Upcoming Workshops
February-March, 2010
Writing features for magazines: April 21
Writing for children:
April 28
Creative writing (an introduction): May 5
In my teaching, I approach creative writing as a subject that can be explored as a number of discrete themes. Perhaps this is a little artificial—some might argue that a thing as multi-looped and slippery as creative writing resists being pinned down and chopped into so many little parts, but I take the view that the subject is too vast to be studied any other way by the beginner writer.
In my day-long workshops, I introduce participants to one theme at a time, enabling them to "unpack" the various elements of writing and to see how these elements blend together to form a whole.
Here are the basic themes covered in the workshops (please note: there are further themes explored in my "advanced" workshops—please contact me if you are interested in learning about them):
Beginnings
- Gathering ideas.
- Committing to your craft.
- Making connections between real life and creative writing.
- Starting a story.
Character
- Creating credible and captivating characters.
- The art of lifting characters from real life and turning them into articles of fiction.
- Exploring the vital role of internal conflict in pushing your story forward.
- Getting your characters to speak.
Plot
- Giving your story movement and action.
- Beginnings, middles and ends.
- Introducing an element of surprise.
- Creating and sustaining tension.
Voice
- An exploration of style and voice in writing.
- Learning to distinguish between your writer's voice and your characters' voices.
- Using free indirect speech and interior monologue.
Point of View
- Deciding who your story belongs to and learning to stick to your chosen point/s of view.
- Weighing up how much access your narrator has to your characters' inner worlds.
- Examining the merits of writing in the first, second and third person.
Setting
- Creating an atmosphere and a sense of "place" in your stories.
- Using "setting" to drive your story forward.
- Writing about the weather.
Showing and Telling
- The effective use of both concrete descriptive detail and summary in your narrative.
Editing and redrafting
- Producing stories of a publishable standard.