David Cuen

Last year, I was selected to enrol in the Writing Fantasy course at Curtis Brown Creative after submitting the opening of a new novel filled with fantasy and Mesoamerican magical realism. For the purpose of this post, we’ll call it SLM.

My course tutor was Lucy Holland, pen name of Lucy Hounsom, author of Sistersong and Song of the Huntress, among other wonderful novels. Lucy was a hands-on, approachable tutor, and I particularly appreciated how transparent she was about her own perils as a fantasy writer, and how she navigated many of the issues we encounter: story structure, point of view, choosing the right tense, selling your book, and the many other dangerous creatures lurking in the woods of the craft.

I’ve been on the other side of the screen and know how difficult it is to keep a group engaged and offer something they all feel is valuable. Lucy did it exceptionally well, in a way that made the whole group feel at ease and share openly.

The course gave me plenty of opportunities to give and receive feedback. You get the chance to share the opening of your novel, and in return you receive feedback from everyone in the group, plus personalised comments from your tutor.

I’m still in awe of the quality of the feedback and how generous my fellow writers were with their time and insight. It undoubtedly made SLM’s opening stronger. I was also fascinated by the diversity of writing styles, stories, points of view, and worldbuilding everyone brought to the table. It was such a good experience that we created our own post-course group, and we still meet to exchange feedback.

Another highlight was Lucy’s tutorial. You get a one-to-one session based on a number of words you submit beforehand. I worked on a new Chapter One, leaning less into speculation and more into fantasy, and I came away happy with both the conversation and the result.

Throughout the course, I refined not only the art of worldbuilding but also my writing craft. It’s an endless journey where every day we strive to learn something new and become better writers. It never really stops, because there’s always room to improve. But every now and then, you type a word, read it back, and realise that what you’ve learned has quietly become second nature.

You build a new world, word by word, craft by craft.