Creative Writing: Return of the Short Story

Ready, steady, go – be it fast fiction, flash fiction, a 100 word drabble or a longer piece for a magazine, regular publication or one of the various online anthologies on the scene. The short story is making a comeback - varied, rule-breaking and fun, interest in this once side-lined form is expanding. Writing a compelling short is a craft within itself and sometimes regarded as a ‘dark art’ - Does every word really need to count? When does the story really start? When should it end? We explore the varying forms, cross the genres and consider the outlets. There’s never been a better time to find inspiration and get motivated, if you have an idea for a story - now is the time. Confused by some of these terms, don’t be, we’ll explore the ins and out of the short story, including getting started and keeping going so that idea gets written and ends up hooking the reader. Just what knowledge and skills might the writer need to have handy in their ‘writer’s tool kit’ aside from inspiration. We get motivated and get writing, mixing group activity with individual writing tasks, feedback and discussion. There really is no excuse not to get writing!