Faber Writing Academy

Have you ever written a story in five hours flat? Join Short Order Short Fiction and see it happen! Discover the pleasure of writing under pressure. Take home a fresh draft of a new story.
•One hour of inspiration
•Four hours of writing
•Twenty minutes one-to-one with Carmel
•One hour of sharing drafts and feedback

This one-day course is for writers with experience of writing short fiction. A key element in writing stories is a lifetime of READING stories. This equips you to transform your own ideas and feelings into stories - stories with all the elements of PLOT, TONE, STRUCTURE, POINT OF VIEW, CHARACTERS, DIALOGUE, LANGUAGE, THEME, and MORAL POSITION.

Whether you work within the frame of reality, romance, crime, leap off into fantasy, or choose to be highly experimental, wild and weird, the fact remains that you must put in the time and effort to produce a story. Should time and effort be spread over days, weeks, months? They can be. But in this workshop you concentrate everything you've got in the five hours of the working day (the sixth hour is for presenting your story to the group and getting feedback from the tutor. Even so, the sixth hour is still part of the writing process).

Think of it like an exam. Pressure. So you can't work under pressure? Try. Give yourself the challenge. Stop dreaming and start writing. Draft a story in one day. Transform your ideas into narrative - do it FAST. There is time enough tomorrow for you to reconsider, redraft - but PLEASE don't linger too long over drafts.

Experience the exhilaration of WRITING A STORY IN A DAY!

The course includes:
• One full day's intensive tuition from 10am - 4pm
•Lunch and refreshments
•A 10% discount on full priced books purchased at any Readings shop - the official bookseller for the Academy (not valid for online purchases, other offers, lay-bys or special orders)
•A complimentary copy of a recent A&U publication

Class size is strictly limited. Book soon to avoid disappointment.

'Carmel Bird - Here is someone who can explain things that others seem only to hint at.' Charlotte Wood

'Carmel Bird is the most experienced and gifted teacher of creative writing I have had the good fortune of encountering. Her ability to bring out the best in any emerging - or even established - writer is legendary. Her understanding of the writing process is second to none. Her books on writing both fiction and memoir have been a resource and inspiration to generations of writers. She is one of a kind.' Colin Oehring

'Inspirational writing teacher Carmel Bird appeared when I needed her most.' Andy Griffiths

About the tutor

Carmel Bird is one of Australia's most experienced and inspirational teachers of writing, and is the author of 30 books. These include novels, collections of short fiction, books on writing, and anthologies of fiction and non-fiction. Her new novel is Family Skeleton (September 2016) and her other recent works are a collection of short fiction, My Hearts Are Your Hearts, and an extended essay, Fair Game. The latter is a meditation on an image of a boatload of non-convict women sailing to Van Diemen's Land in 1832. Her Dear Writer Revisited and Writing the Story of Your Life are inspirational texts for writers. Carmel was recently awarded the 2016 Patrick White Literary Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to Australian literature.