Build Your Book
Exclusive for members, this event gives you the tools to build your book from scratch
Learn the secrets behind the creation of your favourite books straight from the authors themselves
With sessions on character, plotting and dialogue, we have a lineup aimed to inspire, develop and polish your work.
Find out more about this special event below, or join now to watch all these events plus hundreds more on replay.
Build Your Book 2021 Speakers
Full Event Programme
Plotting and Planning to Build Suspense
with Jack Jordan | October 1 | 19.00 GMT
How do you keep a reader gripped from your opening page? How do you build tension and keep the stakes high? Join bestselling thriller writer, Jack Jordan, to find out how he plans, plots, researches, and crafts his books.
Developing a Character Through a Series
In conversation with Elly Griffiths and William Shaw | October 4 | 19.00 GMT
We no longer write the Miss Marples or Maigrets whose characters remain the same from book to book. Today’s protagonists fall in and out of love, are hurt or injured and age. Elly Griffiths and William Shaw discuss how to create a character arc, not just for a novel, but for a long series.
Like Talking, But Better
with Kevin Barry | October 6 | 19.00 GMT
Kevin Barry is one of the most distinctive prose stylists working today, due to his puckish flair for storytelling and his delightfully loquacious characters. He joins Jericho’s Drew Broussard for a look at how to make your characters’ dialogue sing (or crash, or amble).
Plotting for People Who Hate Plotting
with Holly Dawson | October 8 | 19.00 GMT
Are you stressing over structure, trembling about timelines, forgetting the point of point of view, and letting that narrative twist get you in a twist? Then this hands-on, action-packed workshop is for you. Take off your writer head and unleash your inner plotter. Expect spreadsheets, timelines, graphs, post-it notes and a surprising amount of fun. You’ll leave with a ‘flatplan’ for your project – and a new love of plotting! Suitable for all writers with any kind of WIP.
Tiling your Writing Like a Mosaic
with S. Qiouyi Lu | October 10 | 19.00 GMT
S. Qiouyi Lu’s debut novella, In the Watchful City, is an ambitious entry into the annals of mosaic novels: books that use different forms of storytelling to create a cohesive whole. S. joins Jericho’s Drew Broussard to discuss making a book out of variable structures, how writing in different modes can reveal new facets of story, divining your plot with help from the Tarot, and more.
The Science of Writing Characters
with Kira-Anne Pelican | October 15 | 19.00 GMT
In this hour long workshop you will learn how to create complex, believable and memorable characters by using the Big Five personality dimensions and 30 facets of personality. Bring along your ideas about the character you are currently developing and be prepared to put them through their paces.
Developing Characters when Writing Multiple POVs
with Yasmin Rahman | October 18 | 19.00 GMT
This workshop will focus on developing characters and voices when writing in multiple points of view. Learn how to make sure your characters are distinct enough to leap off the page, and how to manage juggling writing multiple voices.
Go Big, Build A World
with Benjamin Percy | October 19 | 19.00 GMT
World-building isn’t just for epic fantasy or star-crossed science-fiction: it can matter right here on Earth, too. Benjamin Percy joins Jericho’s Drew Broussard to discuss his new cycle of three novels (The Comet Cycle, beginning with The Ninth Metal), how he layers hints and foreshadowing for future works, and what it takes to describe a world that’s almost (but not quite) our own.
Look Who’s Talking
with Debi Alper | October 21 | 19.00 GMT
Dialogue is an essential tool in the novelist’s kit – but it’s only one of them. In this session, we’ll be looking at how to make dialogue work for you, how to make characters’ voices sound distinctive and how to balance the dialogue with prose.
Scripting Dialogue
with Jen Silverman | October 22 | 19.00 GMT
Jen Silverman knows a thing or two about the power of good dialogue: she’s a playwright and screenwriter in addition to being an author, and she joins Jericho’s Drew Broussard for an exploration of how scripted dialogue can help elevate prose dialogue and how screenwriting can change your prose for the better.
What they said: Writing Direct Speech in Children’s Books
with Zoe Antoniades | October 23 | 19.00 GMT
It’s ok to write ‘said’ – it’s what they actually say that’s important. Explore how to bring children’s book characters and scenes to life with authentic, engaging and entertaining dialogue with author Zoe Antoniades. In advance of the workshop, participants are invited to submit a sample of work (some of which might be shared during the session). See registration link for how to submit your writing to be workshopped!
Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo
with Sarah Ann Juckes, Elizabeth Haynes and Rachael Herron | October 25 | 19.00 GMT
Get ready for the most productive month in a writer’s calendar – National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Join top authors and previous NaNo winners as they reveal the hints, tips and cheats you need to turbo charge your November and write an entire novel in just thirty days.
Ten Steps to Creating Compelling Characters
with Cesca Major | October 27 | 19.00 GMT
Character is key to commercial fiction. This practical hour-long workshop with author of The Thin Place, Cesca Major, is guaranteed to help you create and develop your own characters and even kick-start a whole new novel idea too!
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