A step in the write direction

Michael Burns

The article that you are reading right now has been written for the purposes of a newspaper. As such, it deals with bare facts. So, the writer must keep in check any sort of imagination he might profess to have, as if he's a spendthrift saving his bank balance when finances are dwindling.

Fiction writers have no such shackles binding them. They are free to squeeze their creative juices to the last drop, fleshing out characters and plotlines before exhibiting them for public display through the printed medium. But how does one go about that process of giving structure to imagination? What does it take to build a riveting narrative, and hold the reader's attention? A workshop this weekend will delve into such questions, giving participants valuable insight into the art of creative writing.

American author Michael Burns, founder of the storytelling platform Tall Tales, will host it. "Writing is like having the clay for a vase, and then forming it into its final shape. A lot of people have ideas for stories, but they don't know how to make that shape.

Descriptions, ideas and characters - these things are fun, but they are not enough. You have to understand their structure. It's like a house. Imagine you want to build one, and you have all these amazing ideas for the windows and everything. But if you don't have a foundation, what are you going to construct the house on? So, the purpose behind the workshop is to help you build the correct foundation," he tells us, refraining from divulging too much on the pro-tips he will provide the participants, meaning it's something you will have to attend the event to find out.

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