Course explores the art of crime fiction

[John Dean]

Since I run an online crime fiction course, I thought it would be useful to look at some of the topics which I explore with the writers, either through their existing works or material that is produced in response to exercises set during the course.

The themes covered on the course comprise the basic elements that make for good storytelling in just about any genre, and certainly do so when it comes to crime fiction.

Themes to be included are:
An examination of where ideas come from - what triggers ideas in writers? Once you have the idea, how do you develop it? The course will look at the art of turning ideas into plots

How can you use sense of place, creating locations and landscapes to aid your storytelling?

How to pick characters to do the job. What are their functions in storytelling? This will include a look at everyone from lead investigators to villains and take in everyone in between

How conflict can be used to develop stories that assume a life of their own

That all-important start to your story - how do you grab the reader right from the off?

Writing with pace - how do you produce a narrative that keeps your reader turning the page?

Pulling it all together - how to edit the finished piece of work, how to make those changes that make all the difference and spot the passages that need to be deleted and the new ones that require writing

How to pitch to publishers and agents

The course costs £75 and can be timed to fit in with the writers’ lives. Because the course is online, those writers taking part can do the work at a time and pace that suits them. There is no official certificate of qualification at the end of the course. For further details you can contact me at [e-mail]