Description:

with John Marsden

Every book is different. Some stories are bursting at the seams with well-developed characters and a network of complexities; others might follow one character who engages, willingly or unwillingly, with a compelling situation.

Language, characterisation and plot can all be powerful tools for authors to employ. The more that writers of fiction can hone their skills in these areas, the more impact upon readers they are likely to have. Join bestselling author John Marsden as he charges recklessly but joyously into all three of these areas (plot, language and characters). You’ll gain insight into his methods and hear advice on how to improve your own writing and storytelling, as he passes on the learning he has gained from his own writing career, which spans more than forty books. 

Participants will learn:

• The voices of characters

• The role of stories in characters' lives

• The role of status interactions in plot

• The ways in which commonplace language can energise writing

• Approaches to self-editing

John Marsden has written more than 40 books, mostly for teenagers and children, including Tomorrow When the War Began, So Much to Tell You, and Letters from the Inside.  He has sold over five million books worldwide, and has won every major award in Australia for young people's fiction. South of Darkness, written for adults, won the Christina Stead Award for Best Novel of 2015. In August 2019, John’s newest book, The Art of Growing Up, a non-fiction work about education and parenting, was published.

John's passionate interest in education led him to start two schools, Candlebark, on a vast forested estate near Romsey Victoria, and Alice Miller, at Macedon, a Year 7-12 school with a particular emphasis on the creative arts. The two schools enrol 390 students in 2020.

Full Price $115 / Writers SA Members Price $77

Venue: Flinders University, Level 10, 182 Victoria Square, Adelaide, SA, 5000