Group Size: Eight people max

On this course we will read the work of eight winners of flash fiction and short stories competitions. During our discussions and written exercises, we’ll try to work out why they were successful covering aspects such as conflict, characters, titles, beginning and ends, originality, writing voice, structure and ‘zingy’ words and imagery.

Over the five weeks, you will write at least three one hundred word stories and prepare an outline for a longer piece. If you want feedback on your work during or after the course, I will charge an extra £10 per story of 100 words and £15 per story of up to 1000 words.

Here are the stories which we will be discussing on the course.

(These may change if the stories stop being available on the internet. I can’t save and reproduce the stories for copyright reasons).

First, second and third place winners from ‘Flash 500′.

Winners from ‘Eyrie Press Short Story Competition’. (2020 and 2019 stories) – The 2019 winner ‘The Smuggler’s Sweetheart’ is one of mine.

First second and third place winners of the ‘Writers Bureau Flash Fiction Competition’.

We may also look at competition-winning stories from group members if some are available.

If you have any questions or would like to book a place on the course, please email me at:

suffolkwritersgroup@gmail.com.

Story Planning Course – 2020

Recommendations

Mai is so welcoming and, as new writer venturing into the unknown, everyone is reassuring, encouraging and also really constructive.

Jacqui Martin

I joined the writers’ group as a way to improve my skills. I stayed because the encouragement is fantastic. It has inspired a lot of new ideas and the people are just lovely.

Megan Musgrove

I’ve been to a few of Mai’s writing events and I really appreciate her infectious enthusiasm and her straightforward, clear advice.

Amoghavajra Mackay