London Writing Workshops

Previous Course: Capturing Characters, with Alexei Sayle, July 17, 2010

• It was brilliant! Thanks so much.
• Nice central venue and well run.
• Enjoyable to talk and read in a group. More practical exercises [would have been good].
• Meeting and talking to other writers was good. The half hour exercise on character was good too.
• [Enjoyed] the questions about character in the first exercises. Very friendly atmosphere. Nice venue.
• Enjoyed the ideas and impetus to write. Great stuff I want to write all day tomorrow.
• The structure was well thought through and Alexei’s input was excellent!

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Previous Course: 2010 Novelists’ Club, 27th March, Sat 1 May, Sat 5 June & Sat 10 July

Really positive and constructive and sympathetic atmosphere. Great to get such encouraging feedback. Spacing it out monthly made it perfect. Would have liked it to have continued for a year!

What was useful? Everything! I really found it a supportive group, with criticism given constructively.The initial exercise on knowing your character was especially helpful. I also found it helpful to have to produce more work ahead of the workshop. The crit of the first three chapters again was especially helpful.

Personal praise to Vicky for being so approachable, knowledgeable and above all enthusiastic about everyone’s work while retaining a clear critical oversight of strengths and weaknesses. I have been on a number of courses and workshops before where it seemed very much like ‘writing by numbers’!

I found it a highly motivating workshop, well structured and it left me wanting more.

I though it was fantastic. I really enjoyed it and I especially liked the integrity of it. By keeping it a small group, I was able to glean so much more from the workshop and the writing. [...] a well-balanced mix of constructive guidance and interactive discussions with the member writers.

I really enjoyed the small group, and getting to know the work of each author to a depth that is often not possible in writing workshops.

I thought the open forum approach to discussing each author’s novel worked really well, and was not only useful but enjoyable as well.

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Previous Course: Writing Short Stories, Sat 26 June 2010

• I really enjoyed the pack. Not too much info but pertinent points. The short stories were fascinating and I liked the delivery and writing exercises. I really enjoyed the day.
• I found the day really enjoyable and useful. It’s a very welcoming environment. Vicky leads the day in a friendly, dynamic way, clearly identifying key points for us to consider [and] providing tools for us to continue developing work beyond the day. There was room for everyone to participate. The day was well-balanced between exercises and information. Thank you!
• Exercises are a good way to concentrate the mind and it is really useful to get feedback on your own work, and also to hear other people’s work. The pack is also useful, with links etc. at the end
• [I enjoyed] starting with an exercise (the photos); the variety of exercises; tips from Vicky as people read stuff out; the handout – the well-established resource list in particular. Thanks!
• The different ways to ‘show don’t tell’, or tell interestingly – key for me. Thank you very much Vicky! You are very warm and welcoming and made me feel comfortable to express ideas.
• The exercises were extremely helpful – good triggers for activating my imagination to move in new directions. Also, very interesting is meeting new people and hearing them read what they had written as a result of the exercises. Might have been interesting to feed back in pairs
• As with the other two courses I attended, it gave me confidence in being able to start writing with more skills, [and more of a sense] of what is expected by readers. I am leaving happy!

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Previous Course: Writers’ Workout, Sat 22 May 2010

What did you find useful? Just getting here, to be honest. A small declaration to myself. And good facilitation. Vicky, you are a skilled active listener. Overall, a good day. Thank you.

I had a great time. Felt very comfortable. The room is nice and sunny. Happy anniversary!

Nice to hear your positivity and suggestions for all.

What did you find useful? Hearing other people’s fears and blocks and objectives and realising that everyone has similarities. Gathered more faith in my abilities.

A very enjoyable day – thanks!

Previous Course: Creating Characters, 13 March, Discovering Dialogue, 14 March 2010. A weekend of workshops with Vicky Grut and Kathy Page (see end of this page for Kathy’s bio).

[14 people attending Saturday, 12 on Sunday]

• Really great. Have a lot to learn. Will be back. Well done!
• I enjoyed ‘having a go’ – it was fun but it also gave me courage… Good pace and mix of writing, listening and discussion.
• Very sympathetic facilitators – pleased I read and found it helpful. Really helpful to be given the tasks to write there and then – very scary – but really helpful. Exercises also really helpful. Looking forward to using the questionnaire to help develop [a] character. Good also to hear samples of dialogue etc.
• Really enjoyed the character writing – helped me to realise that a lot of things about good character development are quite intuitive. [...] I didn’t expect to come away with so much stuff that I would be able to use. Thank you. I feel really inspired.
• The exercises were well-structured for the subject and very much helped me understand more fully how my characters appear and grow.
• I enjoyed the 2 days very much. Thank you both.
• Getting down to an exercise – opened things – highlighted difficulties. [...] The pre-arrangements [were] good – felt cared for and involved. You both made yourselves available and approachable. Thank you both.
• Found the exercises very useful [...] friendly and supportive atmosphere was great.
• I learned a lot about my own writing foibles and tendencies. Good balance of writing activities and information.
• Very interesting to try the exercises. It really created some interesting characters and was quite surprising. Good supportive environment. It all ran very smoothly, and [it was] really good to hear what had been written.
• Thanks for the handouts, encouragement, ideas and welcoming space.
• …a great weekend. Thank you!!

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Previous Course: Writing People & Place, Sat 5 December 2009, 10.30 – 4pm

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Previous Course: Writers’ Workout, Sat 14 November 2009

From the Feedback Forms: What did you enjoy / find useful about the day?

• [Enjoyed] Being with writers. Writing exercises. Ideas. – Good day.
• The exercises were great. Hearing comments and input from everyone was very helpful and encouraging. I had a terrific time. I really needed this workshop to get me going.
• Feeling rusty, so just turning up and doing the exercises felt like an achievement!
• I liked the object exercise. Enjoyed hearing other people’s experiences of writing.
• I enjoyed the workshop. Found inspiration plus a few new ‘tricks’. It was a Saturday well spent. Structure and pacing were very good. [Liked] the mix of examples and having a go yourself. [Liked] the group and sharing our ideas and challenges. Not sure about the venue!
• [I enjoyed] having time out to think creatively among like-minded people. Very enjoyable day.
• It was very refreshing to think about writing in lots of different ways. There was no pressure and the environment was supportive. Vicky is skilled at making it ‘safe’ to discuss ideas. An enjoyable and useful day.

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Previous Course: Writing Short Stories, Sat 12 September 2009, 10.30 – 4pm

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Definitely the most enjoyable thing was connecting with other writers and sparking off each other. Somehow, seeing the variety and quality of what other people – and you yourself! – can come up with on the spur of the moment, restores one’s faith in the human ability to be immensely creative.

I thought Vicky’s chairmanship was excellent. She kept firm hold of what we were doing and where we were going (so we didn’t waste time), at the same time as drawing everyone out and getting us all participating fully.  She knows her stuff.

The professional info – the list of websites and the advice about writing for radio – were also very useful, thank you.

A very supportive environment. [...] Great balance between practical and talking and discussing – feel I learned a lot from both. [...] You were probably altering what you did to fit the group and choreographing madly but were so calm and effortless that there was no pressure to do things or feelings of being rushed / incompleteness

Enjoyed about the day:  Setting.  Those uncurtained windows streaming with light.  Informal.  Plenty of room to spread.  Relaxed company.  Interesting chat.  [...]  Warm helpful teacher who put everyone at ease.

Thank you for today’s class. I wish we had one every Saturday! It would make my week just better and make me feel like a ‘whole’ thinking person at all times!

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Previous course:  Writing People & Places, 11 July 2009, 10.30am – 4pm

• Most enjoyable.
• Stimulating and thought-provoking. Also the course was encouraging – making it sound so achievable to write regularly.
• [I enjoyed] the exercises, time to write, the mixture of criticism (reading of extracts) practice and networking.
• The ‘break-out’ sessions worked really well and being given a limited time period to write within given parameters was really useful – especially hearing other people’s efforts.
• Really reminded me of how much fun writing is.
• Helped me lift my head out of one mammoth project I’m on and see things differently. Useful to see how other people arrived at solutions and different writing styles. Feel re-energised and have renewed enthusiasm for my writing. Many thanks, Vicky!

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Previous course: The Novelists’ Club, 18 April, 16 May, 13 June, 12 July 2009

• Great course. Very useful. Delivered on its claim! I enjoyed the fact that I was given so much in-depth feedback on my novel. Vicky really did look at it in detail and offered really helpful advice. I think the small number in the group means you can really get stuck in and cover a lot of ground. The course was very good, and compared to other courses it was far superior – you get much more for your money.
• Forced me to read more & [I] picked up a lot from feedback for my own and others’ work. The 1,000 word scenes were good for developing a sense of standalone scenes / chapters. Excellent and constructive feedback from Vicky – a real sense that she cared about each and every story.
• Monthly meetings were a good time frame. Excellent, thoughtful, helpful , encouraging feedback from Vicky.
• It goes without saying that I think it’s been great, and has really helped me to try to organise and structure my novel. I’ve loved talking to other people about their work and seeing everyone’s ideas develop in a safe environment.
• The course prompted me to think more carefully about character motivation and direction and structure. I completely took my novel apart and reorganised scenes, considering turning points etc. This has been a very useful exercise for me.  Also, Vicky’s excellent at asking just the right questions to set you thinking about important issues to do with the novel.
• I have really enjoyed the sessions. I’ve met good writers and readers and the group dynamic has been really great. Vicky’s good at establishing a relaxed, informal atmosphere. Very worthwhile course for me. Good handouts to digest and relate to what I’m working on.

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Previous course: ‘Gotta use words when I talk to you’: Writing Dialogue, Saturday 28 March 2009,   with Kathy Page

• A great focused workshop with friendly tutors who made discussion and exchange of ideas easy and pleasurable.
• The exercises were excellent and the explanations very clear – really sharpened my understanding.
• Created a great atmosphere – felt very safe to express opinions and ask questions.
• A good mix of exercises, chat and looking at texts. Relaxed atmosphere. Full in terms of giving a good ‘all round’ explanation of dialogue.
• A good day. I enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. Thank you!
• I really liked the specific analysis of dialogue and how it works successfully, especially being given such interesting examples. I also enjoyed the writing exercises, which were liberating.
• I had a great time. Good mix of people, great examples of writing.

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Previous course: MicroFictions: Writing short short stories, Sat 28 February

• Good group size. Friendly.  I enjoyed having time to write and then discuss and felt comfortable doing this – not intimidated. I liked the format.
• [I enjoyed] the chance to spend a day writing, talking about writing and learning about other people’s experience, and the opportunity to be given exercises with time limits and then to get feedback on them.
• [Gave me] new ideas for building on an idea and how to focus on the most important components. Comparing different approaches with other people is very useful
• For the future: maybe a longer day, or a follow-on session on a different day, [to allow people] to see something through … I always start things and then don’t finish them!
• An enjoyable and stimulating day.

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Previous Course: Writing People and Places, 29 November 2008

From the Feedback Forms: What did you enjoy/find useful about the day?

• [Enjoyed] being among others who want to write. A very relaxed, comfortable structure with great facilitation.

• being in a situation where the imagination can be allowed to operate. Being creative and meeting people in the same situation.

• listening to each other’s work and feedback

• being made to write and getting useful feedback, and being encouraged.

• The exercises worked very well and seemed to bring out the best in everyone.

• Great exercises – concise – useful. Really focussed.

• It has been my first experience of such a course … Looking forward to more.

• I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

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Previous course: The Writing Life: Getting Started – Keeping Going, September 2008

Very interesting to hear other people’s ideas. The sensory information we accessed was eye-opening. Free writing was a good way of getting going – mine actually rounded itself off quite nicely so pleased with that!  (Donna Gelsthorpe-Pearce, by e-mail)

What I enjoyed most was meeting other people who enjoy writing. I thought the exercises were good, and the practical tips and resources were really helpful. I was shaking when I read out my first contribution, but I think just doing that has helped me to feel more confident about sharing my writing! I certainly feel motivated and energised – I started my notebook on the tube home and wrote another short story last night. I’ve also got ideas for several more pieces, and I’ve even found some potential destinations for them via the Duotrope website. Many thanks – (Georgina Brown, by e-mail)

From the Feedback Forms:  What did you enjoy, find useful about the day?

• …thinking quickly and on the spot. I’m a real ponderer, and tend to over-think before starting, and then end up putting myself off. The exercises were really inspiring, and Vicky got my brain thinking creatively, despite it being a Saturday!

• …doing exercises I don’t normally do to tap into ideas I didn’t realise I had, and great to have an audience to give immediate reactions.

• Extremely enjoyable and fun. It was good to climb out of my own head space and interact with others. Vicky struck a good balance between moving things on and giving us time to do exercises.

• Very supportive and encouraging and friendly vibes

• I enjoyed almost all of the exercises, particularly the one with the corridor, the found words and the freewriting. It was useful to hear other people’s experiences and some of the practical advice on moving forward.

• I have found a new short story and forced a plot (with an ending) out of myself   – I think I’ll be better at endings now.

Previous course: Microfictions: Writing short short stories, 12 July 2008

‘It was a perfect balance between talking and practical exercises. I learnt a lot, and I also feel like my approach to writing has been opened up through trying new things, thinking about problems in new ways… And it was a lovely group, as well.’ – Emma K Martin, South London

“Thanks again for the workshop on Saturday. Even if the workspace turned out to be a little noisy, I loved its casual comfort and warmth. I also appreciate the handouts and have reread them, especially #5, your comments on flash fiction. I have renewed motivation to condense my verbiage. – Danna Halpin, Louisiana, USA

From the feedback forms:

Very friendly tutor, supportive and calm environment. Good exercises which have been really helpful to me, as a relative beginner, in opening my eyes to good starting points and structure for writing. Very helpful and a really enjoyable day. …I would definitely attend another course in the future.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day and I thought your breakdown of exercises made sense and were on target.

Interesting discussion of challenges faced by writers; technique, process etc. Very well mentored by Vicky – encouraging and enthusiastic.

Great facilitation – you have a lively manner and the sessions were a nice mix between talking and practical exercises.

The exercises were great. Very useful to be ‘forced’ to write some things I wouldn’t have chosen to. … Nice venue.

Previous course: Creating Character and Shaping the Story, Saturday, May 24 2008
A one-day workshop with Kathy Page and Vicky Grut

Thank you both for such an inspiring day. The tutors and location were superb.
Tina Malhamé

Thank you both so very much for such an inspiring, satisfying day. Every part of it felt indulgent. Charlotte Butler

• I really enjoyed it … there was a lovely sense of sharing and encouragement. It felt like a very safe environment in which to explore.
• Well, I felt inspired to go home and write! Clear and concise information was distributed and shared. I enjoyed the day very much.
• Useful to speak to / work with other people with different levels of experience.
• I found the whole day very stimulating – a good balance of talk, experiences, writing.
• I enjoyed the use of the group and teamwork – Reading aloud was inspiring and feedback constructive
• Very informative. Very enthusiastic – both Vicky & Kathy. Relaxed atmosphere. What could have been done differently? Nothing. A very full day with an end point that made sense – in terms of character, structure, etc.
• Good mix of individual and partner work. Great Day! Feel I learned lots and inadvertently had an idea of how to rewrite something I’d shelved.

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Kathy Page : co-facilitator on 28/3/09,  24/5/08 and 13+14/3/10

Kathy Page is the author of six novels, including The Story of My Face, which was short listed for the Orange Prize in 2002, and Alphabet, which was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction in 2005. Born in the UK, Kathy is an accomplished workshop leader and has taught writing in universities and other institutions in the UK, Finland, Estonia,  and now in Canada, where she has lived with her husband and two children since 2001. www.KathyPage.info

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.Alexei Sayle, co-facilitator on ‘Capturing Characters’, July  17 2010

.Alexei Sayle is a writer, presenter and comedian. He is the author of a number of works of fiction, including two best-selling collections of short stories,Barcelona Plates (2000) and The Dog Catcher (2001). His third novel Mr Roberts(2008) was described by the Scotsman as ‘a deliciously barmy, yet affecting cautionary tale’.The Times called him ‘a brilliant chronicler of big stories set in small worlds’. Alexei also writes regularly for The Sunday Times, and from time to time appears on radio and TV.

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For information about  forthcoming workshops contact Vicky Grut at: londonwritingworkshops@googlemail.com