I love teaching. I love that moment where a student grabs their pen to feverishly scribble a note on the technique being described, because they can see it solving the creative question they’ve been grappling with. I especially love teaching adults. Many of my students didn’t have a great deal of formal education. Their minds are hungry and their ideas are so original, inspired by the fascinating lives they have lived.

I have a special appreciation of adult education for it was the Short Story Evening Workshop at Birkbeck University that helped me hone my writing skills, and apply to study towards an MA. Furthermore, the reference given by the writer who led that workshop, Wendy Brandmark, played no small part in my being accepted onto my first choice of MA programme. On Royal Holloway University of London’s Creative Writing MA programme, I was lucky enough to study under bestselling novelists Susanna Jones and Kate Williams, as well as under former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion. Their powerful mentoring has been an important influence on my design of workshops for adult beginners to more practiced writers, in which I unpack the storytelling instinct within all of us.

It has been the greatest joy to see my adult learners go from not writing at all outside of class to becoming published, shortlisted in competition and go on to higher education.

2022-ongoing: I teach the following courses on a regular basis at Cornwall College St Austell and at Cornwall College Camborne: ‘Creative Writing’ eight-week course, ‘Advanced Feedback Workshop’ eight-week course and ‘Structuring the Novel’ four-hour intensive workshop

2025: ‘Where to Start’ two-hour workshop at The Writers’ Block, Redruth, Cornwall

2024: ‘Where to Start’ two-hour workshop at the Hypatia Trust, Penzance, Cornwall

Writing and teaching have shown me that often the hardest part of the creative process is simply knowing where to start. I ran a workshop on this theme at the Hypatia Trust, where I introduced practical ways of thinking about character, structure, storyline and theme, giving participants the tools for getting that idea that’s been percolating down on the page. I was then invited to lead this popular workshop at The Writers’ Block.

2024 ‘Structuring the Novel’ private workshop by request to fit in with a students’ busy work-life. This dedicated student has since had multiple publishing successes