Learn to create environments around your characters that reflect their inner journeys, add subtext and atmosphere, and immerse the reader in a fully realised world. Sign up here!
Please be mindful when booking. This is a workshop for Black writers and writers of colour based in Scotland (or for people who, pre-COVID, would have normally been resident in Scotland).
Join Lorraine Wilson for this 1.5-hour, online writing workshop!
Settings are not simply the background to our stories, they are a presence which shapes our characters’ actions, psychology, and experiences. Using prompts or your own work-in-progress we will create environments around your characters that reflect their inner journeys, add subtext and atmosphere, and immerse the reader in a fully realised world.
Through a series of tasks, and with plenty of time to discuss, we will try out practical research tools to learn about our settings, or create believable fictional ones; we’ll discuss the role of folklore and local traditions in how characters interact with their environment; and applying both of these, we will explore the power of subliminal association in linking setting to plot.
This workshop is open to writers at all experience levels, discussion participation is voluntary and can be either spoken or in the text chat window. Worksheets will be provided.
The natural world is a potent, fascinating setting; come and explore how to harness its power for your writing.
Essential items include: access to the internet, a working camera and mic, and pen and paper
The Details
- There is a max of 22 spaces.
- This masterclass will be hosted online using Zoom (instructions will be sent to participants closer to the event date).
- There are two types of tickets: Free tickets for writers on low-income and Pay What You Can (Suggested £5+).
- Our free events are very popular and have a waitlist. If you have registered for a ticket but then are unable to attend please do let us know so we can offer it to another person on the waitlist. Thank you!
- If you have any accessibility needs or requirements, please do let us know by writing in at scotBAMEwriters@gmail.com at the earliest and we shall do our best to meet your requirements.
- All SBWN events will adhere to our safer spaces policy. You can learn more about our policy here.
Access & Tech
Before participating in this online event, please note the following:
- To participate you will need an internet/wi-fi connection, a desktop or mobile device to join by audio and/or video and writing materials/device.
- Events are hosted online using Zoom (instructions will be sent 2 days before each event or can be accessed via the Eventbrite Online Event page).
- Automatic live captions and transcripts are provided via Otter.ai. Please add your access requirements during registration (for example BSL/in-person captioner) and we’ll do our best to provide.
- You can also email any access requirements to us: scotbamewriters@gmail.com
About Lorraine
Dr Lorraine Wilson (she/her) spent many years working as a conservation scientist in remote corners of the world, but now lives by the sea in Scotland writing speculative fiction rooted in folklore and the wilderness. Her debut novel, This Is Our Undoing, was released in August 2021 with Luna Press Publishing. She has also published short stories and creative non-fiction in anthologies and magazines including Strange Horizons, Forge Lit, The Mechanics’ Institute Review and Boudicca Press. Lorraine is mixed-race Burmese via Zambia and India, and lives with disabling illness.
Twitter: @raine_clouds
Instagram: @raine_clouds_writes
Website: https://shadowsonwater.wordpress.com
