Comprehensive Writing

Daren King's Comprehensive Writing Course

"It's not enough to create magic. You [also] have to create rules." - Eric Burns

Daren's writing course is the most comprehensive mentoring / tutoring service offered by the Writers' Workshop. It's aimed at taking writers from initial idea through to plot creation through to first, second and (if needed) third drafts. Needless to say, if the resulting manuscript is strong enough to be marketable, then the WW will help with that part of things too.

Daren is a prize-winning children's author, and Guardian First Novel Award shortlisted literary author. He also particularly enjoys working with plot-driven genre fiction.

How it Works:

The process works in three phases:

1. Detailed work on prose style. Before you even start, Daren will give you an intensive prose tutorial, using a chunk of your own prose as an example. It's critical to make sure that you get a pair of well-fitting boots, before you even start to take a walk ...
2. Structural work. Daren will take you from a single line synopsis of your work through to a fully worked out plan for the novel, every step of which will be powerfully story-driven.
3. Comments and feedback on drafts 1 to 3. You get extensive mentoring via email at every stage. But this is much more than a distance learning course. Think of it more as an apprenticeship, where, at vital stages in your development, you will be able to meet up with Daren. You'll have up to three one hour long meetings in London, to be used as and when you and Daren think it makes most sense. You'll also receive detailed "how to" notes from Daren, although please note that the overall process will be much more tailored to your own story and needs than the typical 'distance learning' course. Think of it as a way to plan and write your novel in the company of a very experienced and talented pro. See Daren's own comments below for more on the process.

Daren King Comments

Most successful published authors I know-myself included-learnt to write the hard way: through trial and error. Ultimately, the only way to hone your skills is to sit down and write; but your learning curve will be considerably less steep with an experienced author to guide.

I believe that good writing can be taught. Certainly I was not born able to write. My own writing skills began to come together during my mid twenties, when a university lecturer-herself a published author-explained to me that the last word in a sentence tends to carry the most emphasis. I had to figure out the rest myself, and this took several years and a vast amount of work, all the while not knowing for certain I would ever get published at all. It is not uncommon for an unpublished author to spend two years working on a project only to discover-perhaps after sending their manuscript to an organisation such as the Writer's Workshop-that they have written the entire novel in the wrong voice or from the wrong viewpoint, or that the plot begins halfway through.

Whether writing a commercial children's novel like Mouse Noses on Toast or a literary novel like Boxy an Star, I always take a structured, methodological approach. There are unpublished writers who shudder at the thought of following a methodology. Surely rules and restrictions will curtail their creativity? In fact, more freedom is the last thing most writers need.

So, how exactly can I help?

If you are setting out on a career as an author of plot-driven fiction-perhaps crime thrillers, historical romances, fantasy, children's adventure fiction or horror-I can teach you a unique methodology called the Full Page Method, which I developed over some years while planning my forthcoming crime thriller The Men and the Women. I am sure you know how painful it is to stare at a blank page or screen, scratching your head, waiting for ‘inspiration' to strike.

More often than not it doesn't, and you end up with prose that feels contrived, and lacks insight or any real sense of direction. Full Page Method avoids this trap by enabling you to create a highly structured rough draft, first by developing a single line synopsis into an increasingly detailed plot outline, and secondly by building up the scenes in layers, using a multidimensional approach I like to call the Cube Model.

Those of you who wish to master literary fiction-works driven by characterisation, theme or voice-may prefer a less structured approach. I can help you explore your characters and themes and develop your voice, and lead you through the techniques and concepts which I have developed while writing my own literary fiction. I can teach you a concept I call Surface Tension, which ensures that your novel's premise can be felt in every sentence; and how to keep your reader with you by rooting your more abstract and emotive passages in a concrete reality.

Most crucially, whatever type of fiction you choose to write, I will teach you how to perfect your use of language, so that you can tell your story with confidence and style.