last updated 22.12.07

WRITING COURSES

Sorry - no courses booked for 2008 at this stage. I'm a bit too busy this year...

Please email me if you're interested in having me visit your school, bookclub, library or bookshop to talk about Nine Parts Water, or to give writing workshops and courses.

For further info - email me:

My Approach

My teaching philosophy is to keep it supportive and fun: I aim to squeeze the best out of each student in the nicest possible way. I like to create an environment where students feel supported and at ease, so they can explore their creativity without fear of judgement. I help students identify their writing strengths and build on them.

It’s not a group therapy session; the courses always focus on the craft and skill of writing – but it’s not a scary English lesson either*.

I lean on the approaches of writing teachers like Anne Lamott, Stephen King, Natalie Goldberg, Robert McKee and others.

We do a fair bit of writing in class, and each student gets constructive and honest feedback every week. I also show bits of TV shows and films to illustrate certain points. So, while there is a lot of writing (and it’s true I get carried away if you let me near a whiteboard), it’s not all detention, tests and corporal punishment.**

* So long as you do what you’re told at all times!

** Although obviously this is a big part of it.

If you are interested in any of the following courses - please email me. When i get the numbers in a particular area i can come and teach a course for you. Or if you have a writing group, reading group or some other group and you'd like me to teach a course to - tailored to your needs - let me know.

 

INTRODUCTION TO CREATIVE WRITING - 3 hour workshop
This workshop is suitable for complete novices, but also offers plenty to more experienced writers. You will learn how to get started, how to keep going; how to deal with your inner-critic, and how to let go. You will be inspired, encouraged and amazed.


CREATIVE WRITING - six week course
(One 3hr-class per week – 18h total)

Suitable for beginners AND experienced writers. We cover all aspects of creative writing. Whether it's a memoir, a novel, a short story, poetry or non-fiction, this course will help you explore your voice, style and genre. The classes are a blend of theory, writing exercises, supportive feedback and guidance, discussion, hot beverages, and nibblies. Course structure
Week 1 Freewriting
Week 2 Plot
Week 3 Character
Week 4 Dialogue
Week 5 Description
Week 6 Editing


WRITING DIALOGUE - 3 hour workshop
Learn the secrets of writing compelling dialogue in scripts, novels and stories.

 

GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION INTRO / REFRESHER - 3 hour workshop
What's an adjective, a subject, a predicate; and where do I put them? What's an infinitive, and can I split it? Come along to this one-day workshop and you'll discover grammar and punctuation are not as hard as you think.


'MURDERING YOUR DARLINGS'
How to Edit Your Own Writing - 3 hour workshop

We’ll look at the big picture and the small picture:

·       What you need to cut and what you need to add.

·       How to bring it all together and make it the best it can be.

·       Tighten your structure, clarify your characters and ‘murder your darlings’.

 

 

TESTIMONIALS

 

I got more out of Emma's three-hour Introduction to Creative Writing workshop than i did from an eight week creative writing course I did once.
Teysunna Bull

 

The workshop I did on dialogue changed my life. I put heaps of dialogue in my current book, and already I'm getting good feedback from my editors.

Peter McAra

 

The ‘Introduction to Creative Writing' course with Emma Hardman was excellent. I learned more with her about writing than I did from all the books and workshops I have done before put together. She gave me permission to write, as it were, and the guts and confidence to start my project. She presented the material in a way that those of us who are novices could easily understand; and yet it was still very informative for those who had already done courses/workshops in their time. Look out literary world, here I come!
Mischi

 

I recommend Emma Hardman's Creative Writing Workshops for anyone interested in expressing themselves through writing. Emma effectively covered all the fundamental aspects of creative writing in six weeks. Her workshops left me with the desire to study more about these topics/, and gave me greater confidence in proceeding with my own writing project. Rowan

No matter what we may want to write, we need guidance, we need to learn the rules. Emma knows how to impart this knowledge. I have recently attended and enjoyed her writing classes in Moruya and feel confident many would-be writers could benefit from her tuition.
Isobel 

After attending Emma's editing workshop 'Murdering your darlings', not only have I committed wholesale mayhem with my own stories, I can see how to do it to other people's. Emma gave me the best advice and insight into editing I have had to date and I am hoping to do another course soon. Thanks a million.
Mandy, Bay and Basin Writers Group
 

Emma shares her knowledge and expertise as a creative writer with quiet energy and passion. At the end of the six week course I was inspired and motivated. But most importantly, Emma made the course fun!
Yvonne

<< Back to top

email me: