The idea for this series of six interactive writing workshops was conceived and developed during the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020. Watching people cocoon themselves within their own homes for weeks and months reminded me of what a great resource the imagination could be.
Read MoreWhen it comes to writing our memories of the past it can be difficult to know where to begin. So many people and stories weave through our own story, choosing what to include and what to leave out can feel a little overwhelming. In this session we’ll explore how something as simple as an everyday object can be used to give shape, structure and colour to how we narrate our past and the stories which have made us who we are.
Read MoreMost of us don’t notice the places we pass through every day. Spaces become so familiar to us we eventually become oblivious to them. Good travel writers all have the ability to see the places they move through with fresh eyes, noticing every tiny detail, using all their senses to describe what they’re experiencing and seamlessly weaving in both historical background and stories associated with the place.
Read MoreA lot of people imagine writers sit down to write with a whole plot already worked out in their head. Perhaps some writers do, but most of the ones I’ve met spend more time developing characters than thinking about what actually happens in their stories.
Read MoreMany writers find writing conversation between characters one of the hardest things to get right. Literature is full of examples of terrible dialogue: characters who sound unbelievably posh and polite or like comical caricatures of different stereotypes.
Read MoreEvery story has a plot. The plot is simply the sequence in which events happen. You might not realise it, but you use plot almost every time you have a conversation with another person.
Read MoreWhen it comes to writing any kind of fiction writers need to work really hard to maintain the suspension of disbelief. The suspension of disbelief is just a fancy way of saying you’re helping your readers to enter into the make believe situation you’ve created on the page, to put aside reality for a few minutes and treat everything you’re telling them as believable truth.
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