Craft focus: novel plotting in depth

- Create effective primary and secondary characters
- Demonstrate an understanding of the basic principles of a novel’s story arc
- Apply these structures to your own writing to improve the flow of your story
- Confidently begin to revise your own material into a workable whole.

Please bring a pen and paper.

Reading list
The Hound of the Baskervilles by A C Doyle
Night Train by Martin Amis
The Final Solution by Michael Chabon

These books should be readily available from libraries.

Weekly homework will be set. There is a short reading list. In class, there will be writing exercises individually and in groups; discussions of principles of plotting; analysis of published work; group debate in a positive, challenging environment; reading and writing assignments; assessment of the work of your peers. Students are expected to participate in classroom activities.

All writing courses at City Lit will involve an element of workshop. This means that students will produce work which will be discussed in an open and constructive environment with the tutor and other students. The college operates a policy of constructive criticism, and all feedback on another student’s work by the tutor and other students should be delivered in that spirit.

For classes longer than one day regular reading and writing exercises will be set for completion at home to set deadlines.