“Most of us find our own voices only after we’ve sounded like a lot of other people.”  Neil Gaiman

Many aspiring writers experience the frustration of not being able to bring a good idea to successful completion. Often, the problem is not the idea itself but the writer’s lack of confidence in their ability to find the right “voice”. Would that noirish thriller actually work better as a witty romcom? Might a writer’s memoir work better if they removed those lyrical passages in favour of a spare, simple style that comes more naturally?

“Don’t go into great detail describing places and things, unless you’re Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language. You don’t want descriptions that bring the flow of the story to a standstill.”  Elmore Leonard

This practical one-day workshop, led by Emmy-nominated screenwriter and journalist Hugh Costello, is aimed at writers who have a project they are passionate about but who feel stuck, stymied or becalmed – and are determined to do something about it. The workshop sets out to unlock each writers’ natural writing style, and helps them to choose a genre and tone that works with their voice.

In the course of the day, participants will experiment with a variety of styles. They will be given a series of fun and motivational exercises to identify their strengths and weaknesses as writers, then encouraged to apply what they have learned to an idea of their own. The group will work together to brainstorm the options and act as advisors on each other’s projects. Hugh will provide expert tips on how to improve and sharpen a text, such as following the golden rule that ‘less is more’, putting extra effort into planning the structure of your work, and writing dialogue that feels real and messy rather than neat and grammatical.

The workshop will also provide inspiring, enlightening and sometimes surprising examples of how successful writers grappled with the problem of voice and reinvented themselves. The aim is to send each writer home with a new clarity and sense of purpose that will kickstart their work in progress.

“I find that I trust my own writing most, and others seem to trust it most, too, when I sound most like a person from Indianapolis, which is what I am.”  Kurt Vonnegut

About the trainer:

Hugh Costello’s work spans several genres. He’s an Emmy nominated writer for film and TV, an acclaimed audio dramatist, a journalist for print and broadcast, a biographer and a short story writer. He has run many workshops, at the Frontline Club and elsewhere, aimed at giving participants the tools with which to write to a professional standard.

Join us for a day long masterclass, moving from the basic elements of television and video packaging through to the most sophisticated techniques, making extensive use of tape material. It is designed to work for both newcomers and experienced professionals who want to improve their storytelling.

The session will be led by Vin Ray, a former BBC Foreign Editor, Executive Editor and the founding Director of the BBC College of Journalism. During his time at the BBC, Ray was in charge of on-air talent and recruited and developed many of the corporation’s best known journalists. He was described as ‘a revered teacher’ by Andrew Marr, one of the many journalists Ray trained. In 2004, he was awarded the Dart Centre’s ‘Distinguished Media Leadership Award’ at a ceremony in New York. He left the BBC in 2010 and now works as a writer, consultant and trainer.

Here’s what participants had to say about Vin’s masterclasses at the club:

“Truly inspirational and motivating.”

“Just an excellent, informal course.”

“Everything and more than I expected.”

“I learnt more in one day with Vin than I have in three years at college.”

“Really enjoyed the course. The way he presented things was easy to understand.”

“So much to know, so very interesting.”

“Brilliant.”

“I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learnt!”

You will learn a range of essential craft skills and techniques: how to write sentences that work for TV and online video, techniques the great writers use, how to use natural sound, how to script pictures, how to make stories flow, and how to achieve clarity. You will learn some powerful techniques for structuring stories. We will also look at what makes a good piece to camera, and more personal issues like vocal delivery. Along the way we’ll look at issues like using humour and reporter involvement.

Good opinion writing should demonstrate credibility and shape minds. Unfortunately, most misses the mark because it is ill conceived, badly executed and lacks a compelling central thought. This interactive, half-day workshop for journalists and communications professionals will give you the confidence to plan, commission and write with authority and purpose. It will uncover techniques for identifying relevant topics and for developing absorbing themes. It will help you build content with a coherent narrative using ‘killer’ supporting evidence. And it will give you the tools to engage the audience from the very first line.

Agenda:

1. Introductions and objectives

Exercise #1: From the morning papers and the weeklies. What works? What

doesn’t?

2. What is thought leadership?

o An original thought vs. An original expression of an existing thought

Exercise #2: Deconstructing an opinion piece from specialist publication

3. Topic. Theme. Point: the three elements of opinion writing

o Choosing a topic

o Developing a theme

o Identifying key thought/point

Exercise #3: Crafting key thought/point

4. Getting the structure right

o Getting in (and out) of a piece

o 6 intro techniques to deploy

Exercise #4: Writing an op-ed opening

o Building a coherent narrative

o Using supporting evidence

Exercise #5: Developing the opinion piece

5. Recap: 10 opinion writing dos and don’ts

About the trainer

Jon Bernstein is an award-winning journalist, editor and digital strategist. He was deputy editor, then digital director, at the New Statesman; multimedia editor at Channel 4 News; ran the Channel 4 FactCheck website during the 2005 general election; editor-in-chief of Directgov, working in the Cabinet Office’s eGovernment Unit; and editor-in-chief of dotcom startup and technology website silicon.com. In 2011, he was named Website Editor of the Year by the British Society of Magazine Editors for Newstatesman.com.

Image via Shutterstock

Radio and other audio platforms offer a large and varied market for aspiring dramatists – from character drama to thrillers, comedy, sci-fi and historical stories. And in the age of the box-set, when TV drama is all about long-running series, audio is now the home of the single drama. This creates a huge opportunity for new drama writers to pursue unusual and ambitious projects with a realistic hope that they will be produced.

Are you interested in learning how to write audio drama for the BBC and elsewhere? This one-day workshop focuses on the special demands of writing drama for the ear. It aims to equip participants with the skills necessary both to write their own new projects and to pursue the possibility of working on existing radio drama series. The workshop will demonstrate how to use sound to grab the audience’s attention from the very beginning of a story. You will learn devices that help to differentiate between characters, and to establish their relationship to each other – hugely important in audio drama where the audience only have voices and effects to go on. And you will explore ways to create an atmosphere of suspense, where the test of each scene is – does the audience care what happens next? The workshop will also tell you how to structure and present your radio drama scripts, and how to go about pitching stories to commissioners and producers, both at the BBC and in newer markets such as Audible.

The workshop is led by Hugh Costello, who has written more than two dozen dramas for BBC Radio, and has twice been a judge in the drama category of the Audio Production Awards. Hugh is also a screenwriter whose HBO film Bernard and Doris was nominated for ten Emmy awards, including best screenplay. He also writes journalism and produces factual radio programmes.

Join us for a day long masterclass, moving from the basic elements of television and video packaging through to the most sophisticated techniques, making extensive use of tape material. It is designed to work for both newcomers and experienced professionals who want to improve their storytelling.

The session will be led by Vin Ray, a former BBC Foreign Editor, Executive Editor and the founding Director of the BBC College of Journalism. During his time at the BBC, Ray was in charge of on-air talent and recruited and developed many of the corporation’s best known journalists. He was described as ‘a revered teacher’ by Andrew Marr, one of the many journalists Ray trained. In 2004, he was awarded the Dart Centre’s ‘Distinguished Media Leadership Award’ at a ceremony in New York. He left the BBC in 2010 and now works as a writer, consultant and trainer.

Here’s what participants had to say about Vin’s masterclasses at the club:

“Truly inspirational and motivating.”

“Just an excellent, informal course.”

“Everything and more than I expected.”

“I learnt more in one day with Vin than I have in three years at college.”

“Really enjoyed the course. The way he presented things was easy to understand.”

“So much to know, so very interesting.”

“Brilliant.”

“I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learnt!”

You will learn a range of essential craft skills and techniques: how to write sentences that work for TV and online video, techniques the great writers use, how to use natural sound, how to script pictures, how to make stories flow, and how to achieve clarity. You will learn some powerful techniques for structuring stories. We will also look at what makes a good piece to camera, and more personal issues like vocal delivery. Along the way we’ll look at issues like using humour and reporter involvement.

Join us for a day long masterclass, moving from the basic elements of television and video packaging through to the most sophisticated techniques, making extensive use of tape material. It is designed to work for both newcomers and experienced professionals who want to improve their storytelling.

The session will be led by Vin Ray, a former BBC Foreign Editor, Executive Editor and the founding Director of the BBC College of Journalism. During his time at the BBC, Ray was in charge of on-air talent and recruited and developed many of the corporation’s best known journalists. He was described as ‘a revered teacher’ by Andrew Marr, one of the many journalists Ray trained. In 2004, he was awarded the Dart Centre’s ‘Distinguished Media Leadership Award’ at a ceremony in New York. He left the BBC in 2010 and now works as a writer, consultant and trainer.

Here’s what participants had to say about Vin’s masterclasses at the club:

“Truly inspirational and motivating.”

“Just an excellent, informal course.”

“Everything and more than I expected.”

“I learnt more in one day with Vin than I have in three years at college.”

“Really enjoyed the course. The way he presented things was easy to understand.”

“So much to know, so very interesting.”

“Brilliant.”

“I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learnt!”

You will learn a range of essential craft skills and techniques: how to write sentences that work for TV and online video, techniques the great writers use, how to use natural sound, how to script pictures, how to make stories flow, and how to achieve clarity. You will learn some powerful techniques for structuring stories. We will also look at what makes a good piece to camera, and more personal issues like vocal delivery. Along the way we’ll look at issues like using humour and reporter involvement.

Join us for a day long masterclass, moving from the basic elements of television and video packaging through to the most sophisticated techniques, making extensive use of tape material. It is designed to work for both newcomers and experienced professionals who want to improve their storytelling.

The session will be led by Vin Ray, a former BBC Foreign Editor, Executive Editor and the founding Director of the BBC College of Journalism. During his time at the BBC, Ray was in charge of on-air talent and recruited and developed many of the corporation’s best known journalists. He was described as ‘a revered teacher’ by Andrew Marr, one of the many journalists Ray trained. In 2004, he was awarded the Dart Centre’s ‘Distinguished Media Leadership Award’ at a ceremony in New York. He left the BBC in 2010 and now works as a writer, consultant and trainer.

Here’s what participants had to say about Vin’s masterclasses at the club:

“Truly inspirational and motivating.”

“Just an excellent, informal course.”

“Everything and more than I expected.”

“I learnt more in one day with Vin than I have in three years at college.”

“Really enjoyed the course. The way he presented things was easy to understand.”

“So much to know, so very interesting.”

“Brilliant.”

“I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learnt!”

You will learn a range of essential craft skills and techniques: how to write sentences that work for TV and online video, techniques the great writers use, how to use natural sound, how to script pictures, how to make stories flow, and how to achieve clarity. You will learn some powerful techniques for structuring stories. We will also look at what makes a good piece to camera, and more personal issues like vocal delivery. Along the way we’ll look at issues like using humour and reporter involvement.

Join us for a day long masterclass, moving from the basic elements of television packaging through to the most sophisticated techniques, making extensive use of tape material. It is designed to work for both newcomers and experienced professionals who want to improve their storytelling.

The session will be led by Vin Ray, a former BBC Foreign Editor, Executive Editor and the founding Director of the BBC College of Journalism. During his time at the BBC, Ray was in charge of on-air talent and recruited and developed many of the corporation’s best known journalists. He was described as ‘a revered teacher’ by Andrew Marr, one of the many journalists Ray trained. In 2004, he was awarded the Dart Centre’s ‘Distinguished Media Leadership Award’ at a ceremony in New York. He left the BBC in 2010 and now works as a writer, consultant and trainer.

Here’s what participants had to say about Vin’s recent masterclass at the club:

“Truly inspirational and motivating.”

“Just an excellent, informal course.”

“Everything and more than I expected.”

“I learnt more in one day with Vin than I have in three years at college.”

“Really enjoyed the course. The way he presented things was easy to understand.”

“So much to know, so very interesting.”

“Brilliant.”

“I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learnt!”

You will learn a range of essential craft skills and techniques: how to write sentences that work for TV, techniques the great writers use, how to use natural sound, how to script pictures, how to make stories flow, and how to achieve clarity. You will learn some powerful techniques for structuring stories. We will also look at what makes a good piece to camera, and more personal issues like vocal delivery. Along the way we’ll look at issues like using humour and reporter involvement.

Image Credit: BBC College of Journalism

Join us for a day long masterclass, moving from the basic elements of television packaging through to the most sophisticated techniques, making extensive use of tape material. It is designed to work for both newcomers and experienced professionals who want to improve their storytelling.

The session will be led by Vin Ray, a former BBC Foreign Editor, Executive Editor and the founding Director of the BBC College of Journalism. During his time at the BBC, Ray was in charge of on-air talent and recruited and developed many of the corporation’s best known journalists. He was described as ‘a revered teacher’ by Andrew Marr, one of the many journalists Ray trained. In 2004, he was awarded the Dart Centre’s ‘Distinguished Media Leadership Award’ at a ceremony in New York. He left the BBC in 2010 and now works as a writer, consultant and trainer.

Here’s what participants had to say about Vin’s recent masterclass at the club:

“Truly inspirational and motivating.”

“Just an excellent, informal course.”

“Everything and more than I expected.”

“I learnt more in one day with Vin than I have in three years at college.”

“Really enjoyed the course. The way he presented things was easy to understand.”

“So much to know, so very interesting.”

“Brilliant.”

“I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learnt!”

You will learn a range of essential craft skills and techniques: how to write sentences that work for TV, techniques the great writers use, how to use natural sound, how to script pictures, how to make stories flow, and how to achieve clarity. You will learn some powerful techniques for structuring stories. We will also look at what makes a good piece to camera, and more personal issues like vocal delivery. Along the way we’ll look at issues like using humour and reporter involvement.

Image Credit: BBC College of Journalism

Join us for a day long masterclass, moving from the basic elements of television packaging through to the most sophisticated techniques, making extensive use of tape material. It is designed to work for both newcomers and experienced professionals who want to improve their storytelling.

The session will be led by Vin Ray, a former BBC Foreign Editor, Executive Editor and the founding Director of the BBC College of Journalism. During his time at the BBC, Ray was in charge of on-air talent and recruited and developed many of the corporation’s best known journalists. He was described as ‘a revered teacher’ by Andrew Marr, one of the many journalists Ray trained. In 2004, he was awarded the Dart Centre’s ‘Distinguished Media Leadership Award’ at a ceremony in New York. He left the BBC in 2010 and now works as a writer, consultant and trainer.

Here’s what participants had to say about Vin’s recent masterclass at the club:

“Truly inspirational and motivating.”

“Just an excellent, informal course.”

“Everything and more than I expected.”

“I learnt more in one day with Vin than I have in three years at college.”

“Really enjoyed the course. The way he presented things was easy to understand.”

“So much to know, so very interesting.”

“Brilliant.”

“I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learnt!”

You will learn a range of essential craft skills and techniques: how to write sentences that work for TV, techniques the great writers use, how to use natural sound, how to script pictures, how to make stories flow, and how to achieve clarity. You will learn some powerful techniques for structuring stories. We will also look at what makes a good piece to camera, and more personal issues like vocal delivery. Along the way we’ll look at issues like using humour and reporter involvement.

Image Credit: BBC College of Journalism