General

These terms and conditions apply for the following courses run by Matt Kendrick:

(a) Write Beyond the Lightbulb: Colourful Characters

(b) Write Beyond the Lightbulb: Glorious Words
(c) Write Beyond the Lightbulb: Go With The Flow

(d) Write Beyond the Lightbulb: Lyrical Writing

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1.1 Course Registration

Course participants are required to have a Google account in order to access the course materials, forum and workshop. Responsibility for setting up a Google account and for providing the associated email address to the course facilitator lies with the course participant. Failure to do so will mean that access cannot be granted to course materials.

A Google account can be set up here. Course participants can choose to use their current email address (by clicking the option “Use my current email address instead”) or to set up a new Gmail address. Where participants have chosen the latter option, they will need to notify the course facilitator.

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1.2 Personal Data

The course facilitator will hold your personal data (name and email address) for up to two months following the conclusion of the course. This data will only be used for the administration of the course and will not be shared with third parties. Where a course participant has signed up to the mailing list during registration, their personal data will be kept indefinitely or until they request to be removed from the list.

 

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1.2a Email Sharing

The course forum uses Google Classroom and the course workshop uses a private Google workspace. The way these function mean that participant email addresses will be discoverable by other course participants. As part of the terms and conditions of the course, participants agree to this sharing of email addresses.

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1.2b Use of Other Participant Email Addresses

Any suggestion that a participant has used another participant’s email address for any purpose without permission will result in that participant being removed from the course and workshop space, and being barred from taking part in future courses. In this scenario, no refund of course fees will be provided to the participant in question.

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1.3 Communications

Prior, during and following the course, you will be sent regular emails to your designated email address in order to facilitate the smooth running of the course. You will also receive email messages linked to the course forum whenever the course facilitator or another course participant has replied to a message you have sent. Where a course participant has signed up to the mailing list during registration, they will receive occasional future emails related to writing resources, workshops and other information deemed to be of potential interest.

 

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1.4 Participant Conduct

 

As part of the course, participants will have the opportunity to interact using the course forum and it is expected that all participants will behave with respect and within the norms of the writing community. Behaviour which constitutes harassment, bullying, discrimination (racial or otherwise) or sexual violence will not be tolerated. Any such behaviour will result in the participant being removed from the course and being barred from taking part in future courses. In this scenario, no refund of course fees will be provided to the participant in question.

 

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1.5 Sharing Work Produced During the Course

 

Participants will have the chance to share the work created during the course both in the course forum and in the Google drive folder for the workshop week. Stories shared must have been created in response to the course prompts and must comply with word count limits. For the micro fiction pieces that can be shared on the course forum, this limit is 200 words. For the flash fiction pieces that can be shared in the workshop workspace, this limit is 800 words.

 

Pieces shared in either the forum or the workshop workspace can be in any genre and on any theme that fits the associated prompt. Work that is in any way racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist or otherwise promoting views not in-line with the normative writing-community position will be removed unread. In the event where such work is shared, the workshop facilitator will either decide to moderate future work shared by the participant in question or to remove the participant from the course.

 

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1.6 Intellectual Property

 

Work shared as part of the course is the intellectual property of the participant. They retain all publication rights and since the forum and workshop workspace are closed spaces, the work is deemed to remain ‘unpublished’ for the purposes of future publication or entry to writing competitions.

 

Any suggestion that a participant has copied or plagiarised the work of another course participant will be pursued by the course facilitator and may result in the participant being barred from taking part in future courses as well as repercussions in the wider writing community.

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1.7 Feedback Policy

 

As part of the course forum and workshop, participants will have the opportunity to critique the work of other writers. All participants are encouraged to participate in this element of the course and to feel enfranchised to express their honest feedback. However, feedback that is deemed to be destructive rather than constructive will be removed. Where there is malicious intent, the participant in question will be removed from the course and workshop space, and be barred from taking part in future courses. In this scenario, no refund of course fees will be provided.

 

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1.8 Course Facilitator Feedback

 

The course facilitator will provide feedback on one piece of flash fiction generated as part of the course. The feedback will entail a structural summary (300-400 words) and in-line edit suggestions. Where participants post their pieces to the course forum, the feedback will be given at this stage. Participants may alternatively opt to send their piece directly to the course facilitator within two weeks of the end of the course – in this scenario, feedback will be returned via email. The course facilitator will be happy to clarify any points made within the feedback but will not be able to provide follow-up critique on future drafts without payment for editing services.

 

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1.9 IT Issues and Use of Google Drive / Google Docs

 

It is the responsibility of course participants to make sure they have access to a device on which they are able to use Google sites, Google Classroom and Google drive / Google docs for the duration of the course. The course facilitator will work with course participants where issues arise related to IT however support may be limited and may not be immediate.

 

The workshop element of the course uses Google docs to allow participants to share their work and provide feedback to other course participants. While support will be given to those who have not previously used Google docs in the form of a How-to guide, it is the responsibility of the participant to ensure they are proficient in using this software.

 

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2.0 Course Fee

 

The course is a pay-what-you-can opportunity. The suggested fee is £95 and it is expected that those who are in a position to afford that price will do so. Where this fee is prohibitive, potential course participants can choose to set their own fee.

 

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2.1 Cancellation Policy

 

Course participants have the legal right to a 14 calendar-day “cooling off” period following registration for the course. During this time, they may request a full refund minus any associated transaction fees. This will only apply up to and including the start date of the course.

 

Following this 14 day period, course participants may request to cancel their registration and in doing so request a refund on any money paid up to two calendar weeks prior to the course. In most instances, a full refund will be given (minus any associated transaction fees) as long as an alternative participant can be found in their place.

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2.2 Complaints

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If a course participant wishes to raise a complaint about the conduct of a fellow course participant, they may do so by email to the course facilitator. Complaints about the course itself should also be directed to the course facilitator and will be dealt with in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in this document.

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In the event where a course participant has misused another course participant’s email address or plagiarised work written by another course participant, actions will be taken by the course facilitator as outlined above. However, the course facilitator cannot be held responsible for the behaviour of course participants outside of the boundaries of the course itself.
 

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2.3 Liability

The course facilitator will do all that is reasonably possible to deliver the course as advertised. However, circumstances beyond the course facilitator’s control may mean that the course cannot be delivered. Examples of such circumstances include:

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• illness or bereavement affecting the course facilitator

• a technical outage related to the software used to administer the course

• where the number of participants registered to the course is too low for the course to be delivered in an appropriate fashion

 

If the course is disrupted whilst in progress, the course facilitator will endeavour to limit disruption and will, if necessary, extend the period during which participants have access to course materials and the workshop workspace. If the course facilitator considers the disruption has significantly affected the experience of participants, a partial or full refund may be offered.

 

If the disruption to the course is known about in advance, the course facilitator will contact participants to offer alternative dates or the option of a full refund.

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Updated: October 2023