Sunday, June 6th:
1830:
Aperitvo in Palazzo San Niccolò. Welcome!
1930:
Welcome Dinner. Introduction to Lisa Clifford, her work and teaching plan. Opening dinner together at a nearby restaurant included.
Monday, June 7th
9:30 – 11:00 - Turn the Page. Inspiration, impetus and overcoming resistance.
Tenacity and curiosity are the keys, but technique is vital. A lively lecture, on emotional urgency in our text. Designed to bring your writing to life. Now, more than ever, writers must hook their readers in their first five pages. Even their first sentence! You’ll never leap out of the slush pile unless we nail down how to create and maintain narrative momentum with your work. We will also look at your writing time and overcoming procrastination.
11:00 – 11:30:
Morning tea, coffee and snacks provided.
11:30-1300 - How to make your characters sing from the page with guest tutor, UK bestselling author Jane Corry.
Hints on how to develop your own characters for your own particular idea. Give your characters ‘special something’ to make them stand out; a problem or challenge to move the pace along; and a particular way of speaking so their dialogue sounds natural and yet unique. How do your characters interact with other characters? How do we think through the impact of their families/homes/work on their actions and personalities? We will also cover conflict and themes.
1300:
Lunch break Italian style.
1500-1630 - Group discussion is a problem shared:
What ails you? Why isn’t it flowing? How does this sound to you? Working together gives us the opportunity to use each other as our sounding boards. These sessions are to inspire and encourage. Let’s hear your voice. Let’s share our work and be each other’s beta readers. Creative writing exercises to prompt your best writing ever.
16:30:
Free writing or walking time.
Or scheduled private manuscript time with Lisa Clifford.
Tuesday, June 8th
09:30-1100 - Sense of Place:
This session starts in the ‘classroom’ and then becomes a walk. Learn how to add authenticity to your settings and characters, create atmospheres and articulate descriptions that show, not just tell, your reader’s location through its sounds, touch, smells and tastes.
Sense of Place continued:
Take your character for a walk through Florence with Lisa Clifford. What is your character thinking, feeling and seeing?
Our Sense of Place trail starts from Palazzo San Niccolò and finishes at the San Lorenzo Food Markets.
Lunch at our own expense around San Lorenzo with Lisa Clifford.
15:30
Private writing time.
Or scheduled manuscript consultation with Lisa Clifford.
1800: Aperitivo with Philippa Donovan Via Zoom Link from London.
Philippa Donovan shares her thoughts on What’s Hot and What’s Not. And does it even matter? Book Scout for Dynamic Television, Vertigo Films, Jungle Entertainment, and previously for Mad Rabbit/Red Arrow, Circle of Confusion/ITV America, Fremantle Australia, Philippa will answer all the questions you’ve ever wanted to ask about pitching to a literary agent or TV book scout. Actually, you can ask Philippa anything because this girl’s industry knowledge is extraordinary!
Wednesday, June 9th
09:30-1100: The Art of Memoir.
Learn how to collect, collate and recount your own story. Using examples from Lisa’s best-selling memoir The Promise, explore how to focus on the story without digressing. What have you overcome? How has your life changed you? Every memoir has a distinct arc. What’s yours? What to leave in or cut. How to transform fragments of memories into great chapters.
11:00 – 11:30
Morning tea, coffee and snacks provided.
1130-1300: Jane Corry: Plot (and how characters can help your structure).
Tips on different ways to plot – should you draw up a thorough plan beforehand; make it up as you go along; or do a mixture of both? Each method has its pros and cons. Strong characters will also suggest the way in which your plot should go. Do you want your plot to be seen through the eyes of different characters? Is there an overall narrator? Can the use of the first person or the third person give your plot an extra ‘spring?'
1300: Lunch break Italian style.
1500:
What problems come back to haunt you? What obstacles are stopping you from moving your writing forward? Or did your writing flow? Private time with Lisa Clifford.
16:00:
Literary agent Greg Messina, from Linwood Messina talks to us about representation for expatriate writers. As a Paris-based agent, Greg works with many writers in Europe, outside their 'home territories.' How does writing and representation change for us, living overseas?
17:30
Free writing or walking time.
Thursday, June 10th
0930-1030: Guest lecturer: Suzanne Daniel (5:30pm Australia)
Suzie joined the Art of Writing in 2013. Since then, she has signed a two-book deal with Pan Macmillan. Her debut novel, the one she started while writing with us, won the Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction in 2020. Suzie is signed with Knopf in the US and Pan in Australia. Suzie will talk to us about her journey writing Allegra in Three Parts and how her life has changed since major publication.
Discussion
11:00 – 11:30
Morning tea, coffee and snacks provided.
11:30-0100: (10;30-12noon UK time) Jane Corry on Pace: how to make sure you’ve got it right.
Tips on how to bring in action to keep the reader gripped. Also, how to create realistic twists – and how to sow the seeds of these twists earlier in the plot. Advice on reading aloud so you can test the pace. Finally, the ending!
1300 Lunch break - The Emotional Palette: The Emotional Palette.
Things happen around the table! A discussion on how important food is to your story line. What does your character like to eat? Where do they like to dine – in expensive, silver service fine dining restaurants? Or in family run, cosy trattorias? Do they enjoy fast food and wear the evidence of that quick food fix hunger on their clothes? Does your character appreciate food? Is it important to them? Or are they dismissive of food and the trouble taken in its preparation?
1500:
Afternoon writing time.
Or scheduled private manuscript discussion with Lisa Clifford.
1800: Conclusion and shared reading.
Let’s wrap up our time together with dinner –with antipasto - by reading something we’ve written over the past week. Gift your favourite piece to us, over a glass of wine.