So I'm back from Swanwick Writers' Summer School, and it's already fading into the mist like it never happened. It's weird how the seams of real life, and of Swanwick week, seem to meet up with each other.

As always there were good courses, excellent courses, and courses where I wished I'd taken something else. Paul Dodgson's Writing for Radio was interesting even though I don't do it myself, and I picked up some useful plotting techniques in Bettina von Cossel's Crime Plotting course. The standout course for me was the information-packed Writing Non-Fiction by Tarja Moles. It got me thinking about a couple of non-fiction projects I've been putting off for years, and how I can work on them.

This year I got up early to do the meditation sessions, and also did the Unwind Your Mind sessions in the evenings. They were a great help in enabling me to manage the sometimes hectic pace of the week, and several late night finishes. For once I took Tuesday as a proper day off, and spent the two course sessions either in the lounge relaxing or walking around the lake. It was probably one of the best years I've had.

No Babylon 5 post this weekend, as I'm away at Swanwick Writers' Summer School and thought I'd post about what's on offer this year. As always there's a lot to choose from.

For fiction writers there a range of courses covering both novel writing and short stories. They might like to take either of the week-long specialist courses on How to Write Your First Novel, or Character Psychology, and there are short (2 hour) course covering Short Stories, and Setting on Thursday. The one hour slots include sessions on Writing For Competitions (this afternoon), Getting Readers in a Twist (twist endings, Monday), The Four Ps of Storytelling and NaNoWriMo (both Tuesday). If they have a particular genre interest there are specialist and short courses on crime writing, and short courses on fairy tales, and erotica. There's an open mike event later in the week for short pieces and extracts.

Poets aren't left out, with a specialist course running all week, and a short course on writing haiku. This evening there's a poetry open mike.

There are lot of more esoteric offerings. The specialist course Succeed Happier on Purpose covers psychology and how the brain works, to create a positive mindset. There's a short course for writers who want to get into Writing for Wellbeing, and hour sessions on Inspired Writing and The Natural Storyteller on Tuesday, and Yoga for Writers on Wednesday. Outside of courses, there are also meditation sessions in the morning and Unwind Your Mind today, Monday, and Wednesday in the afternoon. 

For those with an interest in scripts and acting, the specialist course on offer is Screenwriting, and in the short sessions there's a four-part course on Acting for Writers. Later today there's a session for casting actors and directors for the short plays of Page to Stage, with rehearsals Tuesday and Wednesday before performances Wednesday evening. 

There are also career-building courses: Promoting Your Work, Dream Author (on how to be your own dream author), Publishing Demystified, using Professional Development techniques to build your career, and Time Management are all short course options. In the one hour sessions there are courses on Social Media, Self-Publishing and Independent Publishing, Blogging, and the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS).

Also on offer: courses on Writing for Radio, Gender Awareness, Photography, Writing Fillers, Creating Audio Books, and more.

In short, it's possible to put together a syllabus or, as I'm doing, cobble it together depending how you feel. The only problem is how to choose between the inevitable clashes...