Writing Short Stories

22/09/2025 - 01/12/2025

Duration : 8 weeks

| Arts & Craft

This eight-week course will help you get started and set you on your way to achieving telling stories with intent and purpose. 

Brief description:  

We tell each other stories all the time. It could be that we are sharing our memories, or something that happened to us or we witnessed, or perhaps we are weaving a tale of fantasy and imagination to entertain children or help them drift off to sleep. Whatever story we tell, it is a guided journey in which we use language to convey our thoughts and feelings and transport the reader or listener into another world.  

And we are surrounded by stories – films, television, radio, music and song, social media – and as we take them in and absorb them, they renew or change our perspectives. They help us to make sense of the randomness of life because stories are ordered and constructed.  

On this Writing Short Stories course we will explore the process of appreciating and understanding this construction from beginning to end – from how to come up with and revise the initial idea, to how to select the best way to make your story interesting and engaging. Using exercises and jumping off points for inspiration, you will have plenty of opportunities to discover the different forms short stories can take and experiment with the one that best works for the story you want to tell.  

So if you’d like to write stories for you own pleasure or to share your creativity with others, or perhaps weave your memories into a life story you can pass on to your children or grandchildren, this eight-week course will help you get started and set you on your way to achieving telling stories with intent and purpose. 

You don’t need any previous writing experience, or to come along with a story idea or project in mind, just the willingness to explore and learn the skills and practice the craft of written storytelling. 

Previous knowledge and experience needed?  

None 

For the first session you will need to bring: 

A notepad and pen 

On completion of this course, what might your next step be?  

Adult Learn and Train offer courses through-out the year. 
Try similar courses or maybe look at learning something completely new. 
You will find provision for daytime evening and on some Saturdays and Sundays. Courses vary in length from one-off sessions to 10 weeks or more. 

‹ To overview
Writing Short Stories

Course details

Location

Parkside Community College, Parkside, Cambridge CB1 1EH

Time

7:00pm - 9:00pm

Fees

£124 (£75 concessionary fee)

Booking notes

To book onto this course either call the office on 01223 712340 or email office@adultlearning.education

Tutor

Ruth Wade

Ruth Wade has been a full-time writer for over 30 years. For 20 of those she has been teaching the skills and craft of creative writing. She is also an accredited creativity coach. As a novelist she specialises in historical fiction and writes both under her own name and that of BK Duncan. She was a finalist in The People’s Book Prize 2016 and shortlisted for the Beryl Bainbridge First Time Author Award. You can find out more about her writing and her approach to teaching at www.ruthwade.com 

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