Spring 2021

Writing Workshops and Courses with Dorothy Max Prior

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Here’s news of my weekly writing classes for Spring 2021 – plus a new venture, The Writing (Zoom) Room, a series of one-day or weekend workshops. Looking forward to meeting you (or re-meeting you) sometime this spring.

 

NEW EVOLUTION ARTS COURSE STARTING IN APRIL: LIFE WRITNG – A SIX–WEEK INTRODUCTION

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For the Introduction to Life Writing course run by Evolution Arts, please book via www.evolutionarts.org.uk

 

For all other courses run by Aurelius Productions, email me on dorothymaxprior@gmail.com 

 

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An Introduction to Life Writing

Evolution Arts

A six-week course taught on Zoom

13 April – 18 May 2021

6–8pm

£120/£90

 

‘Autobiography’ – self, life, write…

 

Do you want to start, or continue, to write a memoir or a family history, or to tell stories inspired by true life experiences? This six-week course offers a solid grounding in Life Writing of all sorts. We will look at good examples of memoir, autobiography, and autofiction (fictionalised autobiography), referencing a very broad range of writers, including: Ernest Hemingway, Jeanette Winterson, Esther Freud, JG Ballard, Patti Smith, Blake Morrison and Maya Angelou.

 

We’ll employ creative writing exercises to develop your skills, aiming to explore different ways of reflecting on true-life stories; and there will be weekly writing assignments linked to the topic of each class.

All very welcome, with any level of writing experience – absolute beginners and experienced writers alike! The class will be a nurturing and supportive space, so that everyone can grow and learn, whatever their starting point.

 

Inventing the Truth: The Writer’s Craft

Aurelius Productions

A six-week course taught on Zoom

Wednesdays 14 April to 19 May 

5–7pm

Sliding scale £90–£120

 

This class will focus on the prose writer’s craft. We’ll look at structure, character, setting, time/tense, and narrative voice (and no doubt other things too). The emphasis will be firmly on craft, not on instigating ideas - i.e. on developing your skills as a writer, as applied to a project already in progress or about to be started.

 

By ‘project’ I mean a book or collection of stories which can be in any literary prose form, to include memoir, fiction, autofiction, narrative non-fiction, and short stories.

 

You’ll be expected to set yourself a goal for the course, and to work towards that goal weekly. That goal could be to start in on something new, continue a work in progress, or focus on redrafting and honing writing already done.  

 

The class is by invitation only, to students I have previously worked with who have at least one year’s writing experience.

 

THE ABOVE COURSE IS NOW FULLY BOOKED

 

The Writing (Zoom) Room

Aurelius Productions

One-day & Weekend Workshops 10.30 am to 4.30pm

Bookings and enquiries: email dorothymax@gmail.com 

 

Editing for Writers

Saturday 17 April 2021

£50 / £40 concs

 

Questions about editing come up frequently in my writing classes, regardless of whether we are talking about fiction or non-fiction, writing books, writing for magazines, or blogging. Some of the most frequent questions include:

 

What do writers need to know about editing?

How much editing does the writer need to do?

What do editors actually do?

What are the usual editing processes for print publishing?

Is this different for online?

What about self-publishing?

 

This practical one-day intensive will cover as much ground as we can as we try to answer the above questions and more!  There will be pragmatic guidance on self-editing processes, to include: grammar and punctuation, formatting, fact-checking, and the legal stuff.

You’ll get some handy notes to keep for future reference, too. 

 

Publishing for Writers

Saturday 24 April 2021 

£50 / £40 concs 

 

You’ve written – or you are writing – a book or a number of short stories or a piece of long-form journalism. Now what? How do you get it out into the world? Come along and enjoy a day exploring the different options. The workshop will include reflection on:

 

Preparing your work for publication

Working with editors

The role of literary agents

How the major publishing houses work

Small press publishing 

Magazines and newspapers

Self-publishing options

Blogging and other online outlets 

Broadcast, vlogging and podcast

 

This workshop is aimed at writers with some experience who are intending to publish their work at some point. You certainly don’t need to have a finished product to explore your publishing options!

 

Writing for Performance – a two-day taster

Weekend Workshop 8 & 9 May 2021

£70/£60 concs.

 

This two-day course will take an alternative look at writing for performance. It will start with the premise that there is more, much more, to writing for performance than the well-written play – although we will of course discuss what that means; and look at a few examples, classic and contemporary. But we will also venture into other territories, including: performance poetry, storytelling, reminiscence theatre, community theatre co-creation, radio plays, performance art texts, and scripting devised theatre.  Open to writers and theatre-makers/performers with any level of experience.

 

Tutor Dorothy Max Prior is a published writer of non-fiction stories and essays. She has written about theatre, performance, art and music for over 30 years, and is editor of Total Theatre Magazine www.totaltheatre.org.uk . She is also an established theatre writer, dramaturg and director working across the UK, Europe and South America; and has over 20 years experience teaching creative writing at arts centres and universities across the world. www.dorothymaxprior.com 

 

Testimonials from former students: 

 

‘Max is very positive and encouraging.’

‘Inspirational and relevant.’ 

‘The other students were respectful and kind and interesting. Max offered incisive feedback and was an inspiration.’ 

‘I liked the relaxed atmosphere.’

‘Knowledgeable tutor! Constructive criticism and time for everyone’s work to be heard and critiqued.

‘Positive environment, great teacher, interesting group.’

'Really uses the Zoom format well!.'

 

Bookings and enquiries:

dorothymaxprior@gmail.com  | Tel/WhatsApp: +44 7752 142526

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Aurelius Productions is registered as a Community Interest Company with Companies House. Company registration number: 9200124