Workshops for Writers

Why is Mr. Darcy so uptight, and Mr. Bingley so nice? Why does Miss Eleanor Dashwood have all the Sense, but Miss Marianne Dashwood have all the Sensibility?

You will leave this entertaining and interactive workshop with a simple behaviour model that divides people into four basic groups, based not only on how they use their voices, gestures, and expressions, but also how they react under pressure.

I’ll show you how to highlight differences between characters, make them distinctive, and then ensure that they stay consistent when you plunge them into that earth-shattering crisis. It will also help you understand why some people get right up your nose!

There’s a Cosmo-style quiz to identify your own behavioural style, a few videos, some very bad impersonations, and a short writing exercise. Ever the optimist, I regularly present a version of this workshop to trainee doctors, to show them how to build rapport with patients. (2-3 hours)

In this workshop, I look at the fundamental, sub-conscious drivers of our decision-making, and our sense of self-worth. Using advertisements, I show how the language we use betrays these motivators, and discuss how to employ them when constructing your characters, to make their actions believable and their choices consistent. Includes soul-searching, impertinent questions, mind-games and of course, a short writing exercise. (2-3 hours)

The two workshops can be combined to produce a day-long seminar on building believable characters.

A newly-published writer’s view of the mysterious world of publishing, including editors, agents, marketing and promotion, and some of what I’ve learned about voice, self-editing, and story-construction. (For unpublished and aspiring writers) (1 hour)