Masterclass

I'd give my eye teeth to have gone to the masterclass on the art of fiction which Ali Smith gave under the auspices of the Royal Society of Literature but I only found out about it after the event, or Colin Thubron's on evoking the spirit of a place, but I'm going to be on holiday, but all is not lost...

I think it's perfectly possible to have your own, exclusive masterclass, just for you.   I'm a huge fan of Helen Dunmore: I think her work shimmers somewhere between prose and poetry; she chooses bold and potent themes (incest, blackmail) and her characters are individual and empathetic.  Her books manage to be gripping and literary all at once, a difficult balancing act to pull off. Why don't you think of a writer you admire, and ask yourself what qualities you like in their work, really try to unpick what it is that resonate for you, and then have a go at writing something which tries to embody some of these qualities yourself. Amongst other things it will help to connect what you read with what you write, which can only be good...