Showing & Telling – The Deep Dive
Start Date
Package
Showing & Telling – The Deep Dive
Discover powerful narrative techniques to bring your story vividly to life on the page.
Tutor
Anna FreemanLength
4 weeksLocation
OnlineWriting Goal
Develop your writingImmerse readers in your story through unfolding it moment by moment – and find out when to cut to the chase with succinct telling.
The course taught me HOW to improve my writing rather than WHAT I needed to do to the plot
Former Showing & Telling – The Deep Dive student
You’ll have heard the creative writing rule of ‘show don’t tell’ – but almost every successful book uses both showing and telling to conjure its magic, and we reckon you need both! Join Anna Freeman, acclaimed novelist and much-loved creative writing tutor, for her in-depth exploration into the myriad ways of weaving a story.
Learn what we actually mean by showing and telling – and make informed decisions about how and when both can be used to best effect in your prose. Create your fictional world and consider how much you need to tell your reader about it. Discover how to dramatize the action of your story and show it as scenes, and find out how well-chosen details can convey a great deal more than you might expect.
This Deep Dive tackles the real craftwork of writing – delving into the essential ingredients of compelling, vital, entrancing fiction and opening them up for you.
Tutor
Anna Freeman
Anna Freeman is a novelist, radio presenter and creative writing tutor. Her two historical novels, The Fair Fight and Five Days of Fog, are both published by W&N. The Fair Fight has been optioned for TV by Scarlett Johannsen's development company, These Pictures. Anna is also the host of Radio 4's human interest arts programme, Sketches: Stories of Art and People.
Anna's technical knowledge about how to write effective prose and craft a novel was invaluable.
Former Writing Your Novel student
WHAT DOES THIS COURSE GIVE YOU?
- Video modules: Work through four weekly modules comprising teaching videos and substantial notes from Anna, with topics ranging from discovering the difference between showing and telling to worldbuilding and writing scenes.
- Writing tasks: Weekly writing tasks to help you explore and understand the teaching topics and progress your novel.
- Resources & notes: You’ll get access to extensive teaching materials, including writing prompts and a list of recommended reading.
- Professional feedback: An expert CBC editor will give brief written feedback on several of the students' practical assignments every week, with all students receiving feedback on one of their writing tasks. Students are also given the option to purchase additional end-of-course feedback from our expert editors.
- Student forum: Find your writing community on our private student forums. Upload your completed writing tasks, give and receive peer-to-peer feedback, and discuss the week’s topics with your fellow students and the CBC team.
COURSE SCHEDULE & DELIVERY
Our online courses are designed for flexible learning. Allocate your own study time and take part from wherever you are in the world. Each week, we recommend spending at least four hours on the course.
Week 1
The magic in the mechanismWeek 2
The world of your bookWeek 3
Scene by sceneWeek 4
Finding the balance
ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK
All students will be given the option to purchase feedback on their final task from a CBC editor.
- CBC report: For an additional fee of £155, you can obtain a detailed 500-word report on your work (of up to 3,000 words) from one of our editors.
- CBC report + tutorial: For an additional fee of £260, you can obtain a 500-word report from one of our editors and have a 30-minute video or telephone tutorial with them to discuss your work.
GIFT THIS COURSE
Encourage your writerly friend or loved one to get creative! We have £135 digital gift vouchers available, enabling you to buy any four-week online course as a present.
