This masterclass is designed for crime writers of all levels working on all sub-genres. It’s suitable if you:

• Are looking to create high-impact, authentic scenes involving police action and firearms
• Want to improve your accuracy about police procedures, including tactics, ethics, and legal frameworks
• Are interested in transforming real-life policing events into thrilling, dramatic fiction
• Have scenes involving high-speed pursuits, riots, raids and police use of force
• Would like live feedback and expert insights to enhance your writing skills
• Want hands-on experience crafting scenes involving tactical police arrests.

This masterclass allows you to:

• Learn how the police operate under high-stress and in the face of immediate danger.
• Find out who’s armed, and the chain of command in fast-changing situations.
• Think about the legal and ethical implications – and how to use them to power your storytelling.
• Practise producing more accurate and effective procedural scenes that leave your readers wanting more.

We start with a live day on Zoom, with morning and afternoon sessions. But many people choose to access the course by watching the playback after the event. At the end of the day, Graham sets you a writing task, to apply knowledge from the day to your own writing. You have all week to work on a piece from your novel in progress, or start something new, with access to all the content from the live session plus extra resources and a Q&A forum to ask Graham questions. We encourage you to workshop your piece with your peers. At the end of the week, Graham will offer written feedback on your work.

Our teaching method is based on the science of active learning: you read/listen/watch, try out, share and reflect. It’s a social experience – you become part of a small group, feeding back on each other’s writing to build a supportive bunch of readers you trust. Find out more here.

Day 1: Morning session on Zoom –

• 10am Introductions and icebreaker exercise
• 10:30am Presentation covering: use of force tactics, powers and tactics to enter premises, vehicle pursuits, firearms and less lethal options and high threat arrests
• 12pm Group exercise – planning a raid to arrest a suspect
• 12:45pm Q&A
• 1pm Lunch

Afternoon session on Zoom –

• 2pm Writing exercise brief
• 2:25pm Writing exercise
• 3:15pm Webchat and Q&A
• 4pm Close.

At the end of the day, Graham sets you a longer writing task to apply what you’ve learned to your own work. You’ll have till the end of the week to work on this and workshop drafts in our online classroom alongside your peers, with access to all your course materials and extra resources plus a Q&A forum to ask Graham questions. We’ll upload recordings of the Zoom sessions for you to watch back.

At the end of the week, Graham will read your submission and give individual written feedback on your writing.

Join our alumni community 

After your course, you can join our online alumni community – a friendly group of writers supporting each other as they continue to explore and develop their writing. There’s no cost for this. It’s easy to access via the online classroom, where you can:

• Revisit all your course materials, including tutor notes, feedback, videos, podcasts and forum posts
• Rejoin your classmates, and continue working together in a private space
• Meet alumni from other courses to find beta-readers and share work on our critiquing forum
• Network with other writers working in your genre or area of interest
• Take part in regular ‘sit and write’ Zoom sessions, to push forward with your work-in progress
• Join our monthly live alumni events with our expert tutors and industry guests, including agents, editors, publishers, competition and festival organisers, and prizewinning writers

Feedback on your work

At the end of the course Graham will give feedback on the procedural aspect of your final submission. If you would like more detailed or ongoing feedback on your work or consultancy for an extra fee, please email [email protected] for details.