Writing Biographical Fiction with Melissa Ashley will familiarise participants with the major considerations, resources and skills required to create engaging narratives, vivid settings and unforgettable characters in your biographical fiction. Topics covered in the three-hour workshop include: whose story and why tell it; research, scope and getting started; interpreting textual and visual sources; when ... Read more

  In this fun workshop Brian takes you through his creative process, from story idea through to editing, with an emphasis on writing a series. Topics covered include the principle of story, character empathy, the framework of writing and creating suspense. Participants will gain a better understanding of how to construct a story, and a ... Read more

Library and archival collections offer rich source material for the historical novelist. This workshop aims to provide an introduction to searching the National Library’s Trove – the online gateway to the extraordinary material held by Australian collecting institutions. With a focus on the incredible collection of digitised newspapers, this session will look at search strategies, ... Read more

  This workshop with Meg Keneally will look at how historical crime fiction works. What makes a good historical crime novel? How do you create a pacey, immersive reading experience? We’ll look at character, plot, setting and voice. This workshop will be interactive, so come prepared with questions! This workshop includes a 15 minute break. ... Read more

  In the first half of this three-hour workshop, Locke will discuss the reasons why authors might want to self-publish their work, as well as describe the vast array of resources and tools now available to indie authors that make the process of self-publishing easy and relatively inexpensive. Locke will use examples from her own ... Read more

  How to integrate good research with great writing in your historical novel. We'll look at the many different activities that constitute research, when in the drafting process each of them becomes relevant, and how to work them into the prose so the reader experiences a satisfying balance of history and your story. 3 x ... Read more