At the Bookery during March and April, Natalie Young, author of Season to Taste or How To Eat Your Husband and We All Ran Into the Sunlight,  delivered a 6 week creative writing course.

Writing exercises, discussing authors and giving and receiving feedback were our weekly tasks. In our group was a budding historical fiction writer, a fantasy writer and a memoirist. I had fun experimenting with different styles and voices. Natalie worked with us individually, within the group, identifying areas to work on and recommending books to read. These included:

The Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Somebody Loves You by Mona Arshi

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

Inspired by these works, we wrote and had the opportunity to submit 500 words, every week for critique. Our confidence grew, our fiction improved. Having a deadline forced us to commit to producing work. Reading different writers inspired us to try new techniques. We slashed adverbs, splurged active verbs, showed and didn’t tell. By the end, all of us agreed, our writing had improved and we had enjoyed the opportunity to learn from Natalie.

– Emma Busbridge (Bookery Schools Volunteer)