Nabila Zahur – Mastering the Elements of Fiction

The lectures and insightful feedback from Jack really helped me. He provides a lot of in-depth resources that allowed me to think critically about how to develop my writing. More importantly, he provided great feedback on my writing every week, and asked good questions to point me in the right direction. He was also extremely flexible to the needs of the students and very responsive.

One great thing about the structure of this course was that we could focus on a certain aspect each week and really dive into it. I was struggling a lot with how to revise/improve my first draft but I feel like I have a good blueprint now. I managed to revise and rewrite the first half of my novel during this course, and I have a plan for how to tackle the rest.

It was so fantastic working with other serious writers and getting their input. I have taken part in other writer critique groups, but I felt that the difference here is that everyone who came in is really serious about the craft. I learnt a lot from the different writing styles, genres and ideas. The other writers were extremely generous with their time and their feedback, and it really helped me improve. I’m also hoping to stay friends with many of them well beyond the course!

The ultimate success for me was that my husband could see a lot of improvement between the writing he saw in week 1 vs in week 10. Feeling inspired and empowered from this course!