Course notes
51 pages
Master literary techniques and turn your wildest thoughts into fantastic fiction.
Alan Moore
Storytelling
Join the maestro of storytelling and learn to create mesmerising fiction by mastering inventive language, characterisation, world-building and more.
33
video lessons
Course notes
The Course
Alan Moore has dedicated his life to writing and now he's letting you peek in on his previously private process. This writing course will inspire you to create mesmerising fiction by interweaving language, story, character, setting, world-building and more. Let this esoteric genius inspire you to build a life as a writer and deliver your very best work.
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Creating credible characters with iconic writer, Alan Moore
Your Maestro
This creative writing course comes from the incessantly imaginative bestseller, Alan Moore. His writing straddles genre with comics like From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Swamp Thing, and modern literary classics, including Jerusalem, a 1,266-page experimental epic novel set over centuries and realms in his hometown of Northampton.
He made it on to Time’s 100 Best Novels list and has won numerous awards leading to cult-like, legendary status and critical acclaim. Each morsel of wisdom out of Alan’s mouth will have you thinking in a new way.
Lessons
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7 mins
Welcome to Alan’s world. Where magic and storytelling intertwine, and good writing is valued over public opinion.
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6 mins
Delve into the history of writing modifying consciousness from stone-age magic and the bardic tradition to you, now, typing away.
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4 mins
Everybody can (and probably should) write. The first step is to develop yourself by cultivating an aesthetic and political viewpoint.
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12 mins
Learn about the four classical elements you should master as a writer – coins, sword, cup and wand.
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8 mins
How to read anything and everything with a critical eye and come away with learnings on effective writing techniques.
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8 mins
Alan talks about mining your imagination for story gold without getting caught in a cave-in at the pit.
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9 mins
Just how powerful are words? Understand how language is our foremost technology and makes up the entirety of our conscious awareness.
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11 mins
Discover how writing affects the brain and how a little wordplay can spark synapses in a very satisfying way. Just ask Shakespeare.
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9 mins
A consideration of the pros and cons of simple, plain English versus decorative, decadent language.
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13 mins
Develop your literary ear by learning to identify and employ rhythmic elements in your writing.
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9 mins
A few tips for keeping your reader engaged with innovative writing, and an introduction to the masters of literary invention.
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10 mins
Get your imaginative tale in order with a three-act structure and the perfect narrative format for your story.
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8 mins
Alan talks about getting to know the tropes of different genres so you can mix them up and break the rules.
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11 mins
Witty, horrific, satirical? Past or present tense? First or third person? With a slight shift you can change everything.
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8 mins
Explore how time passes within the narrative and in the process of reading as well as how to employ pace, comedic timing and time travel.
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14 mins
How to delightfully deceive and betray your readership and have them thank you for it.
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20 mins
Inhabit your characters with conviction to convince your readers they are real people. Here’s how.
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16 mins
How to make fantastical, impossible, detestable, reprehensible characters realistic and relatable.
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18 mins
Learn about how place will help you develop your story and the psychology of your characters.
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15 mins
Tips for creating new worlds, including a close-up look at how Alan built Neopolis from the pavement up.
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17 mins
Using memories, historic details, speech and slang to immerse your readers in the time of your story.
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7 mins
Comics, screenwriting for film or television, novels, theatre, poetry, song-writing – a lot of writing skills can be used across disciplines.
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23 mins
‘The Orson Welles of comic books’ (The Times) tells the truth about the comics industry and the extraordinary power of comics as a medium.
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23 mins
Acquiring a cinematic vocabulary helps you write for film and television and learn skills for all types of writing. Here’s where to start.
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12 mins
See how writing for music is a great way to practice metre and rhythmic language, while performance gives you invaluable immediate feedback.
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5 mins
Looking ahead to writing and creating new worlds for virtual reality stories. What possibilities of consciousness might that bring?
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8 mins
Don’t get stuck in a rut. Alan talks about mixing up your writing, trying new things and dipping a toe in the avant-garde.
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5 mins
A look at literary innovators like Sterne, Woolf and Proust and how what was once radical has become part of the writer’s everyday tool kit.
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10 mins
Techniques you might want to try in your experimentation of progressive writing methods and interesting speculative fiction ideas.
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14 mins
A small warning about going too far and tips for creating progressive writing that is still entertaining and accessible.
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3 mins
How far writing has come, where it could go next and how you, as a writer, are joining a transformative human tradition.
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4 mins
Everyone can write; everyone should write. Alan shares a story about an atypical storyteller.
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3 mins
A new word coined just to say goodbye, fare well and send you on your merry way to write a better world.
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What people are saying
I’ve learned more about the craft of writing from Alan Moore than from any other human alive. This is really exciting. He’s teaching an online BBC Maestro class.
- Neil Gaiman
Alan Moore has an idiosyncratic way of imparting writing knowledge that captivates and delights, as well as informs. Loving every minute of it.
- Varda Tully
Wonderfully motivating, entertaining and useful, delivered with originality, humour and depth. Thank you Alan Moore for a great course.
- Anon
Alan Moore is a hero to me. I suspected this might be a bit patronising and rubbish. It’s really not. Academically sound and in depth. Recommended
- Graham Robertson
Mr. Moore is clear, thorough, and easy to listen to. The content is very helpful and interesting so far.
- E. Cross
I sincerely love everything about this course. Mr. Moore, the production value, the atmosphere, the set, the lessons... Everything. I even love Mr. Moore's fashion sense.
- Michael Zaccagnino
I am only about halfway through the course at this moment. It has met and exceeded my expectations. The vast amounts of knowledge distilled through the mind and presented by Mr. Moore is well worth the cost to an aspiring author and artist such as myself.
- Antanas Bulota
I’m twenty lessons deep into this course, and I have to say this — I haven’t had this much fun in ages. His view on writing has rekindled a dying fire - I. Want. To. Write. Again.
- Anon
The @bbcmaestro #AlanMoore writing/storytelling course is turning out to be one of the most enchanting things I've had the pleasure of listening to in what feels like a cursed eternity. Hail Glycon!
- Eddie Ruminski
VERY happy to report this Alan Moore [BBC Maestro course] is the real deal. I'm a handful of chapters in and it is everything this life long fan and educator could have wanted from it.
- Brian Michael Bendis
What an extraordinary man, thinker, writer, and most important, teacher! [...] I'm only halfway through, but I think I'm a better writer this week then I was last.
- Bob Zaslow
I just finished the course, and I’m sad to see it end. This is a remarkable journey from start to finish — I would highly recommend this course to everyone. Thank you to Alan Moore and @bbcmaestro !
- Anon
I’m really enjoying Alan’s course. He has opened my eyes in terms of what story and writing have the potential to be. His examples and literary text references are exceptional. This is a man who is passionate about our language and using it to change our consciousness and perception through story. Thank you Alan and BBC Maestro.
- Trevor Howis
I’ve bought this. It is BRILLIANT. The way he gets his lessons across is truly magical! And he’s hilarious. If you are even just considering getting it, DO IT!
- Anon
One of the best courses I ever had. The presentation not only was so interactive, but the types of writing also presented were mindblowing. The stories presented were so valuable I couldn't take my eyes off it. Simply said it's amazing.
- Dan
One of the most helpful and easily the most fascinating writing course available. Regardless of where you are in your writing career, if you're serious about writing, Alan Moore's course is a must.
- Jon Etter
Help a writer friend escape procrastination prison.
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Creating credible characters with iconic writer, Alan Moore