Kick start the creative process with free writing workshops

Media Release
2 May 2010

Kick start the creative process with free writing workshops

Give quake-brain the boot and kick start your writing with a weekend of free workshops from some of the country's leading authors, poets and publishers. Sponsored by Copyright Licensing Ltd and The New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc), the weekend will include tips to writing film scripts, how to craft a play, the steps to self-publishing on Kindle and exploring the hero's journey.

Event organiser, Jenny Haworth of New Zealand Society of Authors, says both Copyright Licensing Ltd and The New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc.) realised the importance of getting Cantabrians writing again. "The impact of stress on the creative process can stop writers in their tracks," she says. "I'm hearing from writers across the city that many feel they've hit a brick wall and don't know how to get started writing again." Ms Haworth says the 90-minute workshops will be a chance for writers to re-boot their creative brain.

"With writing talents such as Gavin Bishop, Press feature writer Martin Van Beynen and poet Karen Zelas on hand, it will be a weekend that fires up imaginations and will have Cantabrians putting pen to paper in no time. "Best of all, thanks to the sponsorship from Copyright Licensing Ltd and The New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc.) the workshops are all free," she says.

The workshops will explore the impact of the earthquakes on creative work and will include writing exercises to stimulate creativity and the expression of inner emotions.

The line up of presenters includes:
Saturday 26 May
10:15am Kathleen Gallagher (How to Write a Film Script) or Kathryn Taylor (Fiction Writing) 11:45am Gary Henderson (How to Craft a Play - how to write using the vocabulary of theatre, and translate from prose into theatre) or Karen Zelas (Writing Poetry) 1:15pm Gavin Bishop (Making Pictures that Tell a Story) 1:30pm Jenny Haworth (The Business of Writing - Planning your work for publication) 2:25pm Jillian Sullivan (The Hero's Journey - the importance of archetypes in fiction writing) Sunday 27 May 10:15am Martin van Beynen (Writing Non-fiction) 11:45am David Roys (How to Self-Publish a Kindle Novel) 1:30pm Rachel Scott (The World of Publishing)

Where: Community Meeting Room and Learning Centre Room 3, Upper Riccarton Library, 71 Main South Rd, Sockburn (check times and venue for Saturday workshops)

When: Saturday, 26 / Sunday, 27 May from 10:15am

What: Free writing workshops for Christchurch writers, new or established. Bring writing materials. For full programme details, see www.authors.org.nz
ends

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