Creative Writing Course: Stories Short & True

Improve your work skills by learning how to write a short story through our writing short courses online and in Sydney.

What do Helen Garner, Tim Winton, and David Sedaris have in common? They have all written about small snippets from their life and turned their everyday stories into art.

Join us for a one day workshop to learn how to embrace moments from life and spin them into a short story. You’ll consider themes such as your family, your most surprising day, your greatest life passion and your relationship with nature (for example, the sea). You will learn how to embrace your narrative voice and craft your memories into an engaging piece of creative nonfiction.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this short story writing course, you will have enhanced your career prospects by:

• Gained a greater knowledge of the variety of works of creative nonfiction
• Learned how to identify opportunities for stories in everyday life
• An understanding of the narrative voice that makes an engaging work of creative nonfiction

Course content

What will be covered in this creative writing course?

We will look at short creative nonfiction stories by significant authors including Helen Garner, Tim Winton and David Sedaris. In particular, Helen Garner’s True Stories, Tim Winton’s Island Home and David Sedaris’ Naked. we will also:

• Workshop the range of themes that emerge from a consideration of those works
• Explore how to look at everyday life as an opportunity for stories
• Look at the narrative voice that makes an engaging work of creative nonfiction
• Practise writing a short piece to share with the group (optional)

The emphasis of this workshop is to help people start writing, to find the stories from your individual experiences. While there is practical writing time included, the course is not intended to be a technical writing workshop, so detailed critique of your writing style is not included.

Intended audience

Who is this short story writing course for?

This course is designed for students looking to upskill, including beginners and those with some creative writing experience.

Course venue

Rozelle Campus

2A Gordon Street, Rozelle NSW 2039 (corner of Gordon St & Victoria Rd in the grounds of St. Joseph's Church)

Course materials

What to bring to class

• Download the notes from the link in your confirmation email
• A pen and notebook, or a device for writing in class