Budapest Writers’ Lab

  • 22 Aug 2014 9:00 AM
Budapest Writers’ Lab
"The Basics of Writing Fiction is a 10-week course devoted to 1) studying the elements of fiction and 2) putting that knowledge into practice. The class will be as much about discussing theory and technique as about cultivating a regular habit of working. Participants will be expected to write every week, both in and out of the session. When a student has a piece they are comfortable sharing, there will be a (constructive, gentle) roundtable critique of that student’s work.

What you will learn: to use the basic elements of fiction (plotting, character, tone, dialogue, setting, etc.) to create engaging work. Much – if not all – of what is taught in the coursework will be applicable to both writers of short stories and those who are developing longer works of prose fiction.

What you will write in class: exercises that pertain to the topics above, as well as writing prompts to free the imagination.

What you will write at home: longer pieces of fiction (short stories, novel excerpts).

What you will read: in addition to other students’ work, we will look at short stories and/or novel excerpts by classic and contemporary writers that illustrate the day’s topic, with an emphasis on work originating in Central Europe.

What you will talk about: pretty much all the above.

Anything else? In addition to the general curriculum, over the course of the 10-week seminar, we will cover tangential topics that fall within this instructor’s professional expertise as a writer, editor, and author coach. One class, we will look at the tricky art of self-editing, in other classes we will discuss practical habits that make it easier to write and diminish the hazard of becoming blocked. A bonus ‘eleventh’ class will focus on how to go about getting published and give a general overview of self-publishing.

When and where does this all go down? 7:30 – 9:30 Thursday evenings from September 18th to November 20th or Saturday afternoons from 3 – 5, September 20th to November 22nd. Classes will take place at the Angol, na? Hackerspace on Bródy Sándor utca in Budapest’s inner eighth district. The dates and times are provisional.

There is no application process, but space will be limited to ten.

The price for the course is 58,000 forints."

Source and more information:  Budapest Writers' Lab

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