How do they do it? How do our favourite authors synthesise style, voice and tone to transport us into the world of their novel? Aside from narrative structure and technique, what words do they use – and in what order? How do they employ narrative mode? What point of view do they adopt? How adept are they at analogy? This workshop will focus on style in popular writing and how you may develop your writing style to match that of published authors.

The workshop will be hands-on and experimental. You will be asked to bring a couple of typed pages (in double-spaced, 12 point Arial) which will be paragraphs that you have copied from a book by your favourite, (preferably modern) author. The copied piece/s should be from a part of the novel that has especially moved or impressed you.

The workshop will cover:

• The Building Blocks : Words – Sentences – Paragraphs – Scenes – Chapters
• Style, Tone, Voice : What are they and what is difference?
• Phraseology : The words we use
• Syntax: The order of the words we use
• Narrative Mode: The five elements of narrative mode – ADDET
• Pace: From the stroll to the gallop
• Mood: How to evoke the emotion
• Imagery: How to use it – how not to overdo it
• Metaphor: Good ones work – bad ones are awful
• Common literary devices: Tropes, what are they and do we need them?
• Punctuation: The difference it makes to construction and meaning

THINGS TO KNOW

Light lunch is provided.
If you have any special dietary requirements please email our staff on info@universityclub.uwa.edu.au. Unfortunately we are unable to accommodate any dietary requirements without 48 hour notification.