This writing course, Writing Fiction From Life with Kavita Bedford, will take place at Writing NSW in Sydney.

How can you craft compelling fiction inspired by real-life events and relationships? Join Kavita Bedford, author of the critically acclaimed novel Friends & Dark Shapes, for an in-depth course on how to draw from personal perspectives to shape fiction and characters.

In this course, we will discuss non-fiction literary forms, such as memoir, auto-fiction, and creative non-fiction, and use elements of those literary forms to bring personal experiences to life in a fictional way. We will look at ways to create a unique literary voice, draw from observations of your environment, as well as discussing how telling one’s truth can serve as a political act. Participants will learn from examples by modern writers who have created stylised personal perspectives in their work, including Natalia Ginzburg, Jenny Offill, Helen Garner and Bryan Washington.

Week-by-Week Course Breakdown

Week 1: Introduction

Writing from Life can take many different forms. This week we will explore different literary forms, in a brief overview of memoir, creative nonfiction, autofiction, and fiction. We will discuss ethics and storytelling: whose story is it to tell?  We also tease apart the role of empathy in writing and reading.

Week 2: Finding Voice

People talk a lot about ‘voice’. This week, we will learn about different writers’ voices, authenticity and how to try and claim your own. Drawing from other writers and in-session exercises, we will look at writing from different perspectives.

Week 3: Drawing from Everyday Places & Meaning

This week we will discuss how to make place a character and the power dynamics of public space. We will look at writers who write about cities, migration, gentrification, and place-making, including Natalia Ginzburg, Italo Calvino, Teju Cole.

Week 4: Writing Dialogue from your own environment

We are a product of our culture, our communities, our friends, our families, our environment and our critics. We are not apart. We are wholly connected. And as a writer, we draw from these sources constantly. We will look at the dialogue of writers including Bryan Washington, Sally Rooney, Helen Garner, Virginia Woolf.

Week 5: Drawing Wonder From your Life

Annie Dillard said, “A writer looking for subjects asks not after what he loves best but what he alone loves at all.” Thinking about this, we will be looking at how to create writing close to the nerve of sensitivity and writing to astonish.

Week 6: Joy and Magic

We will discuss writing from the heart, not the head, and making your practice a place for generation of ideas rather than a depleting source. We will share your work and final feedback.

Expected learning outcomes

In this workshop, participants will:

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

Participant requirements

Pen and paper, or a fully charged device. Please read our FAQ> before enrolling.

If you have questions about this course, please contact us.

Reviews

‘Kavita struck a wonderful balance between sharing the work of other authors, providing accessible information about writing techniques, sharing her personal experiences, and inviting us to participate in some excellent writing exercises on the day. … I can’t speak highly enough of this course.’ – Amar, 2022

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