Borrowing from Shakespeare

Learn the tricks of the trade from history’s greatest storyteller

What better way to celebrate Shakespeare's 450th birthday than by plundering his best ideas and passing them off as your own? The bard himself was no stranger to begging, borrowing and stealing ideas from his contemporaries, through which he amassed an unrivalled stockpile of writing techniques which can benefit writers of prose, plays and screenplays alike.

Led by writer and Shakespeare expert Steve Attridge, this entertaining weekend explores practical ways of using and adapting Shakespearean characters, plots, ideas and motifs to deepen and develop your writing. Each of the principles covered in the course will be illustrated with examples from the numerous novels and films that have previously raided Shakespeare's ideas larder. No matter how much or how little you know about Shakespeare's work, you'll learn how to examine his writing in new ways, and be inventive and playful in applying his methods to your own work.

This course is for you if...

• You're an experienced writer of novels, plays or scripts who wants to learn transposable tricks from Shakespeare's plays
• You're a new writer looking for technical inspiration and new ways to approach storytelling

Course description

This is a lively, highly practical weekend which uses formal teaching, discussions and writing workshops to introduce attendees to specific, useable techniques that characterise Shakespeare's writing. Topics covered over the weekend include:

• Modernising the bard: turning Shakespeare's ideas inside out and upside down
• Lovers, villains and fools: ways to create character maps for big 'Shakespearean' characters
• The technique of recycling ideas into the stories we want to tell
• Recreating the core elements of a Shakespeare play in contemporary settings and stories
• Plots and subplots: how to set up and pay off events to create arresting dramas
• Creating tone: comedy or tragedy, and moving from one to the other
• Creating telling and memorable dialogue with layers of meaning

Tutor profile

Steve Attridge's work includes 15 books, a dozen TV series and seven feature films, as well as documentary dramas, TV films, stage plays and poetry. He also acts and directs – last year he performed his own show at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Awards include an RTS for Best TV Drama Series, two BAFTA nominations, an Eric Gregory Award and two Writers Guild Awards. His latest book, The Natural Law, came straight in at number one in the Kindle Singles Bestsellers. He writes for adults and children. In another life he worked as a performance poet. Find out more about Steve on his website.

Full course and returns information on the Masterclasses website