Description
Beginners are welcome.
Limited to 12 participants.
While every story requires building blocks such as plot, characters, and setting, these blocks can be organized and assembled in many different ways. Writers in this online workshop will experiment with chronology, geography, and narrative to craft the architecture of their stories. Using prompts and writing exercises, participants will learn when to use flashbacks, why to transition between scenes, and how to create parallel plots with multiple character arcs. We will also study and discuss texts with unusual, non-linear narratives to expand our toolbox of narrative techniques.
The workshop will also explore the use of diagrams and outlines to create narrative blueprints. Mind maps, spreadsheets, colour coding, notecards, and prose outlines can all be used to organize a story’s basic components, and we will examine how these techniques can be used at different stages of the writing process.
Participants will be encouraged to share their work, with the workshop leader providing constructive feedback on first drafts and story fragments. Above all, this workshop will be a place for experimentation and discovery.
New in 2020-21: Needs-Based Workshop Scholarships
Fresh Pages Workshop Scholarships for BIPOC Writers and Playwrights
