• Home
  • About
    • About
    • Facilitators
    • Testimonials
    • Contact
    • How to enrol
  • Courses
    • Events calendar
    • Venice Writing Retreat
    • Creative Writing Course
    • Stow-on-the-Wold Writing Weekend
    • A memoir weekend and a writing retreat in the Karoo
  • Shop
  • Free resources
    • Free offerings for writers
    • Downloadable writing resources
  • Blog
  • Community Hub
    0

    Cart

    Writing courses, free resources and webinars, and developmental editing Writing courses, free resources and webinars, and developmental editing
    • Home
    • About
      • About
      • Facilitators
      • Testimonials
      • Contact
      • How to enrol
    • Courses
      • Events calendar
      • Venice Writing Retreat
      • Creative Writing Course
      • Stow-on-the-Wold Writing Weekend
      • A memoir weekend and a writing retreat in the Karoo
    • Shop
    • Free resources
      • Free offerings for writers
      • Downloadable writing resources
    • Blog
    • Community Hub

    Archives

    Tag Archives for: "Jonathan Franzen"
     Three benefits of doing NaNoWriMo
     0
    By Richard Beynon
    In Richard Beynon's blog, Tips for Writers
    Posted November 8, 2022

    Three benefits of doing NaNoWriMo

    This month hundreds of thousands of people around the world have settled themselves down at desks or in commuter trains, in the cramped quarters of tourist class in jet airliners, […]

    READ MORE
     Monday Motivation: In the beginning…
     1
    By Richard Beynon
    In Monday Motivation
    Posted November 20, 2017

    Monday Motivation: In the beginning…

    Annie Dillard in her book on what it takes to be a writer, The Writing Life, recounts the story of a fellow writer who was asked, “Do you think I […]

    READ MORE
     Writing Secrets: Life is a distraction
     0
    By Jo-Anne Richards
    In All About Writing
    Posted October 18, 2017

    Writing Secrets: Life is a distraction

    Last month we ushered a group of writers into a Venetian palazzo for week-long writing retreat. What could be more wonderful: a week spent fostering creativity in an environment filled […]

    READ MORE
     Monday Motivation: Dialogue and the human condition
     0
    By Richard Beynon
    In Monday Motivation
    Posted April 10, 2017

    Monday Motivation: Dialogue and the human condition

    What do I love about Elmore Leonard’s dialogue? It’s terse, it’s droll, it’s economical. It punches above its weight. Take this sentence speech from Bandit: Jack said, “I’ve been to […]

    READ MORE
    INSTAGRAM
    Morning walk #venicewritingretreat Morning walk #venicewritingretreat
    The many jobs that the setting of your story can d The many jobs that the setting of your story can do Tip 4/14 Cultural context: The setting provides essential cultural information that shapes characters' behaviours and choices. Take this passage from Arnold Bennett’s Anna of the Five Towns, set in the pottery-producing heartland of Staffordshire: “Everywhere the view was bounded by furnaces and chimneys; they were innumerable, of all shapes, heights, and colours, and each had behind it a mountain of earth and slag, its own excretion. The narrow strip of black sky was cut by hundreds of vertical steam-jets and the black silhouettes of pitheads.” Throughout the novel, this industrial setting shapes Anna's life and choices. It influences her father's business, her social status, her romantic prospects, and her outlook on life. The oppressive yet familiar environment of the Potteries becomes almost a character in itself, embodying both the opportunities and limitations that define Anna's world. Consider how the setting of your story – whether it be the kitchen of a large hotel, the working stopes of a gold mine in South Africa, or the workshop of your Venetian mask-maker – will affect your protagonist. #StorytellingTips #WritersRetreat #VeniceWritersRetreat #StorySettings #Venezia
    Writing Wisdom from Venice 4/16 Once you’ve map Writing Wisdom from Venice 4/16 Once you’ve mapped out the time for writing, make it a habit simply to sit down - without thinking. Because, yes, your mind will tell you that you can’t write today, you have no ideas, no inspiration. Just do it. #WritingRetreat #VeniceWritersRetreat #Creativity #AmWriting
    Getting ready for a day of writing. Best way to st Getting ready for a day of writing. Best way to start the day. #earlymorningwalk #venicewritingretreat
    The many jobs that the setting of your story can d The many jobs that the setting of your story can do Tip 3/14 Personification: The place itself becomes a character, with its own personality and influence on the plot. Think of The Overlook Hotel in King’s The Shining. It’s much more than a setting – it’s a malevolent character with its own desires and agency. "The Overlook faced it as it had for nearly three-quarters of a century, its darkened windows now bearded with snow, indifferent to the fact that it was now cut off from the world.... Or was it?" The Overlook is depicted as a grand, isolated structure in the Colorado Rockies. King describes it as an imposing presence with a long and troubled history. The hotel is portrayed as more than just a building - it seems to have an evil consciousness of its own. Its corridors are maze-like, its rooms full of dark memories, and its very walls seem to breathe with sinister intent. Whether you’re writing the most frivolous of romances, or something as dark and malignant as King’s Overlook, you can use your setting to galvanise and animate your story. . . . #StorytellingTips #WritersRetreat #VeniceWritersRetreat #StorySettings #Venezia #StephenKing #TheShining
    Writing Wisdom from Venice 3/16 Time for your wri Writing Wisdom from Venice 3/16 Time for your writing will not magically appear. Don’t wait till ‘next year, when I’ll have less on my plate’. Carve out time for your creativity and guard it fiercely. Lie, if necessary – if those around you don’t respect your creative time. #WritingRetreat #VeniceWritersRetreat #Creativity #AmWriting
    The many jobs that the setting of your story can d The many jobs that the setting of your story can do Tip 2/14 The place can reflect the character. The environment mirrors or contrasts with a character's internal state. A bleak, winter landscape might reflect a character's depression, for instance. In The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt’s character, Theo, is sent to live with his estranged sister in Las Vegas. Tartt describes the landscape as follows: "Desert, empty as the surface of the moon... Apartments and shopping centers and residential neighborhoods wholly indistinguishable from one another... Terero was a treeless place of temperature extremes, where dust devils danced in a constant slow whirl." This bleak, monotonous environment mirrors Theo's sense of loss, isolation, and emotional barrenness following his mother's death. There’s no need to say as much; after all, the landscape in which he is trapped, says it all. . . . #StorytellingTips #WritersRetreat #VeniceWritersRetreat #WriteInVenice #StorySettings #Venezia #donnatartt What can your setting say about your characters?
    Morning walk #venicewritersretreat Morning walk #venicewritersretreat
    This morning we did our 'Rialto Walk'. An hour and This morning we did our 'Rialto Walk'. An hour and a half soaking up all that Venice has to offer as it wakes and gets ready for another day. For a writer it's most definitely time used well. It sets us up for the day. Writing Wisdom from Venice 2/16 Time is like money: we value it more if we have less of it. That means you need never despair if you don’t have swathes of writing time. An hour, used well, can be just as productive as a five-hour stretch, in which we make six cups of tea and tidy the linen cupboard until inspiration strikes. . . . #WritingRetreat #VeniceWritersRetreat #WriteInVenice #CreativeSpace #AmWriting
    Follow on Instagram
    NEWS & TIPS
    • The power of ‘show, don’t tell’
      The power of ‘show, don’t tell’
    • How lucky we are to be writers
      How lucky we are to be writers
    • Author Q and A – Jennifer Withers – Gloam
      Author Q and A – Jennifer Withers – Gloam
    • The Art of Restraint in Writing
      The Art of Restraint in Writing
    • Author Q and A: Jennifer Withers – Gloam
      Author Q and A: Jennifer Withers – Gloam
    • How to tackle new writing challenges
      How to tackle new writing challenges
    Get in touch
    Not readable? Change text. captcha txt
    Copyright All About Writing Courses, All Rights Reserved © 2017
    Contact Us

    We're not around right now. But you can send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap.

    Not readable? Change text. captcha txt
    0