Writers’ Circle Course run by the founders of allaboutlove.net in Johannesburg

Do you have an idea for a book, a project you are struggling with, a novel in progress or an unfinished manuscript?

Allaboutwriting is a 12 week writers’ circle course facilitated by the founders of allaboutlove.net, both experienced and published writers. But this face to face course will provide skills and techniques for writing anything – genre fiction of all kinds, more “literary” works or even non-fiction.

• The programme, starting in Johannesburg on September 3, is open to anyone with a proposed writing project, even if it’s only the sketchiest idea at this stage.
• The course provides writers with a range of skills and techniques to translate their vision into publishable manuscripts.
• It will stimulate creativity and allow each writer to find their own individual voice.
• The first hour of every meeting will cover writing dos and don’ts; the second will be spent evaluating, mentoring and troubleshooting works in progress.
• The group will meet for two hours every week, and will have access to the facilitators via e-mail throughout.
• The course will begin on 3 September and will continue weekly until 19 November in Johannesburg.

Here’s a taste of what each module will cover:

Freeing you up/finding your voice
Techniques to fight self-consciousness. Using skills such as free-writing and personal myth-making to develop a unique style and voice. How free-writing and journaling can help your writing. How to use them for personal brain-storming.

Brainstorming, either alone or in groups to identify your story
How to facilitate the formation of ideas. How to develop them creatively, whether you have access to a group or are doing it alone. Different ways that story-boarding can help build ideas.

What is the story?
What elements should every story have? How does a story work? The story as a rehearsal for life. The differences between novels, short stories and non-fiction in the way they tell the story. What differences are there, if any, in plot structure?

Point of view
The many possibilities provided by point of view for telling a story in different ways. The differences between point of view and grammatical first, second and third person. Every point of view has advantages and disadvantages for the writer, and each can change the tone of the story irrevocably. How to choose the one that best suits your story. Which points of view are most commonly used in different kinds of fiction – and which are suitable for narrative non-fiction.

Building characters, be they real or fictional
How to create believable characters. How to build a profile of internal and external characteristics that help us develop fully rounded characters. Techniques that assist this process. How each character’s characteristics indicate how they will respond to different situations and circumstances. Character development – the differences and similarities between fiction and non-fiction. How real-life characters can help this process, whether we’re writing fiction or non-fiction.

Structure: Beginnings – where do you start to tell your story?
The beginning is not always where the story starts. We have already spoken of the elements of plot. Now is the time to play with those elements. How to decide where to come in on the story, for best effect. 

Scenes: telling stories in a series of scenes
Using visual techniques to improve writing. Life happens in a series of scenes. Stories should happen in the same way. One telling scene can take the story forward powerfully by placing the reader squarely within the action. Avoiding the “dinner conversation” style of story-telling.

Structure: Middles and ends
The middle contains the meat of the story. How to make a meal of it. Build the story in a way that holds the reader. Developing conflict and when to resolve it. Every story has a beginning, middle and end. By the time we’ve dealt with the middle, we should have dramatically set up the conflict to the point where readers are waiting for the big pay-off at the end. How to end. Where to leave our reader. Different options, different types of story. How to develop a satisfying end without tying things up with a big bow.

Suspense: set-ups and pay-offs
The hook and the promise: How to hook the reader from the first paragraph, and promise them more. How to use cliff-hangers and mini-cliffhangers from scene to scene, and paragraph to paragraph. How to use tension to hold the reader, whether it comes in the form of a shot ringing out at midnight, or a delicate exposition of a changing relationship. Different forms of tension: person against person, person against the environment and inner tension. This is equally relevant for fiction and non-fiction. Narrative writers who have used literary techniques like suspense to tell both personal and researched stories.

Detail and description
Every detail and descriptive passage has a job to do. How to use small details to bring home big issues. How to find and note them in non-fiction. How the right detail can save you reams of tedious explanation in character development. How the mention of some details sets the reader up for a later pay-off.

Avoiding exposition: show, don’t tell
How to weave in back story, without paragraphs of tedious explanation. How details and characters’ reactions can help this process. How we can put things across more powerfully by showing rather than telling our readers. Using dialogue, memory and flashback (sparingly) to avoid long exposition.

Dialogue and wrap-up
How to create believable dialogue. How real-life dialogue differs from literary dialogue. How to create the appearance of real-life dialogue. How dialogue can help put across other aspects of the story. Learning from movies to create vivid and visual fiction and non-fiction. Wrapping up: using the elements of the course most effectively. Possibilities for future writing.

Your facilitators will be:

Jo-Anne Richards is a writer and lecturer in the Wits journalism department. Her novels include The Innocence of Roast Chicken, Touching the Lighthouse and Sad at the Edges. A new novel ¬– My Brother’s Book – was released in April this year. Five of her short stories have been published in collections, both here and overseas. She has, over the past few years, run a number of writing courses: in journalism, narrative journalism, and literary skills, most notably for a group of Wits academics at a series of retreats.

Richard Beynon is a television and film writer. A former journalist, he has conceived, shaped and written scores of documentaries. He managed the writing team at Isidingo for three years, as well as contributing over three hundred scripts to the series. He has won numerous awards for his work specifically in comedy, soap and children’s drama. He is currently a writer and generator of stories on the new e-tv daily drama, Rhythm City. He has lectured on writing for film and television at Wits

The 12-week intensive programme, with individual feedback, costs just R4 800, which includes all course materials.

To book your place please contact us by email or phone Trish on 0826524643.