Saturday 18 August 2012

Autumn Inspiration with Fictionfire Focus Writing Workshops

If you've been escaping into great holiday reading lately, it may have inspired you to write your own stories. You may be just beginning or you may have writing experience and want to hone your skills. As regular readers know, I run Fictionfire Focus Workshops in creative writing, which are designed to be flexible, fun and well, focused on specific aspects of writing.

Oh, and I serve cake, too!

In only three weeks' time I'll be running the first of the autumn block of workshops. Here's a summary of what's coming up:

AUTUMN BLOCK

LET'S ALL GO ON AN IDEAS HUNT (September 8th)
To open up the Focus Workshop season, this session will look at ways of tracking those slippery customers down! We'll explore the best sources for stories, how to encourage ideas and how to make those ideas grow into narratives.

I NEED A HERO (October 13th)
In this workshop we'll consider how you can create believable and sympathetic fictional heroes and heroines. How do we define heroes? What makes us admire them? How do you stop them from being too good to be true?

SETTING UP YOUR SOCIAL PLATFORM (October 27th)
This practical workshop will show you how to build your online presence through social media, including Facebook, Twitter and blogging. I'm delighted that Ali Luke of Aliventures will be guesting on this workshop, giving you hands-on advice and assistance. (Ali was an inspiring speaker on my publishing and marketing day courses in May)

WINTER BLOCK

VILLAINS WITH RELISH (November 10th)
Everybody loves a baddie - but how do you describe a really good baddie? In this workshop we'll set about creating villains who are memorably nasty in all sorts of ways.

SHORT STORY WRITING (November 24th)
In this workshop we'll explore the constraints and advantages of the genre and the writing skills you need to craft effective short fiction.

FESTIVITIES AND FROST (December 1st)
As the festive season arrives, we'll explore how you can use Christmas and winter settings to create powerful scenes in your fiction which will resonate with your reader - whether the tone is 'Bah, humbug!' or 'God bless us, one and all!'

Each three hour workshop costs £25 and there are discounts for booking more than one within a particular block. You can find out more and make your booking by going to the Focus Workshops page on my  Fictionfire website. I hope you can join us!


Fictionfire:
fire up your imagination
fuel your self-belief