How to write for young people
Announcing a brand-new video course with Melvin Burgess
What an exciting newsletter we have for you this week! Find out more about our brand-NEW video course with multi-prize-winning author and father of Young Adult literature – Melvin Burgess (available exclusively for members). We also have exciting events; a new community book club and advice for anyone writing for young people.
COURSE: Apply for The Ultimate Novel Writing Course 2021-22
No other course gives you this level of feedback and guidance on your manuscript. If you’re serious about writing a publishable book this year, submit your application now for either the UK/Europe or the International course. (This course is selling fast – apply now to secure your place).
DOWNLOAD THE PROSPECTUS (UK/EUROPE)
DOWNLOAD THE PROSPECTUS (US/INTERNATIONAL)
This week at Jericho Writers:
VIDEO COURSE: Writing for Young People with Melvin Burgess (Member exclusive)
We’re so excited to announce a new video course exclusively for members from one of the biggest names in young adult fiction – Melvin Burgess. In this course, Melvin shares his process and advice for plotting, developing and editing a book for young people, with worksheets for you to put your learning into action. This is 100% exclusive for members of Jericho Writers.
BECOME A MEMBER OF JERICHO WRITERS
COMMUNITY: Announcing our new Community Book Club
Join our community book club! Each month, our Community Assistant, Emily, will be hosting a live meeting with the author of the chosen book for that month, chatting to them about their writing process and asking your questions. You just need to be a member of the Community (which is free to join) and request to join the group.
MEMBER EVENTS: Honest Authors Live & Writing Goal Catch-Up (Member exclusive)
We have a special live version of the Honest Authors podcast featuring literary agent Silé Edwards from Mushens Entertainment on 21 July, and a catch up on the writing goals you set in January on 26 July with the Jericho team. Don’t miss it!
BECOME A MEMBER OF JERICHO WRITERS
How to write for young people
In a year where physical filming has been limited, what a joy it was to spend the day with the father of Young Adult literature, Melvin Burgess – famous for such works as ‘Junk’; ‘Doing It’ and the novel adaption of ‘Billy Elliot’. We filmed the new Writing For Young People course in a beautiful stone cottage in Yorkshire this Spring, and even though I’ve had the opportunity to work with Melvin before (he was my own tutor back in 2014) there was still a huge amount to take away.
Here are my top three takeaways from Melvin’s video course (available now, exclusively for members!)
1) Draw inspiration from your own childhood.
Like a lot of book-lovers, my teenage years were spent feeling like an outsider who didn’t belong. In the new course, Melvin looks closely at friendship dynamics and how to draw upon your own life as inspiration.
2) Understanding basic story structure can help you build your own.
Melvin illustrates this with fairytales in the course, but what’s really interesting is how once you break a story like “Little Red Riding Hood” down, you can use these same principles to create stories in any genre.
3) Find your own editing style.
In the course, Melvin live-edits a snippet from a classic work of literature to show how you can reduce wordiness, but maintain meaning. But does this lose something in the process? Experimenting with editing can help you decide what kind of editor you are – a hacker, or a trimmer.
Have you taken any of the new course yet? Have you tried doing any of the worksheets? Once you have, share your thoughts and your own answers in the community, here.
Sarah J
Plus, don’t miss:
Literary agent one-to-ones (10% member discount)
We’re running one-to-one calls with literary agents and book doctors throughout the summer. Anyone can book one of these – just choose your expert and book a time to suit you.
Mentoring (10% discount available)
Get expert one-to-one help as you write and edit your manuscript with your choice of award-winning mentors.
NEW video course on Amazon Ads for members
Learn the fundamentals of Amazon Ads with Nicholas Erik in our latest video course, exclusively for members of Jericho Writers.
Responses