The New Machine (Creative Writing)
Wed
THE GROUP
The New Machine (Creative Writing) is not just a workshop. It is a unique opportunity.
Unlike detached, institutional writing programmes, it is a friendly space for writers to connect and stay connected: it is a regular FREE social event, a day of focus, a 5-week course, a platform for novel writing, a platform for short-story writing, a retreat for novelists, a day of poetry, etc., etc.
The New Machine is a place for absolute beginners, as well as intermediate- and advanced-level writers.
It is a commitment to you: a group you can attend and never read aloud if you don’t want to.
It is a small class (8 people, max.).
It is you learning about narrative perspective, dialogue, tone, and narrative arc.
It is automatic prose, in the surrealist style. It is the “Proustian Questionairre”, the profile, the hero’s quest of character-led fiction.
It is a hook for the reader, the art of conflict, the dark nights and the bright mornings of plot-driven prose.
The New Machine is literary; it is you writing science fiction, action fiction, romance, thriller, adult, and/or children’s.
It is about you working on your thing.
It is getting 1-to-1 feedback from a committed tutor and a group of dedicated peers.
The New Machine is cost-effective. It is undercutting bigger institutions by half.
It is an opportunity to sit in a café, to use the pomodoro technique: a structure and a discipline to get your writing done.
It is an invitation to publish your work in an online journal.
It is for you, getting closer, to you honing your craft, to you transcending the obstacles you need, to manifest publication.
The New Machine (Creative Writing) currently offers the following MeetUps:
A regular FREE social event (every 5 weeks)
A Tuesday evening “Taster Class”
POD-1 (a 5-Week Beginners’ Course in Short Fiction Writing)
POD-101 (a 5-Week Character-Led Course in Novel Writing)
POD-202 (a 5-Week Plot-Driven Course in Novel Writing)
A DAY OF POETRY (a 4-hour session in the poetry basics / writing poetry, for beginner- to intermediate-level writers)
POETRY OF THE CITY (a 4-hour poetry session in reading, writing, and discussing poetry in the urban space).
POD-1:
This is a 5-week beginners’/crash-course in how to write good prose. It will focus on “Character Development and Plot” (week 1), “Perspective and tone” (week 2), “Dialogue + feedback” (week 3), “The Question + Feedback” (week 4), and “Where to go from here + Feedback + the Opportunity for Publication” (week 5).
POD 101:
This is a 5-week course in how to write a novel. It is a character-driven approach and is a counterpart to the plot-driven POD-202. In this course (POD-101) you will focus on “Stasis + Trigger / Inciting Incident / Chapters 1 & 2” (week 1), “Dialogue / The Quest + Obstacles to Overcome / Chapters 3 & 4” (week 2), “Midpoint / Rising Action / Surprises / Chapter 5 & 6” (week 3), “Feedback on your work so far / Critical Choice / Climax / Chapters 7 & 8” (week 4), Feedback / Reversal / Denouement / Chapters 9 & 10 (week 5).
POD 202:
In this 5-week course, you will learn how to outline, plot, and structure a novel. POD-202 is a compliment to POD-101. Once you know how to construct a good, believable character, you can write you novel by plot and structure (or vice versa). In this course, you will focus on the fundamentals of good storytelling: “What makes a good story? / Premise (Week 1), then (once you have chosen your premise and hooked your reader) “How to generate conflict” (Week 2), “The keys to a satisfying climax” (Week 3), “How to flesh out the chapters of your outline” (Week 4), and “Putting everything together / Getting feedback on your outline” (Week 5).
DAY OF POETRY:
This is a 4-hour day, designed to introduce you to the basic elements of writing poetry, such as line breaks, stanza formation, rhythm, rhyme and free verse. By the end of the day you will have a handful of your own poems to take home with you.
POETRY OF THE CITY
This is a 4-hour day, designed to introduce your to some of the best city poetry, including poems by Frank O’Hara, Sharon Olds, Ted Hughes, and Erika Meitner. By the end of the day, you will have a small handful of your own “city poems” to take home and work on.
ETHICS:
The New Machine is proud to offer a writing and critique culture that is fundamentally supportive. Whilst it aims to cultivate incisive, critical feedback, the emphasis here is on friendly, positive discourse. Writers of all abilities and experience levels are welcome. Very often, professional creative writing institutions require their participants/customers to present or to read their work aloud. The New Machine is respectful of the quiet, less vocal writer: he/she who would like the critical feedback of his/her peers, but without having to face the perils of large, intimidating classes or pitching wor
