Thrills and Chills: Writing Crime, Suspense and Horror - Nottingham Trent University

Description

Embark on a psychological thriller, a crime novel, or your very own collection of blood-curdling short stories on this course and chill your readers and raise the stakes. Over two intensive, fun, and practical days, you’ll be delving into haunting settings and your characters’ darkest secrets, as well as developing tension, crafting creepy moments and effective action scenes. Whether you're an aspiring or experienced writer looking to delve into the world of dark mysteries, nail-biting suspense, or bone-chilling horror, this course is designed to sharpen your storytelling skills and help you master the art of eliciting fear, intrigue, and excitement from your audience to create truly thrilling and chilling prose. This course will equip you with the skills and confidence to captivate and terrify your readers. You’ll get writing straight away using a range of exercises using writing prompts to get you going. You’ll learn techniques for writing dark fiction and look at inspirational work and advice from an exciting range of successful crime, mystery and horror writers. During this course, you will: • explore the core elements of crime, suspense, and horror genres • analyse successful examples of these genres in literature • develop a deeper understanding of plot, pacing, and tension-building techniques • create complex and compelling protagonists and antagonists • delve into the psychology of fear and suspense to understand character motivations • work on character development exercises to bring your characters to life • construct immersive settings that enhance the mood and atmosphere of your story. • experiment with sensory description and world-building techniques • learn how to manipulate your environment to create tension and fear • fine-tune your writing style to create a sense of dread, anticipation, and excitement • learn how to edit and revise your work to maximize its impact • receive feedback from your peers and tutor to refine your work. Classroom discussions and critiques will be combined with a variety of practical exercises. By the end of the course, you will have a variety of writing projects in development, and a network of fellow writers and potential collaborators with whom you can progress your work further. Tutor Biography: Megan Taylor is the author of four dark novels, How We Were Lost, The Dawning, The Lives of Ghosts and We Wait. Her next novel, a psychological thriller, is due to be published by Bloodhound Books in 2024. She has also written a short story collection, The Woman Under the Ground, and since its release, further short stories have appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies and been placed in several competitions. Megan has an MA, with Distinction, in Creative Writing from Manchester Metropolitan University. She has been running creative writing courses and workshops for over a decade.

What's included in the price?

You will be studying creative writing in a UNESCO City of Literature, and be based in the School of Arts and Humanities on the City Campus. You will find modern teaching spaces and quiet study environments to develop your ideas and writing. You’ll have access to our library to use outside of your short course; whilst you can’t reserve or take away books, you are welcome to use them as a resource for research and referencing. You’ll also be invited to join WRAP, our Writing, Reading and Pleasure programme of book groups, meet ups and talks from readers and authors. On successful completion of the course you will receive a certificate of attendance, which will further enhance your CV.

Cancellation policy

Medium - Cancellation and a full refund can be obtained up to 4 weeks before the course starts

Maker

Nottingham Trent University

with Craft Courses since 2015

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