Course notes
121 pages
Download the PDF and discover the fundamentals of storytelling.
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.
26
lessons,
4 hrs
Course notes
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.
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9 mins
What to write, how to write and a fun writing game to help you generate and develop ideas.
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7 mins
Discover the early reading that inspired Malorie, and how you can expand your reading too.
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9 mins
Learn how to uncover stories around you, and discover what sparked Malorie’s best-known books.
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7 mins
Add heart to your story with an idea that runs through your story like words through a stick of rock.
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10 mins
Understand the difference between story and plot with examples from Malorie’s writing.
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10 mins
Meet the variety of genres within Young Adult fiction and learn to identify their key tropes.
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10 mins
How to create a brilliant beginning, middle and end – whichever order you choose to tell them in.
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9 mins
Go beyond beginning, middle and end and dive in to the seven stages of plot – from stasis to resolution.
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13 mins
Malorie goes through her method of plotting with index cards, using Pig-Heart Boy as a case study.
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14 mins
Malorie shares tips and exercises to flesh your characters out into relatable, believable people.
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11 mins
Explore how they impact one another and recognise when to let your characters take over.
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7 mins
Learn to love your characters and distinguish where your voice ends and theirs start.
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7 mins
How to build a credible young adult protagonist (or antihero) and the character who gets in their way.
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13 mins
Learn what, how and when to communicate things about your characters to the reader.
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9 mins
Use your characters’ speech to drive plot and reveal information about themselves and others.
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9 mins
How to use idiosyncrasies, regionalisms and slang to add tone, texture and an element of truth.
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16 mins
Build a foundation for your story using the ‘seven plots’ and decorate with your unique writing style.
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14 mins
Understand the importance of representation in literature and how to incorporate it with authenticity.
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8 mins
Are you looking back or writing the present? Who’s telling the story? Understand what’s best for your story.
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8 mins
Decide what format is right for your story – letters, diary, narrative, graphic novel, script or verse.
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9 mins
Writing is where imagination meets determination. Identify what you can learn, and what you must feel.
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8 mins
Discover Malorie’s tried and tested tricks for climbing out of the hole that writers fear most.
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12 mins
Malorie’s advice on how to prepare and submit your work to agents and publishers.
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15 mins
Promotion, school visits and taking ownership of your influence as an author.
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1 min
Malorie sums up what you’ve learnt and gives one final piece of advice…
Get started
Single course
- Learn with Malorie Blackman
- Enjoy over 4 hours of video lessons at your own pace
- Watch as many times as you like
- Own course for life
- Download course notes and exercises
$90
one-off payment
Buy Course
Annual subscription
- Access every BBC Maestro course, including Malorie Blackman
- Enjoy over 70 hours of video lessons at your own pace
- Watch as many times as you like
- Explore brand new courses added throughout the year
- Download all course notes and exercises
- Learn with the world’s greatest such as Marco Pierre White, Jed Mercurio, Alan Moore and Julia Donaldson
$120
for a one year subscription
Subscribe to BBC Maestro
What people are saying
I love her explanation and the easy & understandable breakdowns. The content was easy to access and of high quality, all round excellent.
- Bradley Hession
It was very well structured and easy to understand.
- Andrew Batty
Her material is thorough and practical and the way she delivers it very clear and engaging. She's really boosted my confidence too.
- Anon
Wonderful advice on characterisation.
- Jenny Ireland
Loved the way it was broken down, excellent examples to refer to, thought-provoking exercises and brilliant content. So inspiring.
- Sandra Lieberman
The course breaks every part of writing into small, digestible parts. It covers everything in detail with great real-world examples from Malorie.
- Alle Desveaux
Informative. Well organised. Good presenter skills.
- Anon
Malorie is fantastic. I loved her onscreen. She is very knowledgeable and like an old friend.
- Anon
Malorie Blackman is an engaging and inspiring speaker. Her advice is practical and the course notes and activities are detailed, helpful and fun.
- M.E.R
[Malorie] knows her craft inside out and she is an inspirational and very thorough teacher. Brilliant!
- Anon
I have already implemented some of Malorie's advice around structure and it’s definitely been extremely helpful to me. Her manner is warm and encouraging so it’s a pleasure to listen to her.
- Julia S
Malorie is so warm and open sharing her knowledge and experience
- Lisa Black
I like Malorie's easy manner, not patronising but informative and supportive. She's interesting and generous in her willingness to share her knowledge.
- Bev Murrill
This course is well structured. The instructor is charismatic and easily relatable. It has been a pleasure.
- Anon
Ready to start writing?
Learn how to write and sell Young Adult fiction with a literary icon.
26
lessons,
4 hrs
Course notes
$90
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