Entry is free, with tea and coffee provided. Please bring something to eat or drink to put in the communal pot. 5pm Friday 13 December, Mattie Furphy House, Cpse Lane, Allen Park, Swanbourne

All welcome.

Allen park, Swanbourne, near Tom Collins’ House

Turn left into Clare Copse, off Kirkwood Street, for free parking.

Sunday 15th December

from 4.30 – 5.30pm

admission $10 – door sales available

To be sure of a seat, book with Jim and Alison on 9336 5945 or email: ajgregg6@bigpond.com

Afternoon Readings from the FAWWA Mentorship Program 2013

Please come along to an afternoon of readings by the mentees and a discussion of mentors and mentees re their experience of the program. It will run from 2 – 4 pm on Sunday November 10th and be followed by a delicious afternoon tea.

Furphy Water Cart in Fremantle Festival Parade

You are also urged to attend the Fremantle Festival Parade and see the newly restored Furphy Water Cart. Beginning at 4pm. Anyone interesting in helping out on the day please contact the office.

Friday@Furphys

This Friday the 8th at 5pm. We hope to see you there.

How to handle this mass of details called exposition?

Some storytellers write it on the nose- setting down facts about background, characters and events like a newspapers report. Others use awkward and unnatural contrivances.

This workshop shows how exposition may be woven into the fabric of the story so the reader is scarcely aware of being given essential information, and will show how any writer may master the technique of elucidating exposition.

This workshop will also cover Point Of View (POV) focusing on the three most common (1st person, 3rd person/omniscient, 3rd person proximate), showing the kind of story which each POV is most appropriate.

Workshop Structure

• What is exposition?
• What is backstory?
• How to reveal what you want to reveal:what is not obvious and cannot be inferred? what the reader absolutely needs to know
• Understanding the principle ‘show, don’t tell’. Evoke, rather than invoke
• When should the writer tell rather than show?
• Using exposition as ammunition
• Writing in scenes
• Knowing when to reveal- in medias res
• Knowing the theme of your story
• Exercising caution with analogy and symbolism: the subtle use of metaphor and simile
• What POV best suits the novel and its purposes

For all the information, join John Harman at Mattie Furphy’s House, on Saturday 2nd November.

Register at admin@fawwa.org.au

Cost: $36 for members, $48 non-members

See you there!

Good dialogue shows and expresses rather than tells. It makes the story fly. Of course, straightforward narrative can move the story forward and supply exposition (back-story) but dialogue is the high-octane fuel that propels the story and supplies much of its drama. it is sometimes difficult for writers to know when to employ dialogue instead of narrative (and vice versa) but appropriate and authentic dialogue lifts the story and gives it impetus, proving the premise, revealing character, progressing the plot and carrying exposition.

Course Structure

The five functions of dialogue

What makes good dialogue

Voice

Revealing character through dialogue

Exposition through dialogue

Colour and texture

Subtext. Don’t write every line ‘on the nose.’

Bad language. Be honest. If you do not want them to use it, do not create the characters.

Speech tags and alternatives to said

Attribution. How to handle it

A short session on writing dialogue for the screen. The difference between dialogue to be read as opposed to spoken. The through line development of the story; what the actor is looking for.

Exercises in writing dialogue.

Join John Harman at Mattie Furphy House on Saturday 21st September for second workshop in the series, How to Writer and Publish a Novel. A story is a completed process of change which has the ability to move readers feelings powerfully and pleasurably (or painfully) in a definite way. But though the story may arise and progress out of causality (plot) it is our interest in… affinity with…horror at…the protagonist or antagonist that keeps us hooked. Frequently we remember characters long after we have forgotten the plot. A story may be structured like a journey with a compass – the premise… them…threads. A map – the plot. An engine – the motivation of the protagonist (and other central characters). Dialogue – the fuel of the story. Exposition – the territory through which the story travels.

This means the depth, dimensionality and authenticity of the story characters are vital. Many new writers are too soft on their characters and as the story may be a quest – a hard, dangerous journey (either physical or emotional) from point a to point b in which the protagonist has an extremely strenuous time, the writer needs to create characters who can take all the physical, emotional and mental punishment the story is about to hand out. Fictional characters must possess sufficient strength of character to handle difficult dilemmas. In other words – characters must be up to the plot.

The Mattie Furphy Creativity Festival will be Sunday October 20th.

The Annual General Meeting will be Sunday October 27th; please consider who you would like to nominate for positions on the committee.

Rattlebrook is a writing group meeting at TCH on Thursday nights, facilitated by award-winning writer Karen Dixon. Join us for an evening of freewriting inspiration and self-discovery, drawing on imagery, music, symbolism and whatever else takes our collective fancy! Open to all skill levels, we atke turns presenting exercises and read our work aloud in an environment of acceptance and encouragement. Five dollars admission covers the cost of the venue. 7.00 – 9.00pm

p.s. Karen has a standing arrangement with people who regularly attend the group that she send an sms each to week to let them know whether the group is on – just in case of illness or the unexpected. So first times, please contact the office to be put in touch with Karen.

On Sunday 18th, author Barbara Yates Rothwell (pictured) and the FAWWA announced the Prizes in the Lyndall Hadow/Donald Stuart Competition, at Mattie Furphy’s house.

ADJUDICATION REPORT FOR SHORT STORY COMPETITION

To read the winning story go to the ‘Competitions’ page