How Fiction Works
with Claire Keegan
This advanced course led by Booker Prize shortlisted, Irish writer, Claire Keegan will develop writers’ understanding of how fiction works, its forms, structures and techniques.
Registration closes: 10 March 2023, Friday, 5 PM.
Summary
Course code: CK1
5 workshops of 3 hours each
For Intermediate to Advanced Writers
Limited places available
Selective entry – we’ll offer places to writers based on writing samples sent on application
Dates
5 workshops on:
- 8 April 2023, Saturday
- 15 April 2023, Saturday
- 16 April 2023, Sunday
- 13 May 2023, Saturday
- 20 May 2023, Saturday
9:00 am to 12:00 pm SGT
No partial sessions accepted
Venue
In-person only
Discovery Room
Level B1
Asian Civilisations Museum
1 Empress Place, Singapore 179555
Overview
This course will develop writers’ understanding of how fiction works, its forms, structures and techniques.
During the course, Claire Keegan will develop participants understanding of:
- the structure of narrative on the short story, the novella and the novel and the differences between the same
- dialogue
- point of view
- paragraph structure
- time and place
- humour
- statement and suggestion
- drama versus tension, and
- her theory on loss
These aspects of fiction will be examined through interactive classroom lectures and discussions of published texts which will be provided, and should be read by all in advance of every session.
Learning Outcomes
After completion of this course, participants will:
- gain a deeper knowledge of how to write fiction
- develop their understanding of aspects of fiction, forms, structures and techniques
- obtain skills and experience to write new and revise their existing fiction projects.
Who should register?
- Intermediate Writers — Writers who have chosen to pursue writing as a full time or part time career with a serious, professional intent but who are not yet published with a mainstream or recognised independent publisher.
- Advanced Writers — Writers who have published at least one book with a mainstream or recognised independent publisher, and/or published in at least one literary journal and/or anthology.
Participants will be selected by the Visiting Writer with assistance from the Asia Creative Writing programme. A waiting list will be maintained.
Registration and Pricing
To sign up, please register via the link above with the following documents:
- A 300-500 word writing sample (your writing sample does not have to be from the genre of the course nor your current writing project; it will be an assesment of your standard and style of writing)
- A short summary of your writing project or writing interests of ~100 words
- A short biography of 50-100 words
Participants must be over 18 years old at 8 April 2023.
Course Fees
- For 5 workshops of 3 hours each:
- $150 for adults
- $60 for students, unemployed, low income migrant workers
- Free for undergraduates from Singapore tertiary institutions
- Non-refundable if cancellation 2 weeks or less before course starts
- Please email us if financial assistance is needed
About Claire Keegan
Claire Keegan was raised on a farm on the Wicklow/Wexford border. Her works have won numerous awards and are translated into more than thirty languages. Antarctica won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. Walk the Blue Fields won the Edge Hill Prize for the finest collection of stories published in the British Isles. Foster, after winning the Davy Byrnes Award — then the world’s richest prize for a story — was chosen by The Times as one of the top 50 works to be published in the 21st Century. It is now part of the school syllabus in Ireland. Her latest, Small Things Like These, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Rathbones Folio Prize. It won the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, the Ambassadors’ Prize for best Irish novel published in France, and The Kerry Prize for Irish Novel of the year. It is now nominated for the Dublin Literary Award, the world’s richest literary prize, which is presented annually for the best novel in the world written or translated into English.
Other Courses & Events with Claire Keegan
An Evening with Claire Keegan
Join us for an evening with Claire Keegan, where Claire will read from her fiction and answer questions about her work and writing life.
Writer to Writer with Claire Keegan
Book a one-on-one mentoring session with Booker Prize shortlisted writer, Claire Keegan, to discuss your writing project. Claire will provide guidance to help your creative practice and support your writing life.