Narrative Structure for Fiction Writers with Timothy Daly

What makes stories work effectively? Why do some stories move you while others fail? Story and narrative structure is much more important in the overall success of a work than many writers realise. This four-week course will teach you many of the narrative structures and story patterns that lie beneath the surface of successful stories.

Participants will learn by applying the many narrative structures studied to their own writing and stories. Both macro-structures (those which drive an entire story) and micro-structures (paragraph structure, page textures, etc.) will be analysed and used by the participating writers in creative exercises. Other structures explored include three-part film structure; the plot snake; the components of linear narrative; episodic structure; and how the character journey and the relationship journey create the form of a story. The last hour of each session will involve participants reading out and analysing sections of their own developing stories and novel chapters.

Timothy Daly is one of Australia’s most internationally produced playwrights, with a string of national and international productions to his credit. Actors such as Academy Award-winners Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush have appeared in his plays.