The Writer’s Workbench with Aiden O’Reilly

Course Summary

There’s a whole toolbox of techniques at every writer’s disposal. We will try out a few and see what works best for your purposes. This course is suitable for beginners and for those who want to stretch their writing muscles in a different direction, and also for non-fiction writers who want to borrow techniques from fiction writing. The course will involve a close reading of extracts from contemporary writers, and some editing exercises.

Course Outline

Week 1: Ice-breaker, the concept of glimmers

Week 2: Reading as a Writer – learning from the best

Week 3: Phenomenological approach

Week 4: Dialogue & punctuation tips

Week 5: Minimalism and pared-down styles

Week 6: Plotting skills

Week 7: Editing techniques, typical typos, feedback

Week 8: Discussing edits

Participants will do short exercises in class and they can revise them and email them to the teacher for personal feedback. Required fiction extracts for close reading will be sent out weekly by email.

Course Outcomes

Participants will dip into the writers’ toolbox and stretch their writing muscles in new directions. There will be a special emphasis on editing techniques.

Aiden O’Reilly’s short story collection Greetings Hero was published in 2014. He studied mathematics, and has worked as a translator, a building-site worker, an IT teacher, and a property magazine editor. He won the McLaverty award, and his fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The Dublin Review, The Irish Times, The Stinging Fly, Litro Magazine, The Missouri Review, the Winter Papers, and other places. He is represented by James Wills at Watson, Little Ltd.