bbc creative writing course

David Walliams unveils free Mini-Maestro writing lessons for kids

David Walliams is the UK’s best-selling children’s author of recent years, having sold 40 million books worldwide. His writing has captured the imaginations of young fans worldwide and his books have been translated into 53 languages.

This new course – available for free on www.bbcmaestro.com - is aimed at children aged seven to twelve years old and was specifically created as an additional resource for parents, teachers and children to help inspire kids to get writing.

Lockdown has been difficult for everyone – but home schooling has been a particular challenge.

David’s Mini Maestro course is designed to entertain and inspire children to create their own stories, and give parents and children a valuable resource to keep young minds engaged.

Children who take the course can submit their one-page stories to www.bbcmaestro.com and each week a random sample will be showcased on BBC Maestro social channels over the coming weeks.

20 entries will be selected at random and their authors will have the opportunity to attend a writing session with David Walliams and will be given an illustrated front cover for their story, framed and signed as a keepsake.

David’s BBC Maestro course for adults has already proved to be a huge hit as interest in e-learning grows during lockdown.  Mini Maestro is a standalone course of 12 short, easily digestible, child-friendly video lessons to inspire younger writers to put pen to paper.

The course is accompanied by a downloadable activity book, filled with fun exercises designed to help develop children’s creative writing skills.

David’s Mini Maestro course is available to access for free on www.bbcmaestro.com until 31 st March, and has been developed for kids to enjoy under the supervision of parents or teachers.

BBC Maestro, which operates in partnership with BBC Studios (the commercial arm of the BBC) offers courses that will match people’s interests and personal aspirations with artists, teachers and mentors who are the very best at their craft. It is a place to learn and be inspired in the creative arts. The Maestri involved are the most passionate in their field and their courses will not just be lessons but life changing experiences that will inspire a new generation of creatives to realise and release their own potential. 

Key Information

• For children aged 7-12
• Entries must be no more than 500 words max
• All submissions will be entered into a draw.
• 20 children (split into two groups of 10 aged 7-9 and 10-12) will be selected at random from the entries.
• Winning entrants will be invited to a special creative writing session with David.
• As a keepsake, each winner will be given an illustrated book cover of their story, framed and signed by David.
• Deadline for entries: 31st of March 2021
• Prize draw winners announced May 1, 2021

From David Walliams:

“Kids have the most imaginative ideas, but turning them into stories can sometimes feel like hard work.  It shouldn’t be.  Bringing amazing ideas to life should only be fun.  At this difficult time, I wanted to give kids a fun story writing challenge and at the same time, offer them a few tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way, to turn their fantastic creations into stories that that everyone can enjoy.”

From BBC Maestro:

"David’s BBC Maestro course is such an incredible, inspirational and hugely entertaining tool for aspiring adult writers, we asked David if he could find a way to create a version for kids, to give them something fun and inspiring to do during lock-down.

David’s Mini Maestro writing course invites kids into David’s amazing world of writing through his fantastic child-friendly lessons.  We want it to be something hugely compelling for kids and hopefully helpful to parents and teachers as a free resource, at this challenging time.”

 NOTES TO EDITORS

BBC Maestro

BBC Maestro, operates under license from BBC Studios, but is an independent business which is not taxpayer funded in any way.

About BBC Studios

BBC Studios, a global content company with bold British creativity at its heart, is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group. Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, its activities span content financing, development, production, sales, branded services, and ancillaries across both its own productions, and programmes and formats made by high-quality UK independents. Award-winning British programmes made by the business are internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms, with brands like Strictly Come Dancing / Dancing with the Stars , Top Gear , Doctor Who and Bluey . BBC Studios has offices in 22 markets globally, including ten production bases in the UK and production bases or partnerships in a further nine countries around the world. The company, which ordinarily makes around 2500 hours of content a year for both the BBC and third parties including Apple, Amazon and China Mobile, is a champion for British creativity around the world. It is also a committed partner for the UK’s independent sector through a mix of equity partnerships, content investment and international distribution for programme titles. To the BBC, BBC Studios contributes both cash dividends and funds for programme-making, supporting the licence fee and enhancing programmes for UK audiences.  

bbcstudios.com

twitter.com/bbcstudios

twitter.com/bbcstudiospress

You can enrol for the course here:

https://www.bbcmaestro.com/courses/julia-donaldson/writing-children-s-picture-books

Back to About Me

Malorie Blackman

Writing for young adults.

Write inspirational fiction with the former Children's Laureate and author of Noughts & Crosses .

This course includes:

29 exercises

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What you'll learn

Join Malorie as she shares the fundamentals of fantastic fiction, so you can turn your idea into a finished story, ready to be sent out to agents and publishers.

• Plot out your chapters
• Create character biographies
• Write great dialogue
• Understand your audience
• Pitch to agents and publishers
• Finish your novel manuscript
• Your Maestro
• More like this

Malorie Blackman OBE is a literary icon. A prolific Young Adult author, in the last 30 years she’s written over 70 books, won over 20 awards, served as the Children’s Laureate and been a prominent campaigner for diversity in children’s literature. Her acclaimed YA novel Noughts & Crosses has found its way onto BBC television, the school syllabus and has been named by Stormzy as his favourite book. When it comes to penning your novel, you’re in the safest of hands.

Writing Love Stories

Ken Follett

Writing Bestselling Fiction

Storytelling

Julia Donaldson

Writing Children's Picture Books

Writing Popular Fiction

Harlan Coben

Writing Thrillers

Bill Lawrence

Writing Comedy for Television

Carol Ann Duffy

Writing Poetry

Jed Mercurio

Writing Drama for Television

David Walliams

Writing Books for Children

Lesson plan (26)

Writing for Young Adults Introduction

Where do ideas come from?

Story vs plot

Story structure: part one

Story structure: part two

Story structure: part three

Character & characterisation

Character informs plot or plot informs character?

A writer’s relationship with their characters

Protagonists, antagonists & antiheroes

Tools for conveying characters

Dialogue as function

Dialect, big words, bad language & everyday slang

Style, setting & substance

Representation

Tense & viewpoint

Narrative forms

The craft and art of writing

Dealing with writer's block

The business of writing, part one: before publication

The business of writing, part two: after publication

Malorie's conclusion

Reviews for this course

Explore all courses.

Food & Drink

Film, TV, & The Stage

Art & Design

Home & Lifestyle

Common questions

What is BBC Maestro?

BBC Maestro is a subscription-based streaming platform, created to educate and inspire people to explore their creativity. Through pre-recorded lessons and detailed course notes, anyone can learn a wide range of disciplines and follow in the footsteps of experts respected all over the world.

BBC Maestro offers single course purchases or an annual subscription.

How does BBC Maestro work?

Simply purchase an individual course or an All Courses pass and get access to easy-to-follow video lessons. Watch on your computer, tablet or mobile and learn on demand, wherever and whenever you like.

Our courses are beginner-friendly and you can watch as many times as you like, at your own pace.

Where is BBC Maestro available?

BBC Maestro is currently available in the following territories: United Kingdom, Isle of Mann, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, Australia, South Africa, Canada, India, Brazil, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong, UAE and USA. We are planning on launching BBC Maestro in other territories in the future. Please subscribe to our mailing list and follow our social media channels for updates.

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Yes, you can buy an annual subscription to get full access to all BBC Maestro courses, lessons and course notes for one year. Find out more

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Yes, all our courses have English subtitles that can be accessed by clicking the CC button on the video player. We also have downloadable PDF course notes to go with each course, which offer more detailed information and tips.

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Can I see a full list of available courses?

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Can I get a subscription refund?

We offer a 30-day money back guarantee for your first all-access annual subscription, if you aren't completely satisfied with your purchase. See our terms and conditions for details, or email [email protected] .

What's the difference between buying a single course or a subscription?

You can choose between buying a single course as a one-off purchase, or you can sign up for an annual subscription which gives you access to all BBC Maestro courses for one year.

If you buy a single course, then it’s yours for life. You can watch the course as many times as you like, whenever you like. Our single courses include downloadable course notes to complement the video lessons.

Alternatively, if you buy an annual subscription to BBC Maestro, you can access every course for one year. You can watch each course as many times as you like within the year, and you’ll also be able to download the course notes for each course.

After one year you’ll have the option to renew your subscription, or you can choose not to renew once your subscription year is over. Subscriptions are billed annually, and we offer a 30-day money back guarantee to receive a full refund if you’re unhappy with your purchase.

Does the subscription include upcoming courses?

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You can buy a gift card for any individual course or an All Courses Pass on our gift cards page. When you buy a gift card, you can choose to send the email with the gift card PDF attached to yourself or directly to the recipient. You can also choose to specify which date you would like the gift card email to send to your recipient. 

Gift cards can be redeemed on the Gift Cards page. Once the card is redeemed, if the gift is for a single course the giftee will have lifetime access to the course and be able to re-watch as many times as they like. If the gift is for an All Courses Pass, the giftee will have one year’s access to all BBC Maestro courses, and immediate access to any new courses that are released within their yearly access period – from the date that they redeem their gift code.

 Please note, anyone outside of our available regions will not be able to redeem a gift card.

British Council India

Creative writing for adults - module ii.

If you have a book in you and a story to tell the world, join the Online Creative Writing Course Module II  today! The course is designed for adults who've completed the introductory course in Creative Writing.

This course will help you:

• Grasp the concept of how to write a novel through a step-by-step process
• Explore elements of craft such as character, point of view, setting, scene, etc.
• Explore writing posts for different social media platforms
• Focus on poetic techniques of imagery, rhyme, rhythm and structure
• Develop an understanding of poetic voice and tone
• Structure an outline and synopsis of your novel
• Enhance your self-reflection, self-awareness, and creativity 

Course duration: 36 hours I 9 weeks I weekday online classes | all the participants will receive a digital certificate upon completion of the course. 

Course fee: INR 12,000 per participant. 

Special offer: As a British Council library member, you can avail a special discount of 10% on the course. 

About the course

The Creative Writing course module II is specially designed to delve deeper into the craft of writing and challenging your creativity. It offers the opportunity to convert your dream of writing a book into reality.

The course equips you with up-to-date writing trends of social media writing and blogging. It also covers children’s fiction, short story and poetry in depth. You will learn each element of fiction writing and how to craft your novel together and produce a first draft. The syllabus is specifically designed for those who have completed the introduction to creative writing and would like to sharpen their creativity further and get into serious writing.

Our teachers are skilled in helping learners develop and polish their craft. The lessons promise to be engaging with plenty of opportunities to write and discuss and critique the writing of fellow writers. You will produce a portfolio of work and get constructive and structured feedback to help you fine tune your writing.

Schedule for July batch

Course delivery.

36 hours of learning will happen through online classes and 14 hours of interaction and peer-learning will be facilitated through our online interactive learning platform.

There will be assessments by the teacher during the mid and end of the course

Participants should use laptop/desktop to attend the session. 

• Recording/taking screenshot/photos of the course is strictly prohibited.

How to ascertain your English language level and register?

Step 1: Ascertain your language level (required English Language level)

The required English Language level for the course is advanced level (C1 and C2).

• You are at Elementary level(A1) if you can say simple things about your day. For example:  I wake up at 7 am every day.
• You are at Pre-intermediate level(A2) if you can communicate in simple and routine tasks on familiar topics and activities. For example: I like exercising early in the morning if I sleep on time. 
• You are an Intermediate level(B1) if you can share your thoughts, opinions, and views. For example:  She must be really tired. She’s worked late every night this week.
• You are at Upper intermediate level(B2) if you can present clear, detailed descriptions on a wide range of subjects related to your field of interest. For example: Unfortunately for him, the situation turned out to be opposite to what he thought it was.
• You are at Advanced level (C1 & C2) if you can present clear, detailed descriptions of complex subjects. For example: Being born and raised in India, I believe her to be the country’s best ambassador in the world.

Step 2 : Please share the certificate of completion of an introductory course in Creative Writing. If you fulfill the criteria in step 1 and step 2, then please write to [email protected] expressing your interest in the course and sharing the required information. 

Terms and Conditions

• Participants must be over 18 years of age.
• Non-refundable fee is payable in full prior to the commencement of course.
• If obliged to cancel the course, the British Council reserves the right to do so without further liability, subject to the return of any fee already paid. 
• The course schedule is subject to change. Participants will be notified the changes, if any.

For any queries, please email us at [email protected] .

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