Join us via Zoom on Saturday October 2, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for The Flesh Made Word / The Word Made Flesh. The virtual workshop is led by Waxhaw story master Kevin Winchester. Once you have registered you will receive the meeting link the reminder emails.
What is fiction but a story? Well then, what is story? At its most basic level, “story” is about a character—who they are, what they want, how they act in pursuit of that thing they most want. This workshop explores in detail all the elements of character building in fiction.We will begin with a questionnaire to help create, and learn more about, our character. As we get to know more about this character, we will explore aspects of how that character “exists,” acts, and reacts in a real, physical way on the page. The content is craft and technique based—the discussion revolving around character development and presentation through the use of dialogue in all its variations (indirect and direct, as action, text and subtext, specificity, pacing, vernacular, etc.), character presentation through direct and indirect methods, authorial and character interpretations, using conflicts in character presentation, elements of the Universal Paradox of Characters (the Individual, the Typical, and the Universal), a character’s purpose and its role, and creating levels of complexity.
Attendees finish the workshop with a fully developed character and several ideas for propelling that character forward into a fully realized story. Perhaps more importantly, attendees will leave with the tools for applying these techniques to future work nestled comfortably in their “writer’s toolbox.” For best results, attendees will be provided links to readings, excerpts, and/or short stories to read prior to the workshop. These selections will be used as examples and discussed throughout the workshop. Handouts are provided during the workshop. Attendees should bring their personal writing materials with them.
Bio:
Kevin Winchester is The 2013 winner of the Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize, author of a collection of short stories and first novel Sunflower Dog: Dancing the Flathead Shuffle (published in 2020) won a Silver Medal for regional fiction from the Independent Publisher’s Association.
He has published additional work in a variety of literary magazines: Tin House, Gulf Coast, Barren Magazine, StorySouth, Barrelhouse, Dead Mule, Barren Magazine and the anthologies Everything But the Baby and Making Notes: Music of the Carolinas. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University, and teaches writing at Wingate University. When he’s not writing, teaching, playing in the band Flatland Tourists, or hanging with his family, he’s hiking, riding his Harley, or working in his garden.
