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creative writing Blog Posts- Page 9 of 14 - The Open College of the Arts

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Art within art: part 1 thumb

Art within art: part 1

I often use the analogy of the ‘scale’ of a character in teaching. In this metaphor, a good storyteller penetrates the layers of a character right from the very top of their scale (that is in terms of their surface features, or what we would see about this character if we first meet them) right down to the bottom of their scale (which is their ‘core’).

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What is your tutor up to? Chapter 11: Vicky MacKenzie thumb

What is your tutor up to? Chapter 11: Vicky MacKenzie

reative Writing tutor Vicky MacKenzie will be getting a dose of her own medicine in June when one of her short stories is critiqued by writer A L Kennedy in front of a live audience. This event will take place at the Byre Theatre in St Andrews on 20th June.

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Author on tour: part 2 thumb

Author on tour: part 2

The author event. That mercurial entity where the audience expects magic from the author and the author somehow expects…well if not magic then what? Some kind of sense of connection with an audience? An audience they would otherwise experience only through Amazon reviews?

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Barbara Henderson – Eve Turner thumb

Barbara Henderson – Eve Turner

Barbara Henderson, programme leader, tutor and assessor for Creative Writing, looks at the flash fiction work of Eve Turner on her level 3 (HE6) course. Barbara Henderson – Eve Turner from Open College of the Arts on Vimeo.

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Author on tour thumb

Author on tour

Usually when a novel comes out I have found you have about six weeks. Then (unless there is some unexpected surprise further down the line) a subtle but pronounced fade in the attention your book gets. For my last novel, An Honest Deceit, it has happily been a different experience.

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What is your tutor up to? Chapter 9: Barbara Henderson thumb

What is your tutor up to? Chapter 9: Barbara Henderson

Creative writing tutor and programme leader Barbara Henderson’s fifth novel will be released on 1 March. Barbara uses the writing name Bea Davenport for her children and adult fiction. The Misper, her latest novel, is aimed at readers aged thirteen-plus.

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Using inanimate objects as characters thumb

Using inanimate objects as characters

Have a look around you. What could you animate? A coffee cup that hates tea? A printer that has a mind its own? A camera that takes pictures when no one’s looking? There are endless possibilities…

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From OCA student to published author – one student’s experience. thumb

From OCA student to published author – one student’s experience.

“Take your writing seriously. If you don’t, no one else will. Don’t try to do a perfect first draft. You should see mine – they’re pathetic. Writing is re-writing.”

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Writing characters with disabilities thumb

Writing characters with disabilities

If you’re going to write disabled characters, try putting one arm in a sling or wearing an eye-mask or ear plugs all day. Remember everything. And then feel thankful that your disability was only temporary.

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