“Write what you know” is one of the most famous pieces of writing advice, but what does it really mean? Why is it so valuable to use our own life as raw material for imaginative writing? And how do we actually put it into practice?

This session will introduce techniques which allow a writer to gather raw material from their own personal experience, and begin to explore how it might form the basis of a piece of fiction. You will have the chance to experiment with a few of the fundamental techniques we offer Creative Writing students at Queen Mary, including Free Writing, Creative Visualisation, Prompts and Live Writing. Please bring a pen, and some paper or a notebook, as we will be writing longhand during the session.

The session will be online using Zoom and will be moderated for safeguarding purposes.