Three Tip Sundays for Fiction Writers

Three Tip Sundays for Fiction Writers with Leone Ross

Sessions take place every Sunday, April 5th - 26th from 4-5:30pm UK via Zoom.

Book individual sessions, or all four at a discount.

Award winning writer, editor and educator for more than three decades, course leader Leone Ross offers a month full of accessible, quick-fire, practical Three Tip Sundays! Each session offers her three ‘top tips’ on the subject of the week, targeted writing exercises and question time. You can expect to leave with a clear understanding of the key issues around each subject and ways to apply these tips to your own writing practice. More information on each session below.

These courses are designed to help fiction writers at all levels, although having some prior experience of writing fiction, however informally, will help. The themes in these courses are adult, and in at least one, there will be explicit language.

“This was the best gift I gave myself this year.”

- Dzifa Job

Ticket Info:

Book individual sessions for £40 each.

Or book all four sessions at the discounted rate of £130.

There is one free place for each session available on a first-come, first-served basis, bookable below alongside paid tickets.

Tickets are non-refundable and secure one place on the course.

Session Info:

Session 1: April 5th - Writing Sex Scenes

Writing sex scenes in fiction can be really difficult. We’ll explore how to write compelling and convincing sex scenes that feel true to their characters and necessary to the story you are trying to tell; discuss overcoming squeamishness with detail and authenticity and how to judge whether a sex scene is what your story needs.

Session 2: April 12th - Readying Yourself For The Novel

Writing a novel is a very special kind of commitment. It is the fiction writing task that takes the most time, and requires the most faith. It’s a hugely satisfying, rewarding undertaking, but if you don’t have the right tools, it’s a creative challenge that can be overwhelming. This course asks the deceptively simple question: are you ready? We will discuss best practice for the novel process, ways to keep yourself focussed and healthy, and stress-test your novel’s core idea.

Session 3: April 19th - Shaping A Short Story Collection

This course offers writers tips on how to create a cohesive short form collection. We’ll consider the heart of the short story form, what a short story does, discuss how to develop a link or ‘thread’ between your stories and present them as interconnected work, as well as the art and craft of choosing titles.

Session 4: April 26th - Entering Fiction Writing Competitions

Getting great writing practice, developing confidence, gaining exposure, drumming up motivation, working to a deadline and of course, potentially winning, are some of the benefits of entering writing competitions. There are no guarantees, but can we close the odds when we enter? The session focuses predominantly on short stories but also includes useful information that can be applied to shorter (flash) or longer fiction. We’ll discuss narrative check-listing, ‘quick edits’ and proof-reading, and discuss what happens inside the ‘secret chamber’ when professionals sit down to debate winners. Course participants will be provided with a comprehensive to-do list, writing exercises, a chance to ask questions, and industry secrets.

“Leone is incredible. I couldn’t have got my novel to where it is now, without her..” - novelist Nikesh Shukla

About the Facilitator

Leone Ross FRSL is a novelist, short story writer, editor and educator. Her third novel, This One Sky Day [Faber] was nominated for the Women’s Prize, the Goldsmiths Prize, and the Ondaatje Prize, among others — and named a New York Times Editor’s Choice. Her short fiction has been widely anthologised and her first short-story collection, Come Let Us Sing Anyway, prompted the Times Literary Supplement to call her ‘a pointilliste, a master of detail...’. In 2021, she won the Manchester Prize for Fiction for a single short story. Ross has facilitated other writer’s voices for 35+ years, as editor and creative writing tutor up to PhD level. She has taught variously for Cardiff University, Roehampton University, Goldsmiths University, The City Literary Institute, the Faber Academy and the Arvon Foundation. Ross is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Higher Education Academy. She is the editor of Glimpse: A Black British Anthology of Speculative Fiction, the first of its kind.

If you have questions, need further information, or have any issues booking your place, please contact info@neuroqueercreative.com.