TRAINING NEWS

McGregor Creative Writing Weekend

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:22

This two day creative writing course is designed to be provocative and fun.

Internationally published novelist Jo-Anne Richards and award-winning script writer Richard Beynon will lead participants through a series of writing exercises designed to expand creativity and illuminate the secrets to great writing. The exercises will allow you to exploreyour world in a new way.

The course will inspire fiction and non-fiction writers, film and television writers, anyone who is interested in trying their hand at writing, as well as active readers who are interested in expanding their reading pleasure.

Date: 22 to 24 July 2011

Venue: Temenos, McGregor, Western Cape

Cost: R3500 which includes tuition, 2 nights accommodation at Temenos (www.temenos.org.za), 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches as well as teas.

For more information please email trishurquhart@gmail.com or call Trish on 0826524643

Keys Course Overview

The theme of the weekend is conflict - the engine that drives all narrative. Literary conflict comes in an infinite variety of guises. We explore these in depth, with examples drawn from Marilynne Robinson, Hilary Mantell, Kate Atkinson – and a range of films. We consider what kicks conflict into play – and end with an exercise designed to sharpen your new-found Skills.

In our second session, we consider how the story-wide conflict is broken into short scenes, each predicated on conflict of one sort of another. We examine the scene - the smallest dramatic unit - considering how best to structure it, how to begin, and how to exit from it. Again we do so against the benchmark of a number of examples – and end the session with an exercise.

Next, we look at the best ways of exploring conflict on the page. We focus on the allimportant issue of showing how the conflict plays out. We draw on graphic examples from Prime Suspect, There Will Be Blood, The Wire, and Witness. We consider the use of telling detail. And finally, we challenge participants to write a scene in which the central conflict is suggested rather than spelled out, using all the techniques that we’ve introduced over the course of the session.

Our final session consists of a brief recapitulation of everything we’ve learned over the weekend – and an exercise which brings together all the skills and techniques we’ve explored.

For more information please go to www.allaboutwritingcourses.com or email Trish at trishurquhart@gmail.com

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