Creative Writing Course 2008
Led by bestselling author Sarah Harrison.
Sarah Harrison Creative Writing week
"ITALIAN INSPIRATION"
Saturday 18 October - Saturday 25 October 2008
Positive reinforcement will be the keynote of this lovely holiday course, the aim to uncover the excitement, satisfaction and sheer fun of writing fiction.
As well as group sessions, Sarah Harrison will be available at all times to give individual help and advice and to read work in progress.
Once you’ve booked your place, you might like to submit a sample (no more than 1,000 words) of your own writing to Sarah. This would be not for assessment, but to get things off to a flying start.
The day of arrival will be given over to settling in, getting acquainted, and taking in the beauty and peace of the surroundings at Casa Villatalla. After dinner, Sarah will give a short introductory talk about herself and the course. A simple writing project might be set for completion during the week.
The next 6 days will follow a pattern of group tuition in the morning, and an outing or walk in the afternoon. Liguria has a wealth of superb places to visit - historic small towns and hilltop villages, dramatic countryside and a stunning coastline. In the evening there will be plenty of time for writing, reading or relaxing on your balcony, in the garden or by the pool. After dinner (and at any other convenient time) Sarah will be available for one to one consultation and tuition.
A typical day will go like this:
10 am – 12.30 pm: Tuition. This will cover all aspects of fiction writing: ideas; planning; synopses; research and the marshalling of material; working methods; characterisation; plotting; story, and the primacy of narrative; dialogue; point of view; style and voice; the ‘mind games’ of writing; moving on; and anything that comes up which you think it would be valuable to discuss.
12.30 – 1.30 pm: Light lunch or picnic – perhaps as part of the day’s outing.
Afternoon: Outing. This might be a walk along the spectacular Alta Via (a nearby footpath in the mountains) ; a visit to the historic medieval town of Dolceacqua, or the picturesque villages of Isolabona or Apricale; a trip to the Ligurian Riviera (eg Bordighera) or the famous Hanbury Botanical Gardens – everywhere we go is guaranteed to feed the writer’s imagination.
4.00 pm: Return to Villatalla for chilling out or quiet writing time.
6.30 pm: Group discussion of the morning’s topics and any ideas generated by our outing.
8 pm: Dinner at Villatalla or at one of the many delightful local restaurants.
After dinner, Sarah will be available for individual tuition, advice or reading works-in-progress. On the last evening we will have a slightly extended early evening session to sum up, consider any writing done during the week, air future plans and projects, and for Sarah to take last-minute questions.
Day of departure: Breakfast and farewell – until, we hope, the next time.
About Sarah Harrison
Sarah first hit the fiction charts in 1980 with the hugely successful World War One family
saga ‘The Flowers of the Field’, (featured before publication on BBC TV’s The Risk Business).
Since then she has produced over twenty novels in many different genres, including ‘An Imperfect Lady’,
‘The Forests of the Night’, ‘Hot Breath’(all published by Little, Brown); ‘Life after Lunch’,
‘The Grass Memorial’ and, most recently, the John Ashe trilogy: ‘Swan Music’, ‘The Nightingale’s Nest’
and ‘A Spell of Swallows’ (Hodder & Stoughton).
She is also the author of the very popular writer’s guide ‘How to Write a Blockbuster’ (Allison & Busby)
An enthusiastic communicator with wide teaching, public speaking and broadcasting experience, she has several times been a judge for the final of the ESU Schools’ Public Speaking Competition.
As well as novels, Sarah writes poems and songs (strictly for performance by herself!), and material for her local drama group.
She wants people to complete the Villatalla course feeling exhilarated, confident, and raring to write.
Find out more about Sarah Harrison and her work on her website: www.sarah-harrison.net
Cost of the course
The cost of this course will be, per person in pounds sterling:
| Single person in a double room | £730 |
| Each of two persons sharing a double room | £620 |
| Non-participating partners (everything listed below other than the tuition) | £450 |
These prices include:
- 6 days tuition as outlined above.
- 7 nights bed and breakfast.
- 6 lunches,
- 7 dinners, five of which will be here, and two out at local restaurants. Please advise us of any dietary requirements.
- Unlimited house wine (red or white) and mineral water with dinner.
- All transport, including all excursions during the week, collection from Nice airport (if required) on your arrival and returning you there on departure (but N.B. designated flights only, for which please enquire).
- Free use of our swimming pool (12 x 6 metres) with sun loungers and umbrellas, garden, and sitting room with library of books.
The prices do not include:
- Flights or other means of travel to this region.
- Insurance.
- Entrance fees to sites (e.g. for the Hanbury Gardens the fee is €7.50).
Accommodation
All our double rooms have private bathrooms (showers), hairdryer, tea and coffee making facilities, and direct access to a balcony or terrace. For further details and photos, please refer to Accommodation and Dining.
Booking
Please telephone, email, fax or write to us with your full name(s) and address(es) and other contact details. After confirming that there is space available on the course, we will ask for a non-returnable deposit cheque for 10% of the full cost as stated above, to reserve your place. The full balance of the cost will be payable 4 weeks prior to the start of the course.
Note: As soon as we have sent you confirmation of your booking, we strongly recommend you to book your flights as soon as possible, especially if using the low-cost airlines, as prices can increase substantially over the spring and summer.
Cancellation
If you have to cancel, we will make the following refunds:
- If more than 4 weeks before the course, any balance paid will be fully refunded.
- If between 4 and 2 weeks beforehand, one half of the balance paid will be refunded.
- If after 2 weeks prior to the course, no refund will be made.
For these reasons we strongly recommend that you take out travel insurance to cover against the possibility of your having to cancel, as well as all the usual other items.
In the event that we ourselves are obliged to cancel the course for whatever reason, an immediate full refund will be made to you of all monies paid including the deposit.
