Strathclyde Institute for Genealogical StudiesFrom Records to Stories (online course)

Registration is open - book here

Dates:  Tuesday 9, 16, 23, 30 June and 7, 14 July 2026 (6 weeks)

Time: 19.00-21.00 BST 

Cost: £110.00

Join us for this online course delivered via Teams: Transform your genealogical research into compelling stories in this six-week online course. Learn to write in an engaging style, build vivid characters from records, craft immersive historical scenes and shape powerful narrative arcs. Through guided lessons, practical writing exercises and workshops with feedback, you’ll learn how to turn records, documents and dates into a polished, immersive narratives. Recordings of the full course will be available to registered students for 4 weeks beyond the last class date. 

This is a pilot class and the student fee has been reduced. In return, we ask that students provide full feedback to the tutor so any necessary changes can be made to improve the class.

Course structure:

Six two-hour sessions covering:

  • Introduction: the creative writing approach to non-fiction
  • Finding and structuring a story from research
  • Building character from fragments 
  • Developing an engaging style – language and point of view
  • Scene and setting – making the past vivid
  • Revision, editing and getting into print
  • Workshop of a short piece of writing from each student 
Tutor biography:

David Pettigrew is a tutor of over twenty years' experience for the Centre of Lifelong Learning's daytime, evening and weekend creative writing courses, the Creative Writing Mentoring Programme, the Blaze online writing courses and the Classic Book Group. He is also the Centre's Departmental Disability & Guidance Officer. 

Alongside his teaching, David is a professional editor working in the Scottish publishing industry. Qualifications include an honours degree in English Literature, masters degrees in Publishing and Creative Writing (with Distinction), and a postgraduate diploma in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. He is a recipient of a Scottish Arts Council New Writers Bursary award and his short stories have been published in a number of writing anthologies. He also researches and writes non-fiction in the area of Scottish local and social history.