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This creative non-fiction writing course with Patti Miller takes place at Writing NSW in Sydney.

This new offering from Patti Miller is an eight week in-person course for writers interested in combining a personal voice and individual experience with wide-ranging ideas and story-telling from any area – family, politics, travel, true crime, history, psychology, biography, sciences, literature, exploration; in fact, anything that interests participants.

Is this course right for you? Read our FAQ >

Participants will explore the rich territory of creative non-fiction, focussing on true stories written from a personal perspective, and look closely at various sub-genres: narrative non-fiction such as true crime or true thrillers, personal essays, ‘new’ journalism, biography, travel memoir, nature or environmental writing, writing place, and journal or diary writing.

Throughout the course, we will discuss extracts from inspiring writers, do writing exercises, and each writer will present one chapter (2,500 words) for workshopping in their chosen genre. Class size will be limited to ten participants to make sure everyone’s work is given proper attention.

Expected learning outcomes

Participants will gain:

1. An understanding of the characteristics of each subgenre of creative non-fiction.
2. Advanced examination of writing craft, including narrative presence and position, research, detail, and structure.
3. An understanding of the ethics involved with writing true stories.

Participant requirements

Pen and paper; or fully charged device. It would be useful to have a copy of ‘Writing True Stories’ by Patti Miller. Please read our FAQ before enrolling.

Participants in face to face courses must comply with any precautionary measures related to COVID-19 that Writing NSW puts in place.

If you are feeling unwell and experiencing any COVID-related symptoms on the day of the course, you must stay at home and contact us to let us know. As a participant in this course, you will be required to follow all COVID safety measures in place by Writing NSW to ensure the health and wellbeing of our community.

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

This course is ideal for writers who would like inspiration and guidance as they expand into new areas of first person writing. To participate in this course, you don’t need to have completed a course with Patti Miller before, and you don’t need to be a published writer; however, it will assume a certain level of experience in the craft of writing.

Reviews

‘Patti becomes present with the participants as people and writers- she took time to learn our names, to listen to our writing. She has a depth of knowledge about the art of memoir and a belief in the worth of a diversity of voices represented by the books she brought along of those she has mentored before.’ – Shannon, 2022

More from Writing NSW

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