Three weekend sessions on the craft of writing (All genres welcome.)
1. Paying Attention to Tension: How to Keep Your Reader Reading — We’ve all had that feeling while reading a favorite book: half-excited, half-nervous, and sure that we’re going to keep turning the pages. But how do we create that delicious experience for our readers? In this workshop, we’ll investigate scenes that buzz with tension to try to unpack how writers do it. Then, we’ll use guided writing exercises to practice these techniques. By the time the workshop’s over, you’ll have both a deeper understanding of what moves stories forward, and strategies for building tension in your own fiction—no matter the genre you’re working in.
2. The Architect: How to Plot (or Work by the Seat of your Pants) — You have an idea, a character or two, a place where the story evolves, even a sense of what is going to happen. But how do you start, keep moving forward, add elements of surprise, and reach an ending that makes the reader sigh or cry or laugh out loud. This workshop helps you understand and build an arc of drama. (2nd of a 4-part series. It isn’t necessary to have taken the 1st class to enjoy this one.)
3. Characters are People Too: How to Make Your Reader and your Characters Bond — What makes the reader want to spend time with your characters? How can you get a reader to really feel them and to care about their world and what happens to them in it? This workshop focuses on ways to get inside your character's’ head to bring them alive on the page. With guided exercises, you'll learn to ‘show’ your characters desires, dreams, fears and flaws, rather than ‘telling’ the reader what to feel.
About the Instructors
1. Noah Weisz, M.F.A., University of Texas at Austin. noahweisz.wordpress.com/about/
2. Ellen Bryson, author of The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno. ellenbryson.com
3. Ruth Duart, author of While Paris Slept and The Last Hours in Paris. ruthduart.com
PLEASE NOTE: Members can take a single class at 45Euros. Please email creativewriting@wice-paris.org for details.
