Updated 4 April 2021
Overview
We announced this fundraising workship in the Spring Newsletter. Every lover of the outdoors has a story to tell. To help you write yours, I’m excited to pilot this online workshop to help budding authors get published. By the end of the 6-week workshop participants should be well on their way to completing a magazine or web-worthy adventure-themed piece of non-fiction writing. The process will be practical, supportive, fun and above all, satisfying, when participants see their carefully crafted story in print, in a magazine or distributed via WMT’s newsletter to thousands of adventurous subscribers around the globe. Eight participants maximum. A start date will be agreed when there are a minimum of 4 participants.
Charitable donation to Headway to participate
There is no fee as such but invited participants are required to donate a minimum of £50 to Headway, the brain injury charity.
What’s included?
The workshop “package” includes 6 online group sessions, a one-to-one online coaching session (to review draft work), assignments and exercises by email, a peer-to peer-support arrangement and tutor feedback. This will not be a picky grammar class or academic publishing tutorial but it will improve your ability to write clearly whatever the purpose.
ZOOM meetings
In our interactive Zoom meetings we discuss: why get published, barriers to getting published, overcoming writer’s block, where to get published, writing techniques, tips and good practice, debrief “homework” and more.
English speaking participants are welcomed from anywhere around the world!
Course work & time commitment
Course work will involve: online research, critiquing published works (PDFs provided or via weblink), sharing work with and providing feedback to a course buddy, shaping your own ideas for an article and getting your words on the page and more. Expect to devote a few hours a week to “homework” and additioand writing and budget an hour or so for the weekly Zoom meeting.
Who should participate?
This workshop is suitable for people who have never published before, have a writing project in progress and could use help and motivation to polish it, or have already been published and want to develop their writing craft. You might already have an idea for a story that you’re burning to write but this is not necessary, however, participants must have the intention of writing a piece for the teaching formula to work.
Workshop tutor
The workshop tutor is Barry Roberts, Commercial Director of WMT, though he is offering this workshop in a private capacity. He has published dozens of feature magazine and online adventure-themed articles and is a contributing author (three chapters) to the OUP Handbook of Expedition and Wilderness Medicine. Barry was the lead product copywriter for The North Face in Europe for five years. He co-wrote Staying Alive Off-piste (with Doug Gurr). He writes or edits WMT’s website and publications (Newsletters, Wilderness Medicine Case Reports and Medical Director’s Bulletins). His adventure stories have appeared in many magazines including Cross-Country, Geographical, Dark Summer, Outsider, Skywings, Summit (BMC) and others. He is currently working on a memoir which is proving to be a different beast altogether than writing a magazine feature! Barry crashed his paraglider in the Indian Himalaya in 2017 and suffered a head injury which is why he supports Headway. Follow Baz on Instagram
I’m keen. How do I sign up?
Email Barry to express your interest. When there’s a short list of a minumum of 4 people we’ll discuss a mutually agreeable start date and registration details. Spaces will be limited to 8 people.
Many thanks.
Barry Roberts