Kickstart Your Writing in 2026

ByEditorIncourses, WorkshopsOnNovember 23, 2025December 12, 2025

Kickstart your Writing in 2026!

£395

Kickstart Your Writing in 2026 – Beginning Saturday, January 10th!

New year, new goals—why not make writing one of them? Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just getting started, sometimes we all need a little push to get back into the groove. If you’re looking for that extra boost to get your creative ideas flowing and your pen moving, this six week course is the perfect way to start 2026.

Aiming to finish a novel? Start a short story? Or do you simply want to write more regularly? This course is for you…

What the Course Includes:

Five Live Online Learning Sessions: Over the course’s six weeks, you’ll join five live learning sessions held on Saturdays from 11am-12pm (GMT) (generative workshop) and 1pm – 2pm GMT (live writing event). Following on You’ll have plenty of time in between them to work on your writing and absorb feedback from your peers and tutors.
A Sharing Session: You can choose to read aloud a piece of your writing from the course. This relaxed, supportive session is a chance for writers to share their work, hear feedback, and celebrate how far they’ve come.
A Supportive Writing Network: You’ll be introduced to a community of fellow writers, giving you the opportunity to share experiences, ask questions, and connect with others who are on a similar journey. You’ll have access to this network throughout the course and beyond, helping you stay motivated and inspired.
Personalised Feedback on Your Work: As part of the course, you’ll receive feedback on your writing, helping you refine your skills and gain clarity on areas to focus on. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to develop your writing further, this feedback will be an invaluable part of your progress.
Writing Exercises Between Sessions: To keep you on track and build momentum, you’ll receive engaging exercises to work on between each live session. These exercises are designed to challenge you, inspire new ideas, and help you develop a regular writing habit.

What You’ll Achieve:

By the end of this course, you’ll feel more confident and inspired in your writing. You’ll have written lots, received helpful feedback on your work, developed connections with other writers and built a solid routine for the year ahead.

Sign up today and start getting excited about your writing in 2026!

Get motivated!

Saturday, January 10th, 2026

The best ways to get and stay motivated.
Stay focused and creative during longer projects.
Maximise energy and speed-run completion.

Craft Dynamic Plots!

Saturday, January 17th, 2026

Build plot brick by brick from existing foundations.
Plan, structure and draft high quality work.
Fast-track your project to completion.

Voice Great Characters!

Saturday, January 24th, 2026

Make readers addicted to your voice.
Enhance characters’ unique identities.
Write with authenticity and emotion.

Build an Amazing World!

Saturday, January 31st, 2026

Build a world from inside your genre.
The best ways to organise and streamline your research.
Tips for worldbuilding vividly without drowning your voice.

Curate your book!

Saturday, February 7th, 2026

Explore the novel, novella and collection.
Shape flash, stories, chapters into longer form work.
Organise the chapters of a book to best effect.

Share Your Work!

Saturday, February 14th, 2026

Share your work in our final reading event.
Find great publishing opportunities for your writing.
Grab the attention of book and magazine editors/agents.

About Your Tutors

Kate Horsley

Kate Horsley has a BA from Oxford and a PhD From Harvard University and has lectured at Harvard, Lancaster, Chester and Hull universities. Her first novel, The Monster’s Wife, was shortlisted for the Scottish First Book of the Year Award. A subsequent novel, The American Girl, was published by William Morrow (US) and Harper Collins (UK) and translated into Korean by Tomato Publishing – both books have been optioned for film and television.

Her recent fiction can be found in The Cincinnati Review, The Citron Review, The Vestal Review, Wigleaf, Fictive Dream, BULL, Aspier, Defenestration Magazine, Gooseberry Pie, SEXTET, Flash Fiction Online, Tiny Molecules, Paragraph Planet, Blood+Honey, Ink Sweat, & Tears and Trash Cat Lit, and has placed in competitions like Bath, Bridport, Smokelong, & Oxford Flash Fiction. She’s on the editorial board of Best Small Fictions, is the co-editor/founder of Inkfish Magazine & Press, and lectures in creative writing at the University of Hull.

Peter McAllister

Peter studied English Literature at The University of Cambridge, was awarded a Distinction for his MA in Creative Writing and now lectures at the University of Hull. He is the editor and co-founder of Inkfish Magazine and a committee member for the Penzance Literary Festival. In 2025, Peter is the Writer in Residence at The Morrab Library.

Peter’s writing builds layers of narrative through linked pieces that result in profound moments of self-realisation or dramatic action. He has been shortlisted and highly commended in several International Literary Prizes for his short-form fiction and poetry. His work has been published online, in print journals and numerous anthologies. Visit Peter’s Website.

Creative Writing Courses

Craft a Poetry Chapbook

ByEditorIncoursesOnJanuary 3, 2025December 12, 2025

Craft A Poetry Chapbook

£395

In this series of six online workshops, we’re going to read some gorgeous poetry chapbooks and learn how to assemble them. Week by week, we’ll experiment with imagery, cadence, form, rhyme, free verse, space on the page and prose poetry, considering how poems resonate and connect. This course takes place over six sessions on Zoom on Thursday evenings. By the end, you’ll have completed a chapbook which will automatically be in the running for publication by Inkfish Press. Each workshop session will consist of in-class exercises, periods of discussion and analysis, and time for sharing the work we’re writing. Simple homework assignments along the way will help you develop your chapbook.

During this course, you will learn how to:

Embrace different approaches to composition.
Grow confident writing in a range of forms.
Draw from the poetry you love in your writing.
Structure a compelling poetry chapbook.
Make your work tight and taut by editing.

What Makes a Good Chapbook?

Course Dates TBA

What makes a good chapbook?
Different themes, structures and approaches.
Finding narratives and resonances.

Exploring Different Forms

Course Dates TBA

Read poems in a range of verse forms.
Redraft free verse to sonnet to prose poem.
Whose book is this? Find the voice of your poems.

How Do Poems Connect?

Course Dates TBA

How do poems in published chapbooks connect?
Using verbal and thematic repetition to structure.
Locating connecting narrative strands.

Stepping Stones and Resonances

Course Dates TBA

Finding the resonances between your poems.
Creating ‘stepping stones’ through imagery.
Building a series or sequence.

Space on the Page

Course Dates TBA

Use space on the page with each poem.
Use the space between poems to create subtext.
Using negative space visually and imaginatively.

Polishing your Chapbook

Course Dates TBA

How to choose the best poems for your chapbook.
What to look for when editing your poems.
Questions for current and future projects.

About Your Tutor

Dr Kate Horsley

Kate Horsley has a BA from Oxford and a PhD From Harvard University and has lectured at Harvard, Lancaster, Chester and Hull universities. Her first novel, The Monster’s Wife, was shortlisted for the Scottish First Book of the Year Award. A subsequent novel, The American Girl, was published by William Morrow (US) and Harper Collins (UK) and translated into Korean by Tomato Publishing – both books have been optioned for film and television.

Her poems and short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies such as Best British Crime Stories, magazines like Strix, Fictive Dream, Storyglossia, Momaya, Needle, & Cake, and placed in competitions including Bath, Bournemouth, Bridport, Frogmore and Oxford Flash Fiction. She is currently working on a memoir-in-flash and a collection of short stories. https://www.katehorsley.co.uk/

Creative Writing Courses

Write Your Life

ByEditorIncoursesOnJanuary 3, 2025December 12, 2025

Write Your Life

£395

SOLD OUT

This course is fully booked, but you can sign up for a place on our waiting list using the button below.

Waiting list

In this series of six online workshops, we’re going to learn to write memoir, autofiction, travel writing and creative nonfiction flash pieces. Week by week, we’ll draw on personal experiences in a friendly and relaxed webinar atmosphere and complete two great pieces.

Read great examples of memoir and creative nonfiction
Learn to draw on the events and emotions of your life
Use form creatively to stitch together pieces of life writing

Begin with Memory

Sunday 30 Nov 2025, 6-8pm GMT

Whether you’re starting from scratch, picking a project back up that you began some time ago or just interested in life writing in general, this is an event for you in which we will explore how to:

- Use memory to build story and emotion.
- Craft a creative nonfiction flash piece.
- Build up your writing confidence and portfolio.

Create Characters from Real People

Sunday 7 Dec 2025, 6-8pm GMT

Turn your memories and observations of real people into three-dimensional characters and locate the heart of your nonfiction pieces. In this reflective, productive workshop, you’ll learn to:

- - Write from real life ethically.
  - Create psychological depth.
  - Make readers care about your characters.

Write Your Travels

Sunday 14 Dec 2025, 6-8pm GMT

Learn to recapture vivid details of your travel experiences, using specific and dynamic details to launch readers on an exciting journey of discovery by:

- Using photographs to worldbuild.
- Freewriting remembered journeys.
- Writing people, place and language.

Meander, Spiral, Explode

Sunday 21 Dec 2025, 6-8pm GMT

Plotting can be a challenge in life writing, where the linear drive of remembered events often dominates. We will work our way through this problem by embracing innovative structures and exploring:

The potential of short form fiction.
The compelling structure of memoir-in-flash.
Creative interweaving of timelines.

Writing Others' Lives

Sunday 28 Dec 2025, 6-8pm GMT

The world is full of amazing stories, long past and up-to-the-minute. In this workshop, we will learn to write the lives of others carefully and responsibly. Whether we’re writing historical nonfiction pieces or true crime, we will:

Find great ways to research our writing.
Use interviews to ethically capture true stories.
Developing sparse factual details immersively.

Publishing Nonfiction

Sunday 4 Jan 2025, 6-8pm GMT

Getting your work out there can feel intimidating, even for a practiced writer. In this final workshop, you will gain confidence and skill in submitting your work to magazines and competitions, agents and publishers, learning how to:

- Polish your work for publication.
- Find the right audience for your writing.
- Draft letters to editors and agents.

About Your Tutor

Peter McAllister

Peter studied English Literature at The University of Cambridge, was awarded a Distinction for his MA in Creative Writing and now lectures at the University of Hull. He is the editor and co-founder of Inkfish Magazine and a committee member for the Penzance Literary Festival. In 2025, Peter is the Writer in Residence at The Morrab Library.

Peter’s writing builds layers of narrative through linked pieces that result in profound moments of self-realisation or dramatic action. He has been shortlisted and highly commended in several International Literary Prizes for his short-form fiction and poetry. His work has been published online, in print journals and numerous anthologies. Visit Peter’s Website.