The Collective @ Collected: Introduction to Writing Fiction taught course - Sundays 5.15-7.15pm, starting 11 January

A six session taught course on the craft of writing fiction - a space for creating and sharing new work, hosted by your favourite independent bookshop!

Fee: £120 which includes the six taught sessions, a hot/soft drink and traybake at each session, and your own new notebook as a welcome gift.

Sundays, 5.15-7.15pm, every other week starting on Sunday 11 January 2026 and ending on 22 March.

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Open to beginners and anyone with an interest in:

• exploring the craft of writing fiction
• reading with a more analytical eye
• meeting other creative writers
• receiving gentle feedback

This six-session course will focus on "Tools in the Fiction Writer's Toolbox". Each session begins with an introduction to a craft element paired with a close reading from a short published work. Followed by a writing prompt and time to write together, we'll finish with time to share new work, with feedback provided.

By the end of the six sessions, new writers should feel equipped to recognise and use different craft elements - the tools in the writer's toolbox - in order to write a story or even get started on a novel...

Sunday 11 January, Week One: Setting
Sunday 25 January, Week Two: Character
Sunday 8 February, Week Three: Point of View
Sunday 22 February, Week Four: Plot
Sunday 8 March, Week Five: Language
Sunday 22 March, Week Six: Putting It All Together

Sessions will be led by local award-winning author Patricia Grace King. Patricia has lived in Durham since 2015 and is the recipient of a Northern Writers Award in Fiction as well as an Eccles Centre Visiting Fellowship at the British Library. Her first book, Day of All Saints, won the Miami University Novella Prize. Her first full-length novel, Tinderbox, will be on submission in 2026. As a work-in-progress, it was longlisted for the McKitterick Prize and was a finalist for the PEN Bellwether Prize. Patricia holds a PhD in English and an MFA in Fiction and has previously taught English and Creative Writing at Emory University and the University of Wisconsin, among others.