Following the success of TLC’s sold-out London based Self-Editing workshops with tutors including Amy Liptrot, Jane Commane and Jacob Ross, we have designed a one day self-editing workshop for writers based in or near Birmingham, in association with Writing West Midlands. This workshop will be led by Birmingham based Self-Editing: A Primer author, novelist, and former publisher at Tindal Street Press, Alan Mahar.

About the Workshop

Are you working on a novel? Learn how to become a more objective reader of your work in progress, or finished draft, with this day-long introduction to the art of self-editing full-length fiction. In this workshop, you will receive guidance on how to approach the editing process, including how best to identify those areas you can realistically and significantly improve yourself, ahead of submission to a professional editor, or to a literary agent or publisher. We will look at common problem areas in fiction-writing, and practical trouble-shooting techniques that you can apply to your work in progress to make sure it’s in the best shape it can be.

This workshop is open to writers at all levels.

About the Tutor

Alan Mahar is the former Publishing Director of Tindal Street Press, responsible for a prizewinning list of 70 titles of literary fiction that earned three Man Booker listings, two Orange, three Commonwealth Writers, two Costa First novel winners, a Betty Trask, three Desmond Elliotts – a track record of one-in-three prize-listed. As a small publisher, his responsibilities in addition to the business side, included commissioning and editing many books and overseeing their production. He enjoyed working closely with authors (such as Gaynor Arnold, Raphael Selbourne, Maria Allen, Paul Wilson, Anthony Cartwright and many others) to prepare their work for the scrutiny of the market. He is the author of two novels, Flight Patterns (Gollancz. 1999) and After the Man Before (Methuen, 2002), His other publications comprise short stories, anthology editing, reviews and articles for Literary Review, London Magazine, Warwick Review, Observer, Bookseller and others. He is now a freelance consultant editor, writer and creative writing lecturer at several universities in the Midlands.

Course dates:

Saturday 8 February 2020, 10am - 4pm (with a break for lunch, lunch not provided)

Please note: you must sign up for the full course even if you cannot attend all dates. No partial course ticket is available.

Short Courses are for over 18s. If you are a young writer, you can sign up for our Spark Young Writers Programme.

All Writing West Midlands short courses are collaborative, and you will learn as much from your fellow course attendees as from the tutor. You will be expected to play an active role in group tasks, and you will also have time to reflect on your own writing during sessions.

Course handouts are sometimes (but not always) available, and notes may be available in advance upon request. If you have any additional needs, please contact Writing West Midlands in advance of the course starting and we will try to assist you.