This writing course, Reading to Write with Emily Maguire, takes place at Writing NSW in Sydney.

The number one thing you can do to become a better writer, is to become a better reader.

In this workshop, with award-winning author Emily Maguire, participants will learn to approach texts with a writer’s eye, paying close attention to craft choices that shape character, plot, dialogue, and narrative voice to build immersive, emotionally resonant fictional worlds. Through guided discussion and close reading of a wide range of extracts, we’ll talk about reading to improve your craft, reading to solve the problems in your own work-in-progress and reading to hold your nerve when the going gets tough!

Throughout the day you’ll engage in some short, low-pressure writing exercises designed to practice — and play with  — the techniques we’ve been discussing. You’ll leave the course with greater confidence in discussing fiction from a writer’s perspective and some immediately usable strategies for applying what you’ve learnt to your own writing.