Improve your English in a supportive and creative setting which will take the form of a reading and writing circle. We will read and discuss stories from masters of the form such as Poe and Mansfield, as well as each other's stories, developing our English and creative skills. After refining our understanding of the short story through study and practice, there is also the opportunity to discuss ideas for book lenght work, scripts for television or film and poetry.

Key skills related to short story writing:

• Show don't tell
• Plotting: from exciting openings that "hook" to rising tension and climax
• Narrators: first, third and second person
• Characterisation: crafting believable characters
• Genres of writing: from horror, suspense and funny to historical and rom-com
• Dialogue: making speech sound "real"
• How to promote your writing on the internet and in competitions
• Improved English accuracy skills with an emphasis on expanding vocabulary

All short stories, whether excerpted or whole, will be provided once the course begins. If you would like to read some classics of the genre before the course begins, the following are excellent examples: Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart; Dahl's The hitch-Hiker; Mansfiled's The Daughters of the Late Colonel and Joyce's Eveline