Brand New Online Creative Writing Course: Museum Pieces

On By wendycatpratt
skeleton fish museum fish bones
Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com

 

And now for something completely different.

It’s time for a brand spanking new online course. Open to all levels of ability from those who have just started writing to more advanced writers, this course will have something for everyone. The course is designed to get you writing. Every week you will receive a set of course notes which set out the themes for the week. These notes will encourage you to think about how you might write towards that theme. You’ll receive examples of fiction, memoir, creative non fiction and poetry within the notes and each day of the month you will receive a brand new prompt, delivered directly to your in box. The course starts on 1st November and finishes on the 30th November. From the interest it has received so far, it looks like it is going to be popular so book early to avoid disappointment.

Museum Pieces

Each week we’ll be taking a virtual trip around a different museum and exploring artefacts within that museum. The prompts will be open to interpretation and you’ll be encouraged to explore your own internal museum, the items both metaphorical and physical that act as touchstones to life events, emotions and memories.

This is a no pressure course. Although there is a closed facebook group where members can share their work, comment and receive feedback, there is no pressure to join it and many attendees do not. The notes and prompts will be delivered in just the same way for you to work through at your own pace. There is also no pressure to compete work. We all have busy lives and often life will get in the way of writing. So you are free to write when you want. You might want to try and write something every day, but you might pick and choose your prompts, coming back to them at a time that is more convenient for you. Whatever works for you. The aim is to get you writing and get you enjoying your writing!

If you fancy it, why not have a look at the testimonials from other courses. Each of the online courses I have facilitated so far have been welcoming, supportive and inclusive places and an absolute pleasure to be involved with. it would be great to have you on board!

How the Course Works

The course will last the full month of November, with a daily prompt, weekly notes and poems, fiction extracts, creative non fiction extracts, videos, talks, links and other relevant material included as examples of the themes we’ll be covering, all of which is delivered directly to your email inbox. There’s also a closed facebook page where course attendees can share their work. The whole thing is moderated by myself and I interact with the group on a daily basis.

Who the Course is Aimed at

The course is aimed at beginners through to established writers, there’s something for everyone. We’ll be working in poetry, creative non fiction and fiction. Whilst you are encouraged to push out of your comfort zone, you don’t have to write in all forms if you don’t want to.

The No Pressure Style

This is a no pressure course in which you do not have to produce anything, nor do you have to comment or even join the FB page. It is much more important to me that you relax and enjoy the course, enjoy the prompts and enjoy engaging with the themes.

Sounds good doesn’t it! I’m really looking forward to having you on board.

 

Don’t forget, you can sponsor a place on the course for an underprivileged writer. It’s not going to change the world, but it will make a difference to someone’s month. Here’s what one of the previous sponsors had to say:

“I am not by any means well off however when I was out of work in 2016 it was the kindness of others who supported me and my passion of writing. By me now working full time again sponsoring anonymously someone else who is struggling financially made me feel like I was creating a room to grow for a writer which we all need. Wendy is also for me one of the bravest and talented writers active in the UK and as she has not lost sight of her working class roots how can anyone else look away if they can spend £20 on a sponsored place it makes so much difference to someone”

Payment Tiers

For this course, and all future courses, I am bringing in a method of tiered payment, a ‘pay what you can’  method which relies on the honesty of course attendees. There are three payment levels: £20, £40 and £60. There is also the option to sponsor another place at the price level of your choice so that I can support disadvantaged writers.

Why I have given the option to pay more

Lots of previous attendees have told me, during feedback sessions, that they would have paid much more for one of these courses, comparing it to other courses available to them. But at the same time, lots of people have told me they were grateful for the lower cost as it meant they could afford to develop their writing within their own means. I am from a working class background and still live in a working class town. There’s a grey area when it comes to WC folk, and it’s the place where almost everyone I know lives – the place where you are certainly not living in poverty, but you can’t justify retreats, courses or workshops because there is always something else (Christmas, birthdays etc).
It’s my opinion that everyone should have access to exploring their world through the arts, creative writing is my niche and in a world in which the arts are being slowly eroded, where funding is reduced and reduced, I feel I need to do something practical to help people like me, from my background. At the same time, as a working class writer and workshop facilitator, I need to be able to pay my bills and continue doing the things that I have trained for. Hence the option to pay more if you feel you can.
I know from experience how difficult it is to work out which level is right for you, so I have put some guidance together, below. I’ve based my reasoning mainly on the value of £20 in relation to  food and alcohol for some reason:

Sponsored Place – 

If you would need to make a choice between the course and essentials like food and electricity, then you are most likely entitled to a sponsored place. I have FIVE sponsored places so far for this course and there may be more. Get in touch wendyprattfreelancewriter@gmail.com for a chat. I don’t interrogate, this is an honesty system and giving writers a leg up is important.

£20 

If £20 is what you might spend on a takeaway and a bottle of wine, this is probably the tier for you.

£40

If £20 is what you spend on a bottle of wine and a nice bar of chocolate, the forty pound tier sounds about right for you.

£60

If twenty pounds is the amount that you might put into a charity box, or a church collection, then this is probably the tier for you.

YOU CAN SPONSOR A PLACE

Even if you aren’t interested in doing the course, you can still sponsor a place and give a leg up to a writer who has hit hard times and can’t justify the disposable income for a creative writing course. If you ARE doing the course, you can also sponsor an extra place. You might choose to pay £40 for yourself and sponsor a £20 place, you might be an absolute angel and pay £60 and still sponsor a £20 place, you might be a virtual saint and sponsor two £60 places. It’s up to you. Mix and match.

To Sign Up

  1. Go to PayPal and make a payment according to the payment tier you have chosen to wendycatpratt@yahoo.co.uk Please add a note containing the email address you wish the course prompts to come to. Please also comment if you are sponsoring a place. Please do let me know if paypal isn’t an option for you and we’ll sort something out.
  2. I will send a brief welcome letter to that address to make sure the address works, this will also contain a link to the closed Facebook group, so don’t panic if you can’t find it on facebook.
  3. Request to join the Facebook group. If you can’t find it, or there are any problems, drop me a line at wendyprattfreelancewriter@gmail.com and we’ll get it all sorted out before September starts.
  4. That’s it. It should be quite straight forward, but again, let me know if you have any questions or are experiencing any problems and I’ll endeavour to get it all sorted.
  5. Everything will arrive via email.

Have fun!

Spaces are limited so please book as early as possible.

Wendy

 

One thought on “Brand New Online Creative Writing Course: Museum Pieces”

  1. Pingback: Minutes |31 October 2019 – Whitby Writers Group

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