• Foundation Course  4-day/5-night (Monday evening to Saturday morning) residential courses at the Arvon Foundation writing centres at Moniack Mhor, by Inverness, Lumb Bank, West Yorkshire (Ted Hughes' former home), and Totleigh Barton in Devon.

 • Intensive Foundation Course  2-day/3-night (Wednesday evening to Saturday morning) residential course at Toftcombs near Biggar in the Scottish Borders. This is a 'concentrated' version of the Foundation Course for those who can only get away from their desks for a shorter period of time.

The aim of both these courses is to discover how we can inject colour, personality and freshness into all our writing, business and personal.  We explore the role of imaginative language, and the importance of stories and narrative writing, in successful business and brand communications. Personal development is fundamental to all creative writing and it is one of the aims of all Dark Angels courses.

The courses consist of morning group seminars in which we discuss techniques and approaches and set exercises. One or two briefs are set for the course and afternoons are essentially set aside for writing. The main focus of the daily creative exercises is the world of business communications. But everyone is also asked to produce a personal piece of writing during the course.

On the Intensive Foundation Course there is an introductory session on the first evening. On the second evening the tutors will read from their own work, followed on the final evening by the students reading from the work they’ve done on the course.

On the Foundation Course the tutors hold writers' surgeries during the afternoons, giving each student the opportunity of a half-hour individual session. The evenings are given over to readings from the tutors and the midweek guest, an evening of music with a visiting musician, and on the final night, readings by the students themselves.

Toftcombs

Only 26 miles from Edinburgh, this wonderful baronial style red sandstone country house, is the former home of the Gladstone family made famous by Prime Minister William Gladstone. Now a much loved family home, it is a beautifully furnished house which has undergone refurbishment to give it a classic country house feel with a modern twist. There is a delightful minstrel gallery and stained glass windows.

This house is one to enjoy - the best of surroundings as well as the beautiful rolling hills of the Border countryside. The lovely bedrooms are very spacious with a high proportion of en suite bathrooms. The drawing room is lovely, with open fire and bay windows to give views over the garden and there is an additional sitting/family room with TV.

The garden has wide terraced lawns ideal and there are a further 10 acres of paddocks and ground for you to enjoy. There is also a full sized snooker table in the magnificent Games room. Music room with drum kit and electric piano. Office with broadband connection. (www.toftcombs.com)

Accommodation – Toftcombs has eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms. One pair of students will have to share a room. Please let us know when you book if you are or are not willing to share.

Food and Drink – The price is inclusive of all food and drink except for wine and beer. You are expected to help yourself to breakfast and lunch. In the evenings everyone will be asked to help prepare dinner - this adds to the house-party feel of the course.

Totleigh Barton

The Arvon Foundation's Totleigh Barton writer's centre is a thatched, pre-Domesday manor house, surrounded by farmland in one of the most peaceful and beautiful parts of Devon, two miles from the village of Sheepwash. It has rights of way across surrounding countryside with access to the nearby River Torridge.

There are four computers and one printer available in the house. Totleigh Barton has a hearing induction loop. The main work/living space is fully accessible. A mobility scooter is available. The centre can accommodate a personal assistant. The nearest railway station is Exeter St. Davids, with buses to Okehampton, which is eleven miles away. (www.arvonfoundation.org)

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