Our Masterclass Series give you the chance to get to grips with a topic in more detail. Please check out the programme below or download the latest booking form for more details.

Saturday, February 16^th 2013

Making a Picture Book Memorable with Jane Clarke and Jane Massey

For authors and illustrators of picture books.

In an interactive session, author Jane Clarke and illustrator Jane Massey will lead a conversation about what makes a picture book memorable and share tips about theme/mood, characters, and pacing.  After lunch, authors and illustrators will split for a workshop. Come with ideas, a work in progress or a dummy. 

Jane Clarke has been an archaeologist, a teacher and a library assistant, but is now a full-time children’s writer with over fifty published books. Her picture books include the award-winning Gilbert the Great series, Stuck in the Mud, Dance Together Dinosaurs and Creaky Castle. She’s a long-time member and supporter of SCBWI.

Jane Massey has illustrated over 40 children’s books, working with Penguin, Random House, Macmillan, Little Tiger Press, Michael O’Mara and Helen Exley. She also produces illustrations for packaging, direct mail, greetings cards and advertising. Jane has also developed her own print range, String, which she sells via the internet and various shops

Together, Jane Clarke and Jane Massey have published the very successful Knight Time and Knight School books with Random House.

Saturday, April 13^th 2013

Writing Non-fiction that Rocks with Michelle Markel

The new non-fiction doesn’t just present a series of facts ­–­ it attracts, excites and inspires young readers. Educators are going to be looking for fresh takes on informational subjects as they implement the new core curriculum’s requirements for more non-fiction study. In this workshop, you’ll learn how writers of recent critically-acclaimed and buzz-worthy books create emotional impact with fictional and poetic tools (POV, character, narrative/organisation, figurative and descriptive language with child appeal). You’ll learn how enthusiasm, humour, interactivity and immediacy make non-fiction pop. Participants will do exercises that give them practice and confidence in using some of the techniques. They will have the opportunity to get feedback on a work in progress. Please bring an example of a creative non-fiction book that you admire, along with 1-3 typed, double-spaced pages of a manuscript or outline.

Michelle Markel is the author of several non-fiction picture books, including The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau, which received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and School Library Journal. Her upcoming title, Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 (Harper Collins/Balzer & Bray), will be followed by two picture book biographies with Chronicle.

Saturday May 18^th, 2013

YA Wildcard Workshop

What are you wild about in YA? What do you want to know? Tell me! Email me with suggestions of great YA topics that you want to cover in a masterclass and we’ll pick a popular choice and make it happen. Voice, Dialogue, Controversy, POV, Girl stuff, Boy stuff, Dystopian Vampire Cyberpunk stuff! (Actually that last one might be tricky on short notice but I’ll try.)

You can go wild and book this masterclass now on a whim (find your inner reckless writer) or hold out to see who and what is in store. (But be warned that places may book up.) The tutor and class topic will be announced on the SCBWI-BI website in the next few months. I can promise that the class will be hands on, practical and all about YA fiction. More than that I cannot say...

Saturday Sept 7^th, 2013

Young at Heart: Writing Fiction that Young Readers Will Love with Ruth Bennett (Stripes)

This class will focus on how to connect with readers in the 5-8 age group. We will cover story ideas, writing styles and trends in young fiction, as well as the tricky business of how to submit your work to publishers. There will be an opportunity to discuss your work, receive tips and feedback, and participate in writing exercises. Please submit a synopsis (single A4 page) and the first chapter of your story. Participants are welcome to submit their manuscripts to Stripes after the class.

Ruth Bennett is editor for Stripes, a children's publisher who specialize in bright and appealing books for young readers, from Holly Webb's best-selling animal stories to the lovable Dirty Bertie and the hilarious Ninja Meerkats.

Saturday October 26^th, 2013

Halfway to the Middle: a Class on Middle Grade Fiction with Sara O’Connor (Hot Key Books)

What is middle grade fiction, really? And how can you write a brilliant book for 9 to 12 year olds? This masterclass will cover the basics of middle grade, give examples from published and class participants' fiction, include in-class exercises, as well as offer tips for writing and revisions. Please submit 2000 words of the beginning of your middle grade novel, plus a two-line chapter-by-chapter summary of your complete book by the 31st August. This class is ideally suited to those who have finished a first draft of their book. Full submissions will be accepted by Sara after the class, with time for revision encouraged.
Sara O’Connor, Editorial Director, Print & Digital, Hot Key Books, says, “Middle grade fiction is my favourite segment of the market. Titles for the 9 to 12 age group that I've worked on include My Sister the Vampire and The Lady Grace Mysteries. My first acquisition for Hot Key Books was a core middle grade novel called Shrunk! by F R Hitchcock, which was selected as a Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week. I am also the co-creator of the Undiscovered Voices project, helping fourteen previously unknown children’s authors land publishing deals that have won and been nominated for a number of industry awards.

Class Information for 2013 Masterclass Series:

Venue                    The Theodore Bullfrog Pub, First floor meeting room, 26-30 John Adam Street,
London, WC2N 6HL

Time                       12:00pm start with break for lunch from 1pm until 1:30pm. Class resumes until 3:30pm. Possible Q and A until 4pm

Cost                        £28 per class for SCBWI members, £35 for non members, £100 special SCBWI member discount when you book for 4 classes. £125 for 5 classes. (All prices include a pre-ordered light lunch and a beverage.)

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Keeping our motivation high all year can be a real challenge and what drives us, distracts us or holds us back has both universal and deeply personal roots. Whether you start the year with a spurt of activity that fades as the year goes on, or struggle with motivation all year round, this workshop is aimed at helping you understand yourself and your motivation to write and/or illustrate more clearly. You will then build on this understanding to identify and develop personalised ways to boost your motivation and also consider how to address your own personal distractions, loss of enthusiasm and procrastination.

Since 2003 Bekki Hill has specialised in coaching writers – both aspiring and professional – to address their personal challenges using new thinking strategies and new approaches to their writing. Bekki has published many articles and short stories herself and has written a regular coaching column for writing magazine Mslexia since 2005. She is the author of Coach Yourself to Writing Success, published by Hodder, and her website can be found at www.thewritecoach.co.uk

Author/ Illustrator to be confirmed. Please check the website again for details soon.

You’ve finished a first draft of your novel. It’s got a beginning, a middle and an end. But your first draft is only the first step on your road to publication. Reading and re-reading your manuscript is not enough. How do you get beyond line-editing and really roll up your sleeves and make a good story great? Sara Grant, author of Dark Parties and senior commissioning editor at Working Partners, has developed a series of tips and tricks to help writers review and re-build their manuscripts. During two, four-hour sessions, she will share how to bring a fresh eye to your story and find and correct what’s not working.

The Revision Game: Part One 

This first session will consider the big picture of plot, setting, pace and character while keeping an eye on the heart of your story. Through discussion and hands-on activities, Sara will help participants revise their story at a macro level. Participants should bring a print out of the first three chapters of their novel. Be prepared to review and dissect their own work and provide feedback to other participants.

Sara Grant was born and raised in Washington, Indiana, a small town in the Midwestern United States. She graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, with degrees in journalism and psychology, and later she earned a master’s degree in creative and life writing Goldsmiths College, University of London. Sara is senior commissioning editor for Working Partners, a London-based company creating series fiction for children. She has worked on ten different series and edited more than 75 books. Dark Parties is her first young adult novel.

Please Note - two dates are on offer for these sessions so that the people who book for part one this time can continue with part two. Also the people who did Sara’s Revision Game Masterclass last year can now book for the part two session if they would like. People on the previous course will be given first refusal on the places. If there are extra places then writers who have already done several drafts of macro editing their manuscript may book a place. I will announce on the website when we know how many places are available.

The Revision Game - Part Two

After three months of revision, participants will return with a new and improved manuscript. This follow-up workshop will focus on polishing the manuscript. Sara will help participants look at the words on the page and review their manuscripts at a micro level – considering each page, paragraph, sentence and word.

You have a great opening and you know how your novel is going to end. But many writers find that through the middle part of the plot ideas begin to flag and this is often the point where people might give up. This workshop will look at why this problem occurs, identifying the potential pitfalls along the way and offering solutions to help you get back on track and complete the marathon of writing your novel. There will be writing exercises and opportunities to discuss your particular sticking points.

This Masterclass will be suitable for writers who already have a work in progress but not necessarily a completed first draft.

Miriam Halahmy is a novelist, poet and short story writer. She has taught kids, brought up kids and writes for young people of all ages. Miriam’s short story, Samir Hakkim’s Healthy Eating Diary, was included in the anthology, Give me Shelter, short listed for the UKLA Award 2008. She also has a piece in the new anthology, Under the Weather, published by Frances Lincoln. Her children’s book, Peppermint Ward, caught the attention of 2005 Children’s Laureate, Jacqueline Wilson, who commented, “honest and very reassuring.” Her book Hidden is published by Meadowside and her follow up book Illegal is out in 2012.

Venue:

The Theodore Bullfrog Pub, First floor meeting room, 26-30 John Adam Street, London, WC2N 6HL

Time: 

12:00 for lunch and networking. Class will start at 12:30pm and last until 3:30pm. Possible Q and A until 4pm

Cost:

£28 per class for SCBWI members , £35 for non members, £100 special SCBWI member discount when you book for 4 classes- £125 for 5 classes. (all prices include a pre-ordered light lunch and a beverage)

All events are subject to change, but if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Maureen Oakeley at maureen@oakeley.freeserve.co.uk.

See top of this page for the booking form.

Saturday February 5^th, 2011 - Picture Book Masterclass: Make Your Picture Book Really Buzz – A Creative Look at Page Turns and Storyboarding By Garry Parsons    

Come and find out how to use page turns as a tool to make your picture book really buzz. The right page turn can really make a book, creating excitement, suspense, drama and impact. Together, we will look at the page turn tools such as plotting, text breaks, panning in and out, characterisation and creating atmosphere that you can use to make your picture book even stronger.

Can’t draw? Don’t worry – the class focuses on developing your inner vision for the imagery and the pacing, visualizing the page turns and the reader’s physical interaction with the finished book.

Can draw? Brilliant – we’ll look forward to your sketches!

Garry Parsons is the award-winning author/illustrator of many picture books including Krong!, Billy’s Bucket by Kes Gray (winner of the Children’s Book Award), Ouch in My Pouch by Jeanne Willis, Stuck in the Mud and G.E.M. by Jane Clarke, and Trouble at the Dinosaur Café by the poet Brian Moses. He is also the illustrator of George’s Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy and Stephen Hawking.

Saturday May 7^th 2011 The Revision Game by Sara Grant

You’ve finished a first draft of your novel. It’s got a beginning, a middle and an end. But your first draft is only the first step on your road to publication.

Revision can be an arduous and unending process. Reading and re-reading your manuscript is not enough. How do you get beyond line-editing and really roll up your sleeves and make a good story great?

Sara Grant, writer and senior commissioning editor at Working Partners, has developed a series of tips and tricks to help writers review and re-build their manuscripts. She will share how to bring a fresh eye to your story and find and correct what’s not working.

She likes to think of it as the ‘revision game’. It may not be as fun as losing an afternoon to Guitar Hero or beating the family at Monopoly, but hopefully more satisfying – because what a waits is not points or paper money – but a new and improved novel.

Sara Grant's first young adult novel DARK PARTIES will be published in the US (Little, Brown), UK (Orion) and Germany (Droemer) in 2011. She's a senior commissioning editor at Working Partners where she has helped plot, write and revise more than fifty books for children of all ages.

Saturday September 10^th, 2011 Voice, Character and Narrative Angles in Writing for Children By Beverley Birch

A workshop on finding the best and most interesting angle of narration and how that affects voice, tone, and the approach to building character.
Be prepared for new writing during the workshop, but also bring an idea you are working on: the aim will be to encourage serious self-analysis and evaluation of your own work - and independent strategies for developing it.

Beverley Birch is both author and editor, commissioning children's fiction for Hodder Children's Books for the past thirteen years. Twice shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award for nurturing new talent, she regularly gives talks and workshops as guest lecturer for university creative writing degrees. Her last novel, RIFT, a mystery thriller set in Africa was nominated for the Carnegie Medal, shortlisted for a number of prizes, and film rights sold. Beverley has been in children's publishing, on both sides of the fence, since joining Penguin in 1975 to edit economics textbooks. Immediately offered a move to the children's list, she found her true home and has never looked back. She has just finished a new African mystery thriller and love story, SIRI, to be published next year by Egmont.
 

Saturday October 8^th, 2011 From Trilogies to Infinity: by Sara O’Connor

A talk on series fiction for children covering concepting series ideas, pitching your proposal to publishers, inter-book story arc-ing, how to keep it fresh when you're forty books in, etc. This class will be especially tailored to young fiction (5+, 7+ and 9+), but young adult will be discussed as well.

After two years at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in New York, Sara O’Connor has spent six years at the series fiction packager Working Partners developing series like Dinosaur Cove, the Hoozles, My Sister the Vampire, and Sisters of the Sword as well as working on Rainbow Magic, The Lady Grace Mysteries and the New Adventures of the Wishing Chair. She will be senior editorial manager for fiction at Hodder Children’s Books as of 1 November 2010. She is also co-editor of Undiscovered Voices.

Fiction Masterclass: Rules for Writing Fiction- Are There Such Things? Who Writes Them?

 Led by Pamela Johnson

Introduction: Rules For Writing Fiction

Are there such things? Who writes them?
A workshop in which writers will be encouraged to come up with their own ‘rules’ guaranteed to keep them writing. As a starting point, we’ll use the article recently published in The Guardian, ‘Ten Rules For Writing Fiction’ – This is available on-line and comes in 2 parts. Start with this link then follow the link to the second article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one   Though each set of ‘rules’ in this article is idiosyncratic, there is underlying common ground:

What time of day to write?
How to kick start a project?
What to do when stuck?
Where best to work?
How do you know the difference between real avoidance and creative blank space?
Who will give you valuable feedback?

Participants will work in pairs and small groups and also do writing exercises to design their own tailor-made  ‘rules’ to help them plan a way forward with their current project.

Pamela Johnson has published two novels. She teaches fiction on the MA in Creative & Life Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London and runs the website, Words Unlimited http://www.wordsunlimited.typepad.com/ you can find out more about her there.

Participants: This will suit anyone who is juggling other paid work and writing or those on the long haul of writing a novel. The aim of the workshop is to find ways to keep momentum in your writing.

Preparation:

Read The Guardian article – link above.

Session outline:

12:00pm - 1:00pm: lunch and networking

1:00pm – 2.30pm: What can we take from the writers rules published in The Guardian piece? Working in pairs or small groups we’ll identify where you need to put attention –– Time? Confidence? Organisation? support? – and do a first draft of your own ‘rules’.

2.30pm – 3.00pm: Coffee and refining the rules. What really would make a difference?

3.00pm – 3.30pm: Each to finalize their own list of ‘rules’. How can these rules now become useful tools rather than commands to beat yourself up with?

3.30pm: Any questions, final thoughts etc.

Picture Book Masterclass: Make Your Picture Book Really Buzz – A Creative Look at Page Turns and Storyboarding 

 Led By Garry Parsons 

Come and find out how to use page turns as a tool to make your picture book really buzz. The right page turn can really make a book, creating excitement, suspense, drama and impact. Page turns are key to enhance pacing, strengthen theme and heighten emotion. They are also a great way to get readers to interact more actively with the book too. Being able to visually storyboard your story is a huge asset to any picture book writer or illustrator.

Award-winning author/illustrator Garry Parsons will talk us through examples from his and others’ work and share the process of creating a dynamic picture book to captivate young readers. Together, we will look at the page turn tools such as plotting, text breaks, panning in and out, characterisation and creating atmosphere that you can use to make your picture book even stronger. In the workshop section of the masterclass, participants will be encouraged to apply these tools to their own work (or one that we provide) and explore different ways to visually storyboard their work. Can’t draw? Don’t worry – the exercise focuses on developing your inner vision for the imagery and the pacing, visualizing the page turns and the reader’s physical interaction with the finished book. Can draw? Brilliant – we’ll look forward to your sketches!

Garry Parsons:

Garry Parsons is the award-winning author/illustrator of many picture books including Krong!, Billy’s Bucket by Kes Gray (winner of the Children’s Book Award), Ouch in My Pouch by Jeanne Willis, Stuck in the Mud and G.E.M. by Jane Clarke, and Trouble at the Dinosaur Café by the poet Brian Moses. He is also the illustrator of George’s Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy and Stephen Hawking, The Dream Team series by Ann Coburn, and the Daisy young fiction books by Kes Gray. His editorial work appears regularly in newspapers and magazines in Britain and the USA as well as illustrating for advertisements, the theatre and the new pet kingdom in Harrods.

Participants:

This workshop is suitable for any picture book writer, writer/illustrator or illustrator, both published and unpublished.

Preparation: 

Writers, please bring along a picture book text in progress. Writers/illustrators may bring a picture book  dummy or storyboard. Illustrators, we will supply you with a text for the workshop exercise. Come with an open mind, a pen and notepad or sketchbook. 

Led by Steve Hartley 

In this workshop, I look at the five fundamental, sub-conscious drivers of our decision-making, and how they drive our sense of self-worth. Using advertisements, I show how the language we use betrays these motivators, and discuss how to employ them when constructing your characters, to make their actions believable and their choices consistent. Includes soul-searching, impertinent questions, mind-games and of course, a short writing exercise.

This workshop is suitable for any writer, regardless of the genre/age-group they write for, even picture books. If your story has characters in it, then it’s relevant!

About Steve Hartley:

Undiscovered Voices 2008 winner, and author of the Danny Baker Record Breaker series of books published in January and July 2010 by Macmillan Children’s Books. Ever the optimist, Steve has been presenting a version of this workshop to health care professionals for many years in the hope they might understand their patients better.

Led by Steve Hartley

Why is Mr. Darcy so uptight, and Mr. Bingley so nice? Why does Miss Eleanor Dashwood have all the Sense, but Miss Marianne Dashwood have all the Sensibility? You will leave this entertaining and interactive workshop with a simple behaviour model that divides people into four basic groups, based not only on how they use their voices, gestures, and expressions, but also how they react under pressure.  I’ll show you how to highlight differences between characters, make them distinctive, and then ensure that they stay consistent when you plunge them into that earth-shattering crisis. It will also help you understand why some people get right up your nose!

There’s a Cosmo-style quiz to identify your own behavioural style, a few videos, some very bad impersonations, and a short writing exercise.

This workshop is suitable for any writer, regardless of the genre/age-group they write for, even picture books. If your story has characters in it, then it’s relevant!

About Steve Hartley:

Undiscovered Voices 2008 winner, and author of the Danny Baker Record Breaker series of books published in January and July 2010 by Macmillan Children’s Books. Ever the optimist, Steve has been presenting a version of this workshop to health care professionals for many years in the hope they might understand their patients better.

Led by Sara O’Connor

Saturday, 19th September 2009

The Theodore Bullfrog Pub, First floor meeting room, 26-30 John Adam Street, London, WC2N 6HL

12:00 for lunch and networking. Masterclass will start at 1:00pm last until 4:00pm

£28 (includes a pre-ordered light lunch and a beverage)

Have you written a fantasy novel, but not found a home for it? Are you about to embark on a journey into another reality and want to avoid common pitfalls? This class is for SCBWI members who set their books in alternate worlds. Sara O’Connor, senior commissioning editor at Working Partners and long-time fantasy fan, offers insights on when fantasy works and offers advice for when it doesn’t.  

The class will cover setting up the new world and revealing the back story, getting the best from your characters, working your plot to the core, and pitching to agents/editors who don’t love (or run screaming from) fantasy. Examples will be discussed from published works and from class members, and there will be in class exercises.  

What is required:

Attendees will need to send in a writing sample of no more than 2,000 words from the opening chapters of your novel that may or may not be discussed in class, as well as a plot outline specifically in the format of two lines describing what happens in each chapter of the novel. Yes, two lines in Word, 12 point type, standard page margins. No cheating with run ons or almosts. Two lines (not two sentences!) for each chapter. 

Future opportunities:

Do note: Working Partners creates all its own series ideas and does not take on any outside submissions. There will not be an opportunity to submit work to WP through this masterclass. However, Working Partners does produce several fantasy series with a number of UK and US publishers that often need writers. If working with a book packager is of interest, Sara will be contactable outside of the masterclass and happy to discuss how it all works. 

Schedule:

12:00-1:00 lunch and networking

1:00 – 1:10 Masterclass start - Introduction

1:10 – 1:50 Set up and back story

(with opening chapter examples from published and attendees work and an exercise)

1:50 – 2:30 Character

(with opening chapter examples from published and attendees work)

2:30 – 2:45 Break

2:45 – 3:30 Plotting

(with an exercise and examples from published and attendees work)

3:30 – 3:45 How to pitch, especially to agents and editors who don’t love fantasy

3:45 – 4:00 Questions

Led by Lee Weatherly  

This Masterclass will cover techniques relating to story structure, planning and self-editing, and is for anyone who struggles with their story’s midsection. 

Lee Weatherly is an award-winning children’s author.  Her acclaimed novels for young teenagers include Child X, Missing Abby and Kat Got Your Tongue.  For younger readers, Lee is the author of the popular Glitterwings Academy fairy series (writing as Titania Woods), as well as the upcoming series Pocket Cats; she is also the author of two picture books.  For adults, Lee is the co-author of Teach Yourself How to Write a Blockbuster, and is a gifted writing coach, teaching workshop courses across the southeast.    

Preparation: Please send in a full synopsis of your story, as well as one scene (maximum five pages long, size 12 font, double spaced) from somewhere in its midsection that you’re struggling with.  Additionally, if you think you may have too many characters and would like to volunteer your cast for the infamous ‘lifeboat exercise’ (warning: can be brutal!) you may also submit a detailed character outline, explaining each character’s role in the story.  NB: Not all examples submitted will be used during the workshop, but brief notes will be provided on each text and handed back on the day.

Session outline:

12:00-1:00 lunch and networking

1:00-1:45 What should a good mid-section do?  

Overview of story structure.  We'll discuss the 3-act graph as it applies to a story's mid-section, including rising tension, cause and effect, and character/story arcs.  Example synopses will be shared and discussed, either as handouts or with a laptop projector. Students will receive a copy of the 3-act graph handout as a tool to use in crafting their own mid-sections, and if time allows, will have an opportunity to try this during the session.

 1.45-2:00 - Q&A

 2:00-2:15 - Break

 2:15-2:45 Planning 

The most common mid-section problem is when a story rambles on without really going anywhere.  With a good knowledge of story structure in place, planning is the key to sailing through your mid-section with ease.  We'll discuss different ways of planning, including graphs, synopses, and notecards.  We'll also look at how much or how little planning might be just right for you.  Examples and group exercises.

 2:45-3:30 - Keep it pacey - when to speed up, and when to slow down

Other common mid-section issues have to do with pacing: either mss are overwritten, or they're too skimpy.  We'll look at ways to kill your darlings and tell your story more efficiently, such as combining scenes/characters and learning what information you don't need to include.  We'll also look at when to slow things down to give readers the details they want to know.  Examples and group exercises.

 3.30-3:45 - Outstanding Q&A