How To Be Unreliable: a creative writing workshop

In this workshop, we explore how to write a mind. How does perspective work in fiction? (How does it work in poetry, in memoir?) How can we write “believable” characters that are also interesting, surprising, and – in that natural, human way – unreliable?

We will play with ideas of voice, mood, sense, action, and dialogue. We will explore our characters’ thoughts and dreams, and uncover how to plot personhood over the course of a story, novel, or other structured writing project.

You will be guided by short story writer, Georgina Parfitt, who will ask you all about your own writing and aim to help you continue the projects you're working on. Sign up for extra feedback and you can submit a piece of writing for detailed feedback and coaching.

Workshop one

We will:

Think about why “unreliable” writing is so interesting, and share our experiences of living and writing through our own biases

Explore some of the best perspectival writing and how it was done

Start experimenting with unreliable narrators of our own

Workshop two

We will:

Experiment with more radical leaps into different perspectives

Use our unique memories as source material for writing unique scenes