The Maeve Binchy Writers' Club

A number of authors have written guides to writing books. The Maeve Binchy Writers' Club was published in 2008. It is based on a twenty week course held at the National College of Ireland aimed to encourage prospective writers with the skills to start and complete a book. Each week the students were provided with a letter written by Maeve Binchy covering an aspect in the process of writing and publishing a book. A guest lecturer then conducted a session providing detailed information on a specific topic. The twenty letters written by Maeve Binchy are included along with abridged notes from ten of the lectures. Topics included Getting Started, Writers' Groups, Telling a Story, Writing Short Stories, The Writers' Agent, Finding Your Voice, The Role of the Editor, Writing as a Journalist, Publishers and writing men's fiction, for the stage, for children, crime and comedy. The book also includes a short story about a writers' group written by Maeve Binchy which illustrates some of the points made in her letters. This book is a readable introduction for aspiring writers on aspects of writing a book.