Write Your Life

Write Your Life

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

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 4 May 2025, 10-12am BST

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 11 May 2025, 10-12am BST

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 18 May 2025, 10-12am BST

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 25 May 2025, 10-12am BST

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 1 June 2025, 10-12am BST

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 8 June 2025, 10-12am BST

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.