Writing Workshop: How to Start Your Story

What to expect:

A writing workshop where we’ll experiment together using guided writing to explore different ways to begin your story.

The writing will be sparked by prompts that tap into the various elements of writing openings: this will include how to use voice, characters, setting, description, as well as other elements of prose writing.

You can write in any creative form you like. Fiction, non-fiction, or a combination of both.

For Our Audience:

Do you struggle to find a way to connect yourself with the story you want to write?

Maybe you find writing openings easy, but have difficulty maintaining interest and energy in your ideas?

What works best to start one particular story, may not work for another...

Perhaps you would benefit from some guidance, or simply want to explore and experiment with different writing strategies to start stories in interesting ways, or by using techniques that are new to you.

This workshop will help you develop your practice in a nurturing environment that’s stimulating and fun. Whether you are writing from life, from your own experiences, using fictional ideas or a combination of all those, this workshop will give you tools and techniques to help build on your creative impulses and keep on going.

It will help you build confidence in the value of your ideas and your ability to sustain them. There will also be the opportunity to share what you’ve written in a supportive and trusting environment and to receive professional level feedback, should you want it.

Above all, this workshop will be inspiring, challenging, and fun!

Michael's workshops are technology free. Please bring a pen and paper.

Your host:

Dr. Michael Langan (he/him)Writer, Editor, Mentor, Writing Coach, Teacher.

Michael Langan has been teaching creative writing in a variety of contexts for over twenty years, including at two U.K. universities. He now works on a freelance basis as a writing mentor, editor, teacher, and manuscript assessor, and has a PhD in creative writing.

Michael's first novel, Shadow is a Colour as Light Is, was published by LUME (U.K.) in 2020. His approach to teaching creative writing is a nurturing and holistic one and he strongly believes in the inherent value of everyone's individual and unique voice.

He sees the workshop as a space in which that voice can be explored more deeply and in different ways, as well as an opportunity to receive guidance, feeback, and practical advice on writing techniques.

Location of the event:

Fable Bookshop Cafe, Rua dos Prazeres 10A, Lisbon, 1200-820

About the Venue: Fable

Fable is an English bookshop, cafe, and creative events space in Lisbon. We offer wholesome meals, specialty coffee, natural wine, and a thoughtfully curated selection of both fiction and non-fiction books. We also host a medley of events and workshops focused on creativity, wellness, book and music launch parties, and inclusive community gatherings.

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