Solve the mystery of how to write gripping crime fiction with a two-day investigation into the genre led by top authors
Dates and times: Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 May, 10am-5.30pm
Overview
Everybody loves a good, juicy murder. So it's little wonder crime fiction is one of the UK's bestselling literary genres. Whether your tastes tend toward the gritty Jack Reacher procedural or the witty Father Brown whimsical, over the course of a weekend, acclaimed novelists William Ryan and M R Hall will cover all the essential components of perfect crime. From understanding the types of fiction agents, publishers and readers are looking for to cliché-proofing your plotting and characterisation, through a series of lectures and workshops, you'll learn how to drive a mystery forward without giving everything away. You'll leave the course with a proposal for your first crime novel, and invaluable feedback from the professionals on how to continue.
Outline of sessions
- What makes crime fiction tick
- The crime fiction market
- Introduction to plotting
- Technical aspects of crime writing
- How to create an original central charater
- Writing good dialogue
- What agents are looking for
- The three act structure
Tutor profile
M R Hall is a Bafta nominated screenwriter, producer and former criminal barrister. He has just been nominated for a second CWA Gold Dagger Award for his novel The Flight. The Chosen Dead is Hall's fifth novel featuring the brave but fragile Coroner Jenny Cooper and the trademark combination of intricate detail, perfect plotting, televisual narrative and flawed but believable characters.
William Ryan is an Irish writer who has lived and worked in London for a number of years. He was called to the English bar, after university in Dublin, before he worked as a lawyer in the City. Ryan's previous novels in the series, The Holy Thief and The Bloody Meadow have between them been shortlisted for the Theakstones Crime Novel of the Year Award, the CWA New Blood Dagger, the Irish Fiction Award and the Ireland AM Irish Crime Novel of the Year Award.
David Headley is the Managing Director of Goldsboro Books, an independent bookseller based in central London, and founder of the DHH Literary Agency. David represents a number of crime writers and has a reputation for championing debut authors, both as agent and bookseller.
To book
Details
Date: Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 May 2013
Time: 10am-5.30pm
Location: The Guardian, 90 York Way, King's Cross, London N1 9GU
Price: 400 (includes VAT, booking fee, lunch and refreshments)
Maximum class size: 15
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