Book Saturday’s Storytelling & Plot Building and Sunday’s Polishing Your Submission Package workshops together, and save £40!

Story and plot are often talked of in the same breath, but understanding the difference is key to making both work for you.

In this practical, all-day workshop we’ll start from Paul Ashton’s idea that ‘Story is the journey you make; plot is the route you take’, and unpack what this means for each writer. When you have a broad story-idea or inspiration, how do you grow a workable plot of specific, connected events out of it? And if it was a specific event or scene which inspired you, how do you find and develop a story-arc that will support a whole novel? What is the role of characters and characterisation in all this? And what does any of this mean for how you work on an existing novel, and hold on to the original creative excitement while making sure that the engineering actually works?

Throughout the day, exercises will be based on your own work, as well as extracts from other writers. You should go away with a much firmer grip on how to make these crucial tools and concepts work for your fiction, and perhaps even some new story or plot ideas.

Over afternoon tea, Marina de Pass from The Soho Agency, The Bookseller’s Rising Star of 2023, will give you the inside track on the submission process as well as industry insights. Writers will be invited to share with the group their elevator pitches for feedback from Marina and BPA’s Emma Haynes.

Click through to the Blue Pencil website to find out more.