So you Want to... Develop your Characters by Using Landscape?

So you Want to... Develop your Characters by Using Landscape?

With Arianne James

Costs: $25 members, $40 non-members. Online booking fees also apply. To avoid paying fees, please phone KSP directly to book and pay by debit/ credit card: 9294 1872.

This workshop is brought to you by the KSP Writers' Centre with support from the Shire of Mundaring. Tea and coffee provided.

Ever wanted to learn how to harness the power of landscape to deepen your fictional characters? In this workshop you will learn about the array of possibilities landscape presents for character development, delving into how your character’s psychology and life experience might affect their perception of and response to their environment.

This workshop will also briefly delve into some helpful strategies around combating the fear and self doubt that can so often prevent us from creating and harnessing our true potential.

Aim: To explore and understand how psychology and landscape are intertwined, for writers to better develop their characters.

Studying psychology was hugely beneficial to my writing. I’m particularly interested in how our energy affects the energy of the landscape, and vice versa. For example, someone who has entered the bush in the wake of an argument, may view their surroundings as sinister or, depending on their personality, find comfort in the trees. Writers then, can use a character’s mood to help enrich their description of the landscape, even mobilising the landscape as though it is a character, or conversely, they might use their depiction of the landscape to reveal details of characters’ personalities.

In this age of social media and decreased attention spans due to instant gratification, it’s easy to forget humanity’s deep connection to nature. I find stories in which characters are shown to be influenced by landscape, or, have the landscape depicted in ways that respond to the psychology of characters, fascinating. If you have a character (or several), that you believe in but have been struggling to connect with, this is the workshop for you!

Target audience: Suited to those interested in writing fiction (all genres), and ideally with a character already under development.

Duration: 2 Hours

About the facilitator:

Arianne James is a writer of fiction and avid reader. Her stories have been published in The Hunter Writers Centre’s Grieve anthology, Swinburne University’s journals Backstory and Other Terrain and Corvid Queen magazine. Arianne holds a Bachelor of Behavioural Science (2017) and First-Class Honours in Creative Writing (2019) from the University of Tasmania. She works for TasWriters as their Project Coordinator. She was shortlisted for the Margaret Scott Young Writers Fellowship at the Tasmanian Literary Awards in 2022. Arianne currently hosts The Book Shelf on Edge Radio (99.3FM), where she interviews people from the Tasmanian literary community and beyond.

COVID-19 Advice

Hand sanitisers are provided and the event complies with capacity restrictions in accordance with a Covid Safety Plan.

We ask for your co-operation in preventing the spread of COVID-19 by complying with our following conditions of entry. Please do not attend KSP's premises if:

• you are feeling unwell
• you have been overseas in the last 14 days
• you have been tested for COVID-19 within the last 14 days
• you have COVID-19 or have been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19.

FAQs

What are my transport/parking options getting to the event?

There is a bus stop directly outside the Centre on Old York Road. The Centre is located on a residential street and looks like any other house: look for the 'Katharine’s Place' wooden plaque sign and bright green letterbox out front. Parking is available in the brick driveway and in front of the hedge, also on the upper gravel level (to the right of the house) and along the street. Overflow parking can be found down the gravel driveway to the immediate left of the house (look for the No Thoroughfare sign); please drive down here slowly.

What should I bring to the event?

Writing tools i.e. pen and paper, or a laptop if desired.

Where can I contact the organiser with any questions?

Phone the KSP Writers' Centre office 08 9294 1872 or email office@kspwriterscentre.com

Is my registration/ticket transferrable?

Sorry, tickets cannot be transferred.

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?

No. Check your name off at the door.

What is the cancellation and refund policy?

Please visit the KSP Writers' Centre website to view the Cancellation Policy: http://www.kspwriterscentre.com/workshops