Do you hate short stories? They’re not your thing but you think you’d like to try writing or reading them anyway, but you can’t find your way into them? This is the workshop for you. A. A. Fornax loathed short stories, but she thought writing them would be a good thing for a writer to master. Along the way, she learned not only to write short stories but also to love them. In these workshops she’ll help you find your way into reading short stories and set you on a journey to writing them.

There will be four workshops, each two and a half hours long. Each workshop will be built around two components: talking about short stories and how to read them, and exercises to begin writing them. We will use a different writing exercise(s) in each session, in the hope that everyone who attends will find an approach that works for them. Since sitting and reading short stories could chew up a lot of time (and maybe be BORING), at each session you’ll be given copies of two or three short stories to read before the next session. (That way you get to sharpen your knives questions and ideas before the next session.    ) 

Things you’ll need to bring: yourself (obvious, eh?); the stories we’ve been reading between sessions; something to write with/on (a laptop, tablet, paper and pencil, parchment and quill, or whatever takes your fancy… but we draw the line at hauling in large stones and a big axe to write in ogham, just so’s you know); anything you need to be comfortable (e.g., back cushion, lap rug); and your special creative writer hat or lucky charm, if you have one.

Come along, have fun, and discover short stories.