What’s it all about?
A good short story is like fancy skim milk – still satisfying and 99% fat free.
Come to this workshop and learn how to spin words into short and punchy pieces that have all the depth and skill of a novel with only 1% of the length.
This class will give you background information about the short story genre and equip prospective writers with the skills they need to write their own. A short story can be anything from six to fifteen thousand words and up, but more important than length is their ability to be self-contained and engaging from the very first line.
What we will cover?
We’ll start with examples from both classic and contemporary short stories, looking at what makes them effective and analysing specific techniques that could be employed in our own work. Even if you have an understanding of these devices, there’s benefit to seeing how they’re used in short stories, and how they might work within your own style.
We’ll also look at how short stories can be used as inspiration or exploration points for longer works.
There will of course be plenty of writing time to experiment with the techniques we’ll learn, try exercises, or to further craft a current work-in-progress.
All participants will leave with a handy skills sheet and maybe a favourite new piece of prose.
Who will be teaching?
Rafael is a fiction editor and manuscript assessor. Having worked for past publications such as Express Media, Sleepers Publishing, Kill Your Darlings, and Readings, he also has an extensive publication history of short stories and poetry in literary journals across Australia and even worldwide. This, despite the fact he actually hates skim milk…