Setting the Pace


  • What keeps the pace of a novel going? 
  • What drives suspense? 
  • Are there writing techniques and aspects of craft that can be learned to improve these things or add them to a narrative? 
  • What is a successfully paced narrative?
These questions -  and no doubt a few more  - are the starting point  for Greenacre Writers midsummer workshop on 30th June. Led by Josie Pearse of Pearse & Black, we’ll look at ways other writers have approached these issues and do some simple but satisfying writing exercises. We can also attempt some creative problem solving, so come prepared to discuss (not read) a passage you’re struggling with and run it by fellow writers.  

The workshop takes place Sat 30th June, 10.15am-2.00pm in Finchley, N12 0HU.  COURSE NOW FULL.


Josie Pearse runs the day-to-day operations of Pearse & Black. She lives in Barnet.
She gained her PhD from Cardiff University with her thesis, Writing and Not Writing on the Cusp of Life and Fiction.
Josie has taught creative writing for most of her life. She has been a writer in residence and has worked at all levels of skill. She runs a closed group which supports writers working on long projects and runs site-specific one-off workshops.
She bases her approach simply on the principle that you learn to write by writing. And  for a writer at any level of skill, the knowledge of  your process  – including what your block might be trying to tell you –  will help you sustain the writing of a whole book.  Josie helps each writer master his or her process.
She has published two novels under a pseudonym and is working on a TV adaptation.

Follow Josie on Twitter: @jojowasawoman

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