CREATIVITY

EXPERTISE

Writing classes

Classes for writers at all stages

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Throughout the year, Honing House offers classes for writers at all levels—from absolute beginners, to writers looking to brush up their skills and take their writing to the next level. Get started, get accepted into a dream publication, or find that agent—Honing House is there to support your vision.

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Beginner’s course

Do you want to write fiction, but don’t know where to begin?

Starting to write can be intimidating. Perhaps you love to read stories and dream of writing your own … but whenever you sit down with a notebook or in front of a computer to write, you freeze. What’s a good beginning? How does plot work? Can I create believable characters out of thin air?

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Learn the basics of writing fiction

Whether you intend to write short fiction or a novel, for yourself or publication, this eight-week course will teach you the basic components you need to write compelling fiction.

Classes take in Amsterdam and online throughout the year. Enrollment is capped at 10 students so that everyone has the opportunity to ask questions and receive personal attention. By the end of the course you’ll have a draft of a new story! The course is €480 for the full 8 weeks.

Go to our registration page to see when the course is running! Any questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Course overview

  • Learn about genre writing, writing for an audience, how fiction writers read, and more in this engaging introductory class.

  • Gain tactics for turning real-life incidents into fictional events, and learn methods for becoming a more observational artist.

  • Learn how to hook your reader with compelling openings and discover some of the most common plot shapes to guide you as you write.

  • All stories need compelling characters and gripping conflict. This lesson will help you develop both.

  • In this class, you’ll learn about the many variations of first, second, and third-person perspectives (and learn a few things about tense to boot).

  • Learn how to create realistic settings, develop mood, and weave complex textures into your writing.

  • Voice, voice, voice—it’s all about voice! This week, we’ll learn how to make your prose shine, and tactics for playing with sentences to make your inner voice come alive on the page.

  • They say half of writing is revision. This class will teach you tactics for getting through the first draft of your story and provide exercises for revision.

Intermediate course

Already working on some fiction, but feeling lost?

You’ve learned the basics, now what? It’s time to refine your skills to make your writing publication worthy.

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Advance your writing beyond the basics

This 4-week class builds on the basic skills learned in the beginner’s course to further develop clarity, style, and structure of your fiction. We’ll be taking a step away from standard forms as well to learn experimental approaches to writing fiction.

Interested in taking this course? Get in touch to sign up or learn more.

Meet the instructor

Daniel J. Cecil is a writer and teacher in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His work has appeared in The Rumpus, The Heavy Feather Review, The LA Review of Books, Barrelhouse, Miracle Monocle, and The Stranger, among others. His work has been nominated for a pushcart, was long listed for the Dzanc Fiction Prize, short-listed for the Yes Yes Books open reading period, and received the support of several residencies. Daniel teaches travel writing and literature for Emerson College at their Limburg campus and is the founder of Honing House.