiction collection, and is just starting work on her third novel. Amanda is also training to be a mindfulness teacher and writes The Mindful Writer and Storytelling with the Tao Te Ching.
Amanda’s stories have been widely published; long/shortlisted in the Mslexia Flash Fiction Competition, Fish Flash Fiction Prize, Ink Tears Short Story Prize, Cranked Anvil Short Story Competition, Flash 500 and V300; nominated for
Sunday 07th – 19.30-20.30 GMT (COMMUNITY MEMBERS ONLY)
Monthly Micro Fiction Workshop with Debbi Voisey
Hone your micro fiction writing skills in the Monthly Micro workshop.
In the first half of the session, Debbi will dissect prize-winning micros and set writing exercises. Then that month’s prompt for the Monthly Micro competition will be revealed ahead of it going live on the website the next day and you’ll have time to write and get started on your entry!
Workshop Leader: Debbi Voisey writes flash fiction, short stories and novels. She had two novellas-in-flash published in 2021 (Only About Love with Fairlight Books, and The 10:25 with Flash: The International Short-Short Story Press). Only About Love received a special mention in the 2022 Saboteur Awards and was shortlisted for the Arnold Bennett Prize 2022.
Debbi is currently seeking an agent and publisher for her novel, The Reset, which is written in short, flash-like chapters. She is also working on her next novel whilst running creative writing workshops, events, and courses on Zoom, and offering mentorships and guidance for people working on writing projects. She also works with Retreat West running Friday Flashing sessions, the Monthly Micro workshop and the monthly feedback group for our community members.
Thursday 18th – 19.00-20.00 GMT (COMMUNITY MEMBERS ONLY)
Writing Speculative Flash: Science Fiction with Sarah McPherson
The second of two workshops on writing speculative flash fiction, exploring how to convey big ideas in a small space and include enough worldbuilding for readers to understand the story without overwhelming your word count. You will try drafting flash fiction in both near and far future settings, read some excellent examples of tiny science fiction stories, and play with some sci-fi tropes such as time travel, robots/artificial intelligence, and space travel.
Workshop Leader: Sarah McPherson is our current community writer-in-residence. Sarah is a writer based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK. Her work reflects her lifelong passion for speculative fiction and mythology/fairy tales, as well as her love of history and a desire to explore how people relate to nature, the landscape, and each other. Her writing has been widely published, nominated for Best Small Fictions 2022, longlisted for the Wigleaf Top 50, and selected for Best Microfictions 2021.
Sunday 21st – 10.30-12.30 GMT
Keeping Your Reader Hooked with Amanda Saint
In this 2-hour workshop you’ll look at ways you can set your novel up to reel the reader in from the very first page and make sure that they never want to put your book down. You’ll get tools and tips for creating narrative drive, getting the pace right and making sure your story has tension, mystery and delivers what you want, when you want.
Workshop Leader: Amanda Saint started Retreat West in 2012 and launched Retreat West Books in 2017 (Winner: Most Innovative Publisher 2020 Saboteur Awards). Between 2018 and 2023 she published 24 books – a mix of novels, memoirs and short story collections and anthologies. She has been designing and teaching online courses, and live workshops, for many years and has worked as an editor on hundreds of manuscripts. In 2022, she launched the online literary journal, WestWord.
She’s the author of two novels, As If I Were A River (2016), which was longlisted for the Guardian Not The Booker Prize, a NetGalley Top 10 Book of the Month and a Book Magnet Blog Top 20 Book of 2016; and Remember Tomorrow (2019 ). She’s just completed a novella-in-flash, has almost finished a flash fiction collection, and is just starting work on her third novel. Amanda is also training to be a mindfulness teacher and writes The Mindful Writer and Storytelling with the Tao Te Ching.
Amanda’s stories have been widely published; long/shortlisted in the Mslexia Flash Fiction Competition, Fish Flash Fiction Prize, Ink Tears Short Story Prize, Cranked Anvil Short Story Competition, Flash 500 and V300; nominated for Best Small Fictions 2023; and won the Editor’s Choice Prize at 101 Words.
Sunday 28th – 10.30-12.30 GMT
Fine Tune Your Words with Laura Besley
For many writers editing is a significant part of the writing process. Within short fiction, especially if you are aiming for a particular word count, it can be make or break for your story.
In this two-hour interactive workshop, participants will be provided with some tools for improving their editing skills, which will include examples and discussion around the use of titles, dialogue, when to cut words out and when to add them in, and more.
There will also be an opportunity to edit a piece of writing and share with others if you wish, so feel free to bring along a draft or two to work on.
Workshop host: Laura Besley is the author of (Un)Natural Elements, 100neHundred and The Almost Mothers. She has been widely published in online journals, print journals and anthologies, including Best Small Fictions (2021). Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, twice nominated for Best Micro Fiction and she has been listed by TSS Publishing as one of the top 50 British and Irish Flash Fiction writers. She is an editor with Flash Fiction Magazine and has recently completed a Creative Writing MA at the University of Leicester. Having lived in the Netherlands, Germany and Hong Kong, she now lives in land-locked central England and misses the sea.