Advanced Picture Book course

6-week advanced picture book course with Clare Helen Welsh

Going beyond the fundamentals, level-up your writing skills as bestselling and award-winning children’s author Clare Helen Welsh guides you through an advanced picture book course.

If you understand the basic of writing picture books but want to further develop your skills and knowledge, this course is for you. It’s ideal for writers who have already written picture books and want to polish them ready for submission to literary agents. With two-hour sessions over six weeks, this course is designed to delve even deeper into the craft of writing picture books, with comprehensive feedback from your peers, your course tutor, and a literary agent. With a focus on publication, learn more about the children’s publishing industry, including current trends, from our guest agent during an initial Q&A, and how to submit your picture books to agencies and publishers.

The two-hour sessions will take place live on Zoom. Slack, a text-based platform, will be used for work-sharing and mid-week support. 

Not ready for an advanced writing course?

Join the waiting list for Clare’s introductory picture book course, or learn about writing rhyming picture books with author Catherine Emmett.

• Industry expertise: Gain direct access to a literary agent for around two hours during an initial Q&A, which includes up-to-date knowledge about industry trends and submission advice, and a final feedback session on your writing. 
• Written resources: Receive comprehensive teaching notes from your course tutor, including craft advice and book recommendations, for you to keep and refer back to during and after the course.
• Video session: In the first week of the course, be introduced to your fellow course participants and your tutor via a Zoom video chat, with a chance to ask any initial questions.
• Writing tasks: Writing tasks created by your course tutor to help you put the skills you’ve learnt into practice and develop your own picture book.
• Professional feedback: Receive feedback from your course tutor and a literary agent on your writing.
• Peer feedback: Receive feedback on your writing from your fellow course participants, and develop your own critique skills by giving feedback in return.
• Writing community: Learn from and share ideas with fellow participants on the course platform. Discuss each week’s topic, give feedback on your writing, and support one another during and beyond the course. Many of our students even create critique groups after the course has finished.

SESSION ONE: Monday 13th January

Introductions followed by one-hour industry Q&A with an agent.

SESSION TWO: Tuesday 21st January

Types of Picture Books and the Controlling Idea, plus workshopping of texts. 

SESSION THREE: Tuesday 28th January

Choosing a shape.

SESSION FOUR: Tuesday 4th February

Characters and character arcs.

SESSION FIVE: Tuesday 11th February

Viewpoint, voice, and style.

BREAK WEEK: Tuesday 18th February

Break in the course for agent to read and prepare feedback and for writers to finish their manuscripts.

SESSION SIX: Tuesday 25th February

Editing and writers discuss the feedback from agent in breakout rooms and with the group, including possible ways forward.

MEET THE COURSE LEADER

Clare Helen Welsh, author

Clare is a children’s writer and primary school teacher from Devon. She writes fiction and non-fiction picture book texts – sometimes funny and sometimes lyrical. Her first book was published in 2015 and she currently has books in development with Little Tiger Press, Quarto, Andersen, Nosy Crow and MacMillan. She also writes for the Maverick Early Readers scheme.

Twitter: @ClareHelenWelsh

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MEET THE GUEST AGENT

Lorna Hemingway, agent

After graduating from the University of Exeter with a degree in English Literature, Lorna Hemingway (she/her) completed her MA in Children’s Literature at Goldsmiths, where she was personally mentored by Michael Rosen.

Lorna joined Bell Lomax Moreton in 2019 and is now building her own list and is searching for picture books, chapter books, and lower middle grade. For picture books, she is looking for stories that have heart at the core of their foundation that then stay with her for a long time after reading; narratives that subvert classic hooks (e.g. bedtime, new home, friendship) and tell them in a fresh new way and characters that exude warmth and familiarity. She also has a weakness for all things colourful, bold, and shiny!

Twitter: @HemingwayLorna

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Ready to learn more about writing and publishing Picture Books?

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