Workshop themes
Our workshops cover the essential elements of language and story writing. Each workshop focuses on a different element. The following list is not exhaustive:
- Punctuation: when and how to use it; how to use it to create a style;
- Figurative language: personification, similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, alliteration;
- Adjectives: how they can be used to describe a character or a setting.
- Wow words: the impact of particular verbs, adverbs and adjectives on a story;
- Senses: how to incorporate senses – sight, sound, taste, smell, touch – into writing in order to convert a flat 2 dimensional story in to a 3 dimensional one;
- Detail: how to embellish a character or a scene by including more detail;
- Speech: the impact of dialogue, how to bring dialogue to life and how to create balanced speech;
- Paragraphing: the purpose of paragraphs and what to include in beginning, build-up, middle and end paragraphs of a short story;
- Planning: how to plan a story from beginning and build-up through to middle and end;
- Timing: how to write and plan a story in 25 minutes;
- Characterisation: how to give a character a personality, exposure to different types of character and the creative potential in the dynamics between them;
- Idea development: how to generate a story from a title, how to build on and develop those initial ideas;
- Style: exposure to the different styles of writing and what gives writing a style, such as the use of long descriptive sentences for a sense of place or short ‘action’ sentences for impact and suspense