Nouvelle Espionage Creative Writing Workshops
Over the course of three workshops, you will get the chance to have your writing professionally and peer critiqued, develop your craft and storytelling techniques and explore new genres and approaches. We will try some writing activities and share our ideas in a relaxed, fun, inclusive and positive way. All who have an interest in creative writing are welcome, no matter how much or little writing experience you have.
You will have the opportunity to develop a piece of fiction for submission to a new writers showcase anthology with Comma Press, La Nouvelle Espionage.
The anthology will present a unique kind of challenge to emerging and previously unpublished writers to write a short story centring on espionage, breathing new, contemporary life into a genre which is increasingly blighted by clichés and stereotypes.
For details of how to submit work for this anthology, please see here.
3rd November 2015 6.30 – 9pm
Nouvelle Espionage - Creative Writing Workshop 1
Structure, Shape and Plot
We will explore the shape and structure of short fiction, specifically the ways in which spy and espionage stories can be told in fresh and contemporary ways. We will look at examples of differently structured stories to inspire our own practice and try some writing activities to spark new creative ideas. There will be an opportunity for participants to submit work for the next session for peer and professional critique and workshop.
24th November 2015 6.30 – 9pm
Nouvelle Espionage - Creative Writing Workshop 2
Character and Setting
We will spend some time workshopping submitted participant work. Through examples and writing exercises, we will investigate character and setting in short fiction; how to write believable and resonant characters and how to use place and landscape to bring a nouvelle espionage narrative to life.
15th December 2015 6.30 – 9pm
Nouvelle Espionage - Creative Writing Workshop 3
Keeping The Tension
The thriller and spy genre relies on tension and suspense. We will explore ways of creating this through examples and writing activities. We will spend some time workshopping writing submitted by participants. We will also discuss how to continue to develop your writing and learn how to prepare a manuscript for submission.
About the Speaker
Sarah Schofield is a freelance writer living in Lancashire. Her short stories have been published in Lemistry, Bio Punk, Thought X and Beta Life (all Comma Press), The Spilling Ink Flash Fiction Anthology, Back and Beyond Lancaster’s Arts Publication, Litfest’s Flax #030: The Language of Footprints, Synaesthesia Magazine and various other literary publications. Sarah won the Calderdale Short Story Competition, and was shortlisted for The Bridport Prize and The Guardian Travel Writing Prize. She writes fiction for women’s magazines such as Woman’s Weekly and runs writing workshops in school and community settings. An excerpt from her story ‘The Bactogarden’ was read on BBC Radio 4’s Open Book. Sarah is working on her debut collection of short stories.
For more on Sarah's work, visit her website.
