with Jason Fischer

This Teen Writers Club is designed for teens 13–17 years old and should be attending highschool.

Term 3 dates: Saturdays, July 20th to Sept 21st, 10:30am to 12:00pm

with Bronwyn Tilley

A 5-month program for writers looking towards publication.

July – November 2019

It’s far easier to quit than to finish! Said someone famous at one time or another, but it’s so true. If you're looking for support to finish your draft and turn it into a final polished product, then this is the series for you. Maybe you got to ‘the end’ but feel something is missing? Maybe you have that polished product but you can’t get a second look from an agent or publisher, and feel deep down that something must be wrong with it? Join us and find out.

with Tory Shepherd

How do you “write for change”? How do you convince people to see another point of view, or even change their minds?

Thanks to social media everyone has an opinion these days, but it’s easy to dash off 140-characters – it's much harder to craft a piece that will (hopefully!) withstand the scrutiny of subeditors, editors, and of course readers. At the same time, there’s more demand than ever before for opinion pieces, which means more opportunities for freelancers. It’s also a powerful way that advocates and lobbyists can make their case.

with Jason Fischer

Join Jason Fischer for a deep-dive into Tolkien's fantasy works, exploring his wide influence on fantasy storytelling. Participants will also get an overview of the future of genre writing as it finally wriggles loose from Tolkien's long shadow. Second breakfast is not provided.

with Poppy Nwosu

Are you interested in writing for young readers? Young Adult fiction covers a wide range of exciting and diverse genres, and has a passionate readership of young and old alike. Aimed at new and emerging writers, this workshop will cover everything you need to know about YA and provide insight into the thriving Australian YA community.

**Back by popular demand: this event is a second presentation of the sold-out workshop with Hannah Kent originally held in June 2019**

with Hannah Kent

Whether you have an idea for a novel based on true events or you wish to create a work of fiction set in the past, writing historical fiction requires deep consideration of character, narrative and prose to ensure that the work feels alive and relevant to a modern reader.

Through a series of writing exercises and insights into the creative practice of developing a work of historical fiction, this workshop will demonstrate the ways in which research can be used to strengthen characterisation, setting and plot, and will teach efficient techniques and approaches to avoid burdening your fiction with superfluous historical information or lapses into anachronism.

with Mighty Kingdom

Join Narrative Designers Brenna Hillier and Mark Riley from the video game development studio Mighty Kingdom to discuss the importance of storytelling in games and the process of developing an idea into an expansive narrative. This workshop will focus on practical skills and processes that participants will learn and then apply in group work.

with Andrew Bovell

This workshop will use the play 'Things I Know to be True' to examine the principles of writing for theatre with renowned playwright Andrew Bovell. You will be provided with a copy of the play.

'Things I Know to be True' is set in the southern suburbs of Adelaide. It premiered at the Playhouse Theatre in 2016 and was produced by the State Theatre Company and UK based Frantic Assembly. It toured to London and the UK in 2016 and returned for a new tour in 2017. It has been subsequently produced in America, Germany and Spain and has recently had a new production at Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney and is in development as a six part TV series. The workshop will use the play as a case study to examine the principals of writing for the theatre.

Term 4 dates: Saturdays, 12 October — 7 December, 10:30am to 12:00pm

The Teen Writers Club is a place for young writers to make new connections, be inspired, and develop their writing. We provide a safe, fun and engaging program for passionate high school writers of all interests, ages and abilities.

The club meets on Saturdays during school term, and is guided by Writers SA staff, mentors and a guest teacher. The program is shaped by the interests of the group, and they’re supported to set and achieve their own writing goals.

We provide creative workshops, information on the industry and careers, mentoring, and the opportunity for support for school-based writing projects.

with Bronwyn Tilley

Haven't written for a while or between books right before Nano? Come along to this interactive event where we'll use photo prompts, idea generators and story cubes to come up with story lines and characters before Nano kicks off on November 1st. You never know what you might come up with but at the very least you'll have no excuses not to write something in November! A short story? A full length novel? A Christmas novella? The sky's the limit! Come prepared with a notebook and a pen or two because you'll be flexing your muse for this workshop!

with Iron Clad

Most action-filled books set before the 1900s will likely contain a sword fight or three. Have you ever wondered if you’ve nailed the logistics on the page? Most of us know that more than fifteen minutes of sword-wielding would be about all the strongest person would have in them, but what about a fighter riding side-saddle, could she wield a sword and stay on the horse? What about fighting in close quarters aboard a ship with longswords? Was it possible and how did they do it?

with Alison Stuart

'Scrivener is a word-processing program and outliner designed for authors. Scrivener provides a management system for documents, notes and metadata. This allows the user to organize notes, concepts, research and whole documents for easy access and reference.'

Have you ever looked at Scrivener and been overwhelmed by the interface and apparent complexity of this wonderful program? In this hands-on workshop, award winning author, Alison Stuart, will take participants through the major components of the Scrivener interface and guide them from starting a new project through to compiling a project to a manuscript format in Word.

Are you going to struggle with NANO this year? Are words too hard or are you too distracted by the Book of Face or binge-watching TV? Do you ever think to yourself, ‘If only I just had a solid day to write, I’d get so much done’? Then TWELVE, the literary lock-in, is for you and it's your second to last weekend in November if you're aiming for a high word count to brag about when you get back on the socials!

"TWELVE" means no excuses, no limits, no distractions. Crank your writing projects up to boiling point with twelve hours of uninterrupted writing. You’ll be surprised how much you can get done.

Whether you’re starting a novel, finishing a work-in-progress, or just looking for time to focus, TWELVE is the way to do it.

with Tony Shillitoe

Building and delivering characters your readers will love or hate, empathise with or despise, protagonists and antagonists, is central to powerful story-telling. Nurturing your characters is crucial. Choosing who to kill and when is even more so. This workshop aims to challenge you to review existing characters in your projects, help you nurture lovable, admirable and detestable characters, and encourage you to make choices about who will live and who will die.

with Mag Merilees

A safe place to explore the challenges and pitfalls of writing queer lives (whether you're gay, straight or in between). Everything from profound questions of identity, to avoidance of the token gay brother, to the nitty gritty of pronoun-use. Join Mag Merrilees for a fun and frank practical session.

with Wakefield Press

First impressions do count!

You've written your story, you've edited it, you've polished it, now you're ready to send it out into the world! But will the world welcome your query letter if it doesn’t read right? If it doesn’t include all of the information? And, what is the correct information to include? Deep breaths. It doesn’t have to be hard but it does have to be done right.

with Derek Pedley