The Best View in England: Arvon Foundation Creative Writing Course at The Hurst

John Osborne's Best View in England

Last week I went on a residential writing course with the Arvon Foundation.  I’ve been longing to do one of these courses for years, putting it off because of lack of time, family commitments and hesitation about spending so much money on a ‘holiday’ just for me. I’m so pleased I did sign up - I had a brilliant time.

The Hurst Photo credit: Anise Hamilton

The course I took was held at The Hurst in Shropshire which was formerly the home of playwright John Osborne.  It’s a beautiful old building in a rural setting surrounded by a huge garden. Every morning before our workshop started I did the ‘azalea’ walk through several hundred metres of very colourful, scented azaleas and rhododendrons.  Stunning but a bit too much - clashing colours and slightly sickly sweet scent.  I  preferred the wilder section of the circular walk which was at its peak spring luxuriance with fresh leaves, fading bluebells and a pink/purple weed (red? campion) and, on one glorious sunny morning, dragonflies with metallic blue wings.. I wasn’t alone in appreciating the garden - quite a few of the other writers enjoyed attempting to identify the wildflowers and unusual garden plants. 

Photo credit Anise Hamilton

Another day some of us went on a longer walk in the afternoon.  We walked past the giant redwood trees and then followed the track across a steep meadow dotted with buttercups to the pretty village of Clun and its ruined castle. And then there was the reassuringly messy kitchen garden and the bench looking over what John Osborne insisted was the best view in England. Just being in this place was inspiring.  

Each evening the course members and tutors got together over dinner.  We took turns in groups to cook the evening meal and wash up. Good fun if a little stressful at times.  The Hurst isn’t run like a hotel - you help yourself to breakfast and can make yourself a drink in the kitchen whenever you want. This made it seem very welcoming. The food was simple, healthy and there was plenty of it including a new cake every day.   

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Our tutors were crime and historical novelist, Andrew Taylor and Janine Giovanni who had a career in publishing and now works as a writing coach.  Each morning they ran lively workshops for the group of fifteen writers.  Andrew has published over forty novels so he knows what he is talking about yet he was very modest.  One thing he said which I found reassuring was that he does not fully plan his novel before he begins to write.  In fact he says he ‘gets ideas’, he ‘blunders forward’ to complete a first draft and then much of the work happens at the rewriting stage. He also stresses the importance of what he called wrong-footing the reader and allowing them to make up their own answers.  And this doesn’t just apply to crime fiction.  Janine set out to help me and my fellow procrastinators on the course explore and dismantle the blocks which prevent us from actually completing the writing projects we have embarked upon.  Her practical advice and gentle guidance have left me feeling more determined and positive about moving forward with my writing. 

One of the best things about the course was meeting the other writers, a really interesting and diverse group of people.  The oldest was in her 80s, the youngest only 20, with most somewhere in between. Some were experienced writers, others were just getting started.  We came from all over England and beyond - one writer had travelled from Canada, another from the Isle of Man.  There were, among others, journalists, teachers/lecturers, young professionals from London, and an engineer from Yorkshire who brought along her violin to entertain us. We wrote in a range of different genres - crime fiction, fantasy, children’s fiction, romance, historical fiction and climate fiction.  On the final evening we had to read some of our work to the whole group.  Although I was a bit nervous,  I felt more confident than I did at the beginning of the week and enjoyed reading the piece I’d written.  

Regular readers of this blog (all three of you) may recall that this is not the first time I have attended a writing course. I returned from that one full of inspiration and good intentions but still did not complete the project I started.   This time I’m not letting myself off the hook.  One problem I have is that now that I am largely retired I have too much time.  And no deadlines.  So I have taken Janine’s advice and have made an arrangement with another member of the group to swap 1000 words every month. No excuses.  .