Rachel Marsh's Blog › Shortbread's Writing Course

Hello everyone. I just wanted to take this moment to say 'hello'. My name is Rachel Marsh, and I'll be teaching on the Shortbread in Spain course. The reason I've decided to introduce myself is because there may be some Shortbreaders who are reluctant to sign-up for the course. When deciding on whether or not to sign up for an intensive writing programme, some may be thinking 'what if I've paid all that money and I don’t get anything out of it?' In fact, I'm one of these people. I'm the type of person who will hem and haw before handing over my precious hard earned cash, and, to be honest, I think it's a pretty reasonable worry.

So, to calm the nerves of anyone considering Shortbread in Spain, but is hesitant, I want to tell you a little about myself and a little about the course.

First, who is this Rachel Marsh?

Well, I'm a published short story author and once-upon-time freelance cultural journalist. Back in the 90s and early naughties, I edited and wrote articles for arts and entertainment magazines in the US. However, I hung up my press badge in 2004 to move to Scotland to reinvent myself as a writery-teachery-literary-type person. I made this move because in 1999 I started teaching a course called 'Finding Your Voice as a Writer' at Colorado Free University. What started out as a way to earn extra money through evening work, turned into a passion, and I continued to teach the class until 2004. Being in a classroom with like-minded individuals discussing the merits of form, character and language was exhilarating, so I decided to make it a career.

I had already received my undergraduate degree in Creative Writing, so I set my sights on a Masters degree. Since moving to Scotland, I have earned an MLitt in Creative Writing from St Andrews, a PGCE in English Language Teaching from the University of Dundee, and I'm about to receive my MPhil in Literature from the University of Dundee. But the last seven years have been more than ticking qualification boxs. I regularly teach on the University of Dundee ’s creative writing course, and I taught Professional Writing and Creative Writing at Dundee College for three years. I am also a regular on the Scottish literary festival circuit, I was Reader in Residence at last year’s Winter Words Pitlochry Festival, and I was Senior Editor of New Writing Dundee for three years. But this is all becoming a bit too CV-ish, so, if you really want know more about me, check out my Shortbread page or go to my blog: marshrachel.wordpress.com

Now that you know that I am a qualified and experienced individual, let me tell you a little about the Spain course.

The four-day course will be a mixture of discussion, lecture, work-shopping, writing exercises and general merriment. (Okay, 'general merriment' may sound cheesy, but if a room full of writers, a plethora of wine and a beautiful house doesn't induce general merriment, I don’t know what will.) The course will be relaxed, informal and will be flexible. It's best to start with an outline and lesson plan, but it's even better to understand that the students should guide the course and that lesson plans can change.

Below is a basic outline, but I highly encourage anyone taking the course to contact me prior to the event, and let me know if there is anything you would like us to discuss. Also please feel free to get in touch, if you have any questions concerning the content of the course.

I guess that’s all you might need to know for now, and I hope I see you in Spain.

Rachel Marsh

 

Tentative Course Outline:

Objective: Leading the student from idea to publication.

The first day will focus on making the most of your writing time and how to move from idea to the page. On this first day, a mixture of discussion and writing exercises will be used to investigate character development, plotting, setting and vocabulary.

Day two will look back at the work completed on the first day, and will uncover ways the author can move forwards once the initial draft is written. Through workshopping and reading aloud, the student will come to understand the genre and style of their work.

Day three, the students will think about their own canon of work, and will learn how to create a portfolio of short stories or poems, or how to use smaller pieces to complete a novel.

On the final day, the student will learn the editing skills necessary to make a polished product ready for publication.

Note: Both Robin Pilcher and Fiona Smith will be in attendance to help those on the course and give talks on various aspects of writing.