Date/Time
Date(s) - Wednesday 5 Aug, 2026
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Writing from Observation
How do we translate personal experience into prose which is transportive for the reader? In this masterclass, participants will be asked to consider how best to interpret direct observation in a way which almost makes the reader feel they were there. The workshop will consider the fine balance needed in creating convincing descriptive prose, how to construct a narrative arc that has integrity out of a body of selected observations, and how to avoid the pitfalls that have sometimes been associated with this form of writing. The workshop leader will cite examples of good practice from other writers in the field, and from the author’s own work. His primary focus will be on nature writing, but many of the issues raised apply equally to other forms of narrative non-fiction.
Hosted by Moniack Mhor on Zoom Pro.
Tutor
Neil Ansell, who lives in Lochaber, is the author of five books of nature-based memoir, starting with Deep Country (Penguin 2011) and with his most recent being The Edge of Silence (Birlinn 2025.) His book The Last Wilderness (Tinder Press 2018) was shortlisted for both the Wainwright Prize for nature writing and the Highland Book Prize.
Fees
We are running this as a ‘pay as you can’ event. Please see our booking options below. By paying our standard price wherever possible you help us give people on lower incomes more opportunities to attend, thank you. Please read our Terms & Conditions for full details about our cancellation policy.
We have a limited number of free places for this event, if these are showing as not available and you need a free place to be able to access the event, please email a request to us on online@moniackmhor.org.uk, thank you.
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.