What’s On

Make 2020 the year you write your novel.

Join author Sarah Armstrong for three terms of writing classes spread over the year. The small group will meet once a week for four-week blocks, and a total of 36 face-to-face hours, when Sarah will give you practical guidance, tools and tips.

First term will explore how to come up with ideas, planning, how to build a first draft, and some fundamentals of fiction: character, plot, point of view, scene and summary. Sarah will also talk about how to tackle procrastination and writer’s block.

Second term will drill down into narrative tension, character development, how character drives plot, secondary characters and structure. This is the term where you’ll get individual, written feedback from Sarah on 3000 words of your first draft.

Third term is all about how to tackle rewriting and editing: beginnings and endings, structure and themes, and a discussion about where to go from here. Course participants will be invited to a closed Facebook group where Sarah will post writing tips and answer questions, and where you can connect with each other between terms. Come to this course with a story in progress or an idea.

Workshop Details

When: 12 x Wednesday evenings at 5.30 – 8.30 pm:

• First term: Wednesday 20 and 27 May, and 3 and 10 June.
• Second term: Wednesday 12, 19 and 26 August, and 2 September.
• Third term: Wednesday 28 October, and 4, 11 and 18 November.

Where: Byron Writers Festival Office, Unit 2/58 Centennial Circuit, Byron Bay (NEW ADDRESS)

Cost: $950 Member / $1050 General

About Sarah Armstrong

Sarah Armstrong has written three adult novels, including Salt Rain which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. She’s just completed her first novel for kids and is working on a fourth adult novel. Sarah is an experienced writing teacher, mentor and manuscript assessor. She teaches creative writing at university, in schools, for writers festivals and on retreats. In a previous life she was a journalist at the ABC where she won a Walkley Award. She’s passionate about giving writers the practical tools to find and tell stories.

Testimonial

‘Working with Sarah was the best thing I could ever have done for my manuscript. I got great, constructive advice and critique as well as the kind of encouragement every budding writer needs. I would recommend working with Sarah Armstrong to anyone. In a word: fantastic.’ – Jana H.