Interested in this course? Sign up for our waitlist here to find out when it’s running again. In the meantime, check out our list of current courses or sign up for our Newsbite weekly newsletter for updates.

Participants in face to face courses must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and must comply with any other precautionary measures Writing NSW puts in place.

How can your writing make compelling fiction inspired by real-life events and relationships? Join Kavita Bedford, author of the critically acclaimed novel Friends & Dark Shapes, for a workshop on how to draw from personal perspectives to shape fiction and characters.

In this course, we will discuss some non-fiction literary forms, such as memoir, auto-fiction, and creative non-fiction, and the differences between them. Then we’ll explore using elements of those literary forms in fiction, to bring personal experiences to life in a fictional way.

We will look at different literary devices and ways to create a unique literary voice, exploring how the wrestling back of narratives and telling one’s truth can serve as a political act. We will look at your environment and how you can draw from place, conversation and the elements that make you distinctly you. The course will draw from examples of modern writers who create stylised personal perspectives, including Natalia Ginzburg, Jenny Offill, Helen Garner and Bryan Washington.

Is this course right for you? Read our FAQ >

Expected learning outcomes

In this workshop, participants will:

• Gain an understanding of literary and stylistic forms and how to use those elements in their own writing.
• Experiment with ways to fictionalise events and characters.
• Learn how to create a narrative perspective drawing on their own unique attitude and voice.
• Understand how to draw from the idiosyncracies of their own lives to write fiction.

This workshop takes place at Writing NSW in Sydney.

Participant requirements

Please read our FAQ before enrolling.

Please bring pen and paper, or fully charged device.

If you have questions about this course and/or COVID-safe guidelines, please contact us.

More from Writing NSW

Check out our full range of in-person writing courses in Sydney, our online writing courses and our feedback programs to see how we can help you on your writing journey. Find out about our grants and prizes, as well as writing groups across NSW, and sign up to our weekly newsletter for writing events, opportunities and giveaways.