Date/Time
Date(s) - Thu 16th Jan - Fri 7th Feb, 2025
6:30pm - 8:30pm
Stories to tell in the dark
Do you love all things ghostly and eerie, and stories that give you a chill?
Perhaps you’ve been writing scary and uncanny things for a while, or perhaps you’d like to try something new. Join Natasha Pulley this winter to delve deeper into what makes our spines tingle, and how to wrestle a great Gothic idea into a shape that feels like a story or even a novel.
This online course will cover what the Gothic is and where it comes from, lots of writing strategies and exercises to help spark new ideas, plenty of feedback from your peers as well the tutor, plus one-to-one tutorials. You’ll immerse yourself in all things spooky … from the safety of your own desk.
Moniack in a Month: Writing the Gothic includes:
- a short introductory welcome session
- four stimulating online workshops, preceded by optional drop-in social time
- one 30-minute tutorial
- a final ceilidh session – sharing of work
- Contact and support from your community of writers via Google Classroom (optional)
- Drop-ins before each workshop to help you get to know your group (optional)
- Support from your Moniack Mhor host
Workshop 1 – What is the Gothic?
Workshop 2 – Writing the uncanny
Workshop 3 – Historical settings
Workshop 4 – The Gothic now
Natasha also invites you to submit in advance up to 1,000 words of a piece of your Gothic writing for workshopping feedback with her and your group (optional – no pressure if you’d rather not).
Timetable
Week 1 Thursday 16 Jan 18:30–21:00 Welcome Session and Workshop 1
Week 2 Thursday 23 Jan 18:30–20:30 Workshop 2
Week 3 Thursday 30 Jan 18:30–20:30 Workshop 3
Week 4 Thursday 6 Feb 18:30–20:30 Workshop 4
Week 4 Friday 7 Feb 18:30–20:30 Ceilidh
Tutorials
Your one-to-one tutorial with Natasha will be scheduled when the course starts.
Tutor
Natasha Pulley published her first book, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, in 2015. It was an international bestseller and won a Betty Trask Award. Her second, The Bedlam Stacks, was long-listed for the Walter Scott Prize. In 2022, she departed from her normal nineteenth-century settings to explore an irradiated landscape in 1960s Russia for The Half Life of Valery K. She studied at Oxford and Tokyo, and tries to do what her mum calls Method Research — going to wherever she’s writing about — which is why she spent several weeks at sea on tall ships in order to write about the Napoleonic wars. She will absolutely not be doing that again.
Fees
The full fee for this online course is £360. A deposit of £100 is required to secure your place, which is non-refundable after a 14-day cooling-off period. The balance payment of £260 is due six weeks before the course begins.
Bursaries are available, and you also have the option to pay in instalments, please email online@moniackmhor.org.uk to enquire.
All activity takes place on Zoom, and workshops include a short break. Moniack Mhor staff will be on hand to support you during your course.
For more information please email online@moniackmhor.org.uk.
Access
Please let us know in your booking form if you have any access requirements when working online so we can do our best to support you. For more information about access to our courses, please visit our Access page.
Terms and Conditions
Please read our Terms & Conditions before booking.