Course notes
121 pages
Download the PDF and discover the fundamentals of storytelling.
Coming soon
Malorie Blackman
Writing For Young Adults
Join literary icon and celebrated author of Noughts & Crosses as she shares 30 years of writing expertise over 26 comprehensive lessons and exercises.
The Course
Join your Maestro, Malorie Blackman, as she teaches writing fiction for a Young Adult audience in 26 lessons and additional exercises. On the way you'll discover the fundamentals of storytelling including: plotting, character, representation and dialogue. You'll learn about the business end of authorship too, from literary agents to publishing and promotion. With over 70 books to her name, including one of The Guardian's 'best books of the 21st Century', Malorie has a wealth of experience to share.
Your Maestro
Malorie Blackman OBE is a literary icon. A prolific Young Adult author, in the last 30 years she’s written over 70 books, won over 20 awards, served as the Children’s Laureate and been a prominent campaigner for diversity in children’s literature. Her acclaimed YA novel Noughts & Crosses has found its way onto BBC television, the school syllabus and has been named by Stormzy as his favourite book. When it comes to penning your novel, you’re in the safest of hands.
Lessons
-
3 mins
Malorie introduces the course aims and explains why she became a writer of Young Adult fiction.
-
9 mins
What to write, how to write and a fun writing game to help you generate and develop ideas.
-
7 mins
Discover the early reading that inspired Malorie, and how you can expand your reading too.
-
9 mins
Learn how to uncover stories around you, and discover what sparked Malorie’s best-known books.
-
7 mins
Add heart to your story with an idea that runs through your story like words through a stick of rock.
-
10 mins
Understand the difference between story and plot with examples from Malorie’s writing.
-
10 mins
Meet the variety of genres within Young Adult fiction and learn to identify their key tropes.
-
10 mins
How to create a brilliant beginning, middle and end – whichever order you choose to tell them in.
-
9 mins
Go beyond beginning, middle and end and dive in to the seven stages of plot – from stasis to resolution.
-
13 mins
Malorie goes through her method of plotting with index cards, using Pig-Heart Boy as a case study.
-
14 mins
Malorie shares tips and exercises to flesh your characters out into relatable, believable people.
-
11 mins
Explore how they impact one another and recognise when to let your characters take over.
-
7 mins
Learn to love your characters and distinguish where your voice ends and theirs start.
-
7 mins
How to build a credible young adult protagonist (or antihero) and the character who gets in their way.
-
13 mins
Learn what, how and when to communicate things about your characters to the reader.
-
9 mins
Use your characters’ speech to drive plot and reveal information about themselves and others.
-
9 mins
How to use idiosyncrasies, regionalisms and slang to add tone, texture and an element of truth.
-
16 mins
Build a foundation for your story using the ‘seven plots’ and decorate with your unique writing style.
-
14 mins
Understand the importance of representation in literature and how to incorporate it with authenticity.
-
8 mins
Are you looking back or writing the present? Who’s telling the story? Understand what’s best for your story.
-
8 mins
Decide what format is right for your story – letters, diary, narrative, graphic novel, script or verse.
-
9 mins
Writing is where imagination meets determination. Identify what you can learn, and what you must feel.
-
8 mins
Discover Malorie’s tried and tested tricks for climbing out of the hole that writers fear most.
-
12 mins
Malorie’s advice on how to prepare and submit your work to agents and publishers.
-
15 mins
Promotion, school visits and taking ownership of your influence as an author.
-
1 min
Malorie sums up what you’ve learnt and gives one final piece of advice…
Get a free lesson
Sign up now and start exploring character and characterisation.
Common Questions
At BBC Maestro, we want to educate and inspire people to explore their creativity with online courses taught by experts. We've curated top talents in various fields, who deliver video courses to teach you everything you need to know to follow in their footsteps.
BBC Maestro is currently available in the following territories: United Kingdom, Isle of Mann, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, Australia, South Africa, Canada, India, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. We are planning on launching BBC Maestro in other territories in the future. Please subscribe to our mailing list and follow our social media channels for updates.
BBC Maestro does not currently offer a subscription service. Each individual course can be bought with a one-off payment.
Yes, all our courses have English subtitles that can be accessed by clicking the CC button on the video player. We also have downloadable PDF course notes in English to accompany each course, which offer more detailed information and tips. We do not currently offer subtitles in any other languages.