Date/Time
Date(s) - Tue 3rd Mar - Fri 27th Mar, 2026
6:30pm - 9:00pm
Blending the factual and the heart in non-fiction writing
There are several ways to approach nonfiction writing: memoir, travel, journalism, creative. This course looks at how to blend a number of techniques to create an informative and emotive piece that connects the reader to your work, using reportage, facts, interviews and your own lived experience.
Designed for people at the start of the idea process or those who are keen for some guidance through, we will explore texts that have successfully blended history with heart and facts with personal feeling.
Through regular writing exercises, conservations and in-depth reading of others works, you will gain an understanding of how to write your own story alongside the wider world around it.
Moniack in a Month: Non-Fiction 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
Rebecca’s workshops will focus on the following themes:
Workshop 1 – Grounding
We’ll kick off by looking at a range of examples from books and articles examining how the author balances personal experiences with facts, history and dialogue and how you can do this at the very beginning of the process.
We’ll discuss how much initial research a piece might require, how to start having conversations with people who can inform your work and how necessary onsite research is to draw in your reader from the beginning.
Workshop 2 – People
This week we’ll look at who you choose to feature in your piece and how they fit in with the overall narrative of it. How much of them do you portray, the ethics behind including them and a range of approaches to style and tone.
Workshop 3 – Place
We’ll explore ways to evoke emotion whilst communicating a narrative using a strong sense of place. We’ll also look at writing the weather and other techniques to portray place which will stay with the reader for years to come.
Workshop 4 – You and Editing
We will delve into the question of how much of yourself do you instill in the piece, how comfortable are you in doing so and how to balance the facts and history of the piece with both an interviewees story and your own experience.
We will also cover editing techniques and any other unfinished business.
Timetable
Week 1 Tuesday 3 Mar 18:30–21:00 Welcome Session and Workshop 1
Week 2 Tuesday 10 Mar 19.00-21.00 Workshop 2
Week 3 Tuesday 17 Mar 19.00-21.00 Workshop 3
Week 4 Tuesday 24 Mar 19.00-21.00 Workshop 4
Week 4 Friday 27 Mar 19.00-21.00 Ceilidh
Tutorials
Your one-to-one tutorial with Rebecca will be scheduled when the course starts and will most likely take place in weeks 2 or 3.
Tutor
Rebecca Smith is an author and journalist. Her first book, Rural: The Lives of the Working-Class Countryside was out in 2023, published by William Collins. She has written for The New York Times, The Guardian and The Sunday Times and is currently working on her second non-fiction book.
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.