Thursday 17 November 2016

Spec Fic: Writing the Future with Helen Hagemann @ the Fremantle Arts Centre, Friday, 25th November, 1pm-3pm.  This workshop is designed to help writers think about ways in which we might look further ahead into the future and be slightly prophetic in our speculative fiction / sci-fi. We will read an extract from The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver set in the years 2029- 2047. Writing exercises will involve looking at some of the individual posibiblities that Shriver raises in her work. And being our last class of the year we may even discuss 2017 before it arrives!

Venue: Fremantle Arts Centre, Upstairs Room 3.
Time: 1-3pm. What to bring:  Notepad, pen, laptop or iPad
Cost:  OOTA $20  - NON-OOTA $25 (ask for membership form to save).  
Please note: No credit card facility and new attendees who arrive without the class fee will be asked to pay on the day via direct debit transfer. For information on joining OOTA and what we do, please visit our website http://ootawriters.com  

The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver
The year is 2029, and nothing is as it should be. The very essence of American life, the dollar, is under attack. In a coordinated move by the rest of the world’s governments, the dollar loses all its value. The American President declares that the States will default on all its loans–prices skyrocket, currency becomes essentially worthless, and we watch one family struggle to survive through it all.

The Mandibles can count on their inheritance no longer, and each member must come to terms with this in their own way–from the elegant expat author Nollie, in her middle age, returning to the U.S. from Paris after many years abroad, to her precocious teenage nephew Willing, who is the only one to actually understand the crisis, to the brilliant Georgetown economics professor Lowell, who watches his whole vision of the world disintegrate before his eyes.

Saturday 5 November 2016

Divided narrative in Gone Girl
Workshop: Split Narratives in Fiction with Helen Hagemann @ the Fremantle Arts Centre, Friday, 11th November, 1pm-3pm.  This workshop will look at the choice writers can make by dividing their stories between two (or more) characters. The class is suitable for the novelist and also the short story writer. Writing exercises will revolve around telling one story, but from the different perspectives of two characters.

Venue: Fremantle Arts Centre, Upstairs Room 3.
Time: 1-3pm. What to bring:  Notepad, pen, laptop or iPad
Cost:  OOTA $20  - NON-OOTA $25 (ask for membership form to save).  
Please note: No credit card facility and new attendees who arrive without the class fee will be asked to pay on the day via direct debit transfer. For information on joining OOTA and what we do, please visit our website http://ootawriters.com 

A split narrative allows both sides of a story to be told: particularly handy if the author is seeking to explore issues like the lies we tell ourselves (and others), or the ways in which events are inevitably filtered through our experiences, our pasts, our moods. Gone Girl does this by splitting the narrative between Nick and Amy, two partners in a strained marriage.
Reference: http://www.aliventures.com/split-narratives/

Monday 24 October 2016


Workshop: Writing Narrative Puzzles with Helen Hagemann @ the Fremantle Arts Centre, Friday, 28th October, 1pm-3pm.  This workshop will look at the process of writing narrative puzzles that are used mainly in games, however from the writer's point of view the practice is essentially the same as plotting your fiction. Writing exercises will prompt writers to solve the various puzzles in their writing.

Venue: Fremantle Arts Centre, Upstairs Room 3.
Time: 1-3pm. What to bring:  Notepad, pen, laptop or iPad
Cost:  OOTA $20  - NON-OOTA $25 (ask for membership form to save). Please note: No credit card facility and new attendees who arrive without the class fee will be asked to pay on the day via direct debit transfer. For information on joining OOTA and what we do, please visit our website http://ootawriters.com 

Sunday 18 September 2016


A workshop on Setting, Character and Plot with Marlish Glorie Friday 14th October 1.00 - 3.00 p.m.*
 
Setting, characters, and plot are the three support legs stories are built on.
A novel needs all three legs to be strong and steady.  My workshop will be focusing on writing exercises to develop participants’ skill at writing stories that establish setting, while concurrently revealing character and plot.
 
Tutor Biography
Marlish Glorie is a novelist and playwright. She has had two published novels, The Bookshop on Jacaranda Street and Sea Dog Hotel, and is currently working on her third. A number of her plays have also been produced. She is a popular teacher of creative writing and mentors young and emerging novelists.
 
*Marlish would love to see you all there!  Fremantle Arts Centre, Uptairs Room 3. Class fees OOTA $20/ NON OOTA $25*


No class means I'll be bored!

Dear Writers
While I'm away on leave, please note the following classes and dates for Writing at the Centre and for reasons beyond our control the Fremantle Arts Centre do not have a room for us during the Sep/Oct holidays.
 
*SEPTEMBER*
Friday 30th Class XXLD - School holidays - no room available
*OCTOBER*
Prose Friday 14th 1pm-3pm with Marlish Glorie
Prose Friday 28th 1pm-3pm with Helen Hagemann
 
*A workshop on Setting, Character and Plot with Marlish Glorie Friday 14th
October 1.00p.m.-3.00 p.m.*

 
Setting, characters, and plot are the three support legs stories are built
on.
 
A novel needs all three legs to be strong and steady.  My workshop will be
focusing on writing exercises to develop participants’ skill at writing
stories that establish setting, while concurrently revealing character and
plot.
 
 
Tutor Biography
 
Marlish Glorie is a novelist and playwright. She has had two published
novels, The Bookshop on Jacaranda Street and Sea Dog Hotel, and is
currently working on her third. A number of her plays have also been
produced. She is a popular teacher of creative writing and mentors young
and emerging novelists.
 
 

Friday 9 September 2016


The Short Story Revision Workshop 5 with Helen Hagemann @ the Fremantle Arts Centre, Friday, 16th September, 1pm-3pm.  This workshop will review Freytag's Pyramid as a model for the short story and it's plot.  This is the last in the series, so we will read the short story The Swimmer by John Cheever: a story that moves away from the conventional yet adds something interesting, bizarre and quirky.  Writing exercises will help the writer experiment with non-traditional forms of the short story.

Venue: Fremantle Arts Centre, Upstairs Room 3.
Time: 1-3pm. What to bring:  Notepad, pen, laptop or iPad
Cost:  OOTA $20  - NON-OOTA $25 (ask for membership form to save). Please note: No credit card facility and new attendees who arrive without the class fee will be asked to leave. For information on joining OOTA and what we do, please visit our website http://ootawriters.com 

Analyzing a story's plot: Freytag's Pyramid
Gustav Freytag was a Nineteenth Century German novelist who saw common patterns in the plots of stories and novels and developed a diagram to analyze them. He diagrammed a story's plot using a pyramid like the one shown here:


Freytag's Pyramid
1. Exposition: setting the scene. The writer introduces the characters and setting, providing description and background.
2. Inciting Incident: something happens to begin the action. A single event usually signals the beginning of the main conflict. The inciting incident is sometimes called 'the complication'.
3. Rising Action: the story builds and gets more exciting.
4. Climax: the moment of greatest tension in a story. This is often the most exciting event. It is the event that the rising action builds up to and that the falling action follows.
5. Falling Action: events happen as a result of the climax and we know that the story will soon end.
6. Resolution: the character solves the main problem/conflict or someone solves it for him or her.
7. Dénouement: (a French term, pronounced: day-noo-moh) the ending. At this point, any remaining secrets, questions or mysteries which remain after the resolution are solved by the characters or explained by the author. Sometimes the author leaves us to think about the THEME or future possibilities for the characters.
You can think of the dénouement as the opposite of the exposition: instead of getting ready to tell us the story by introducing the setting and characters, the author is getting ready to end it with a final explanation of what actually happened and how the characters think or feel about it. This can be the most difficult part of the plot to identify, as it is often very closely tied to the resolution.


Sunday 28 August 2016

The Short Story Revision Workshop 4 with Helen Hagemann @ the Fremantle Arts Centre, Friday, 2nd September, 1pm-3pm.  This workshop will look at writing the short story without a plot. We will read an extract of Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin: a short story that is not plot-driven, yet relies on the reader's ability to take in the narrative constructed in this way.  Writing exercises will help the writer construct a narrative arc;  one that creates meaning, yet also emphasizes and amplifies the story.
Venue: Fremantle Arts Centre, Upstairs Room 3.
Time: 1-3pm. What to bring:  Notepad, pen, laptop or iPad
Cost:  OOTA $20  - NON-OOTA $25 (ask for membership form to save). Please note: No credit card facility and new attendees who arrive without the class fee will be asked to leave. For information on joining OOTA and what we do, please visit our website http://ootawriters.com 

Sunday 14 August 2016


The Short Story Revision Workshop 3 with Helen Hagemann @ the Fremantle Arts Centre, Friday, 19th August, 1pm-3pm.  This workshop will look at the process of short story writing from creating the best hook for the beginning, your plot middle and the final resolution. We will brainstorm your work to help you enter either one, two or three stories in lieu of the upcoming competition. ie. Flash/Micro/Short Short Fiction to the Long Short Story. The OOTA Spilt Ink Competition 2016 closes on 31st August. This workshop will especially concentrate on entering a point of history and also binaries into your stories to add to the drama.
Venue: Fremantle Arts Centre, 
Time: 1-3pm. What to bring:  Notepad, pen, laptop or iPad
Cost:  OOTA $20  - NON-OOTA $25 (ask for membership form to save). Please note: No credit card facility and new attendees who arrive without the class fee will be asked to leave. For information on joining OOTA and what we do, please visit our website http://ootawriters.com 

Sunday 31 July 2016


The Short Story Revision Workshop 2 with Helen Hagemann @ the Fremantle Arts Centre, Friday, 5th August, 1pm-3pm.  This workshop will revise the varying elements of the short story concentrating this week on characters, as well as working towards a completion of 2-3 stories in lieu of the upcoming competition. ie. Flash/Micro/Short Short Fiction to the Long Short Story. The OOTA Spilt Ink Competition 2016 closes on 31st August. We will look at what makes a good story from an autobiographical POV turning 1st person (500 words) to a 1,500-3000 words story in 3rd person. Your story should have drama, or internal conflict and one that has an emotional engagement. In other words your story might be close to your heart, or that you have an investment in it.
Venue: Fremantle Arts Centre, 
Time: 1-3pm. What to bring:  Notepad, pen, laptop or iPad
Cost:  OOTA $20  - NON-OOTA $25 (ask for membership form to save). Please note: No credit card facility and new attendees who arrive without the class fee will be asked to leave. For information on joining OOTA and what we do, please visit our website http://ootawriters.com 

Sunday 17 July 2016

The Short Story Revision Workshop 1 with Helen Hagemann @ the Fremantle Arts Centre, Friday, 22nd July, 1pm-3pm.  This workshop will revise the varying short stories from Flash/Micro/Short Short Fiction to the Long Short Story. This will be ongoing for OOTA writers who are contemplating entering The Spilt Ink Competition 2016 that closes on 31st August. We will look at what makes a good story, the basic elements in each category as well as commencing a story that is possibly close to your heart, or that you have an investment in.
Venue: Fremantle Arts Centre, 
Time: 1-3pm. What to bring:  Notepad, pen, laptop or iPad
Cost:  OOTA $20  - NON-OOTA $25 (ask for membership form to save). Please note: No credit card facility and new attendees who arrive without the class fee will be asked to leave. For information on joining OOTA and what we do, please visit our website http://ootawriters.com 

Sunday 3 July 2016

Horror/Thriller Writing with Helen Hagemann @ the Fremantle Arts Centre, Friday, 8th July, 1pm-3pm.  This workshop will highlight the main elements of early horror writing in particular Robert Bloch's psychological thriller "Psycho". This will be a Part 1 in this series as the genre is quite diverse. Writers to read the most exciting and thrilling excerpts from this book. We will also look at the basic elements of horror writing as well as doing two writing exercises in the genre.
Venue: Fremantle Arts Centre, 
Time: 1-3pm. What to bring:  Notepad, pen, laptop or iPad
Cost:  OOTA $20  - NON-OOTA $25 (ask for membership form to save). Please note: No credit card facility and new attendees who arrive without the class fee will be asked to leave. For information on joining OOTA and what we do, please visit our website http://ootawriters.com 

The thriller/horror novel by Robert Bloch was first published in 1959, and is a great horror classic.
If by chance you  haven't seen the film, and happen to be in the dark regarding the book Psycho I will warn you not to go in the shower at the Bates Motel, or simply be careful of steaming hot showers. Nevertheless, you will enjoy its intriguing plot. If you are familiar with Alfred Hitchcock's movie version (released in 1960) then you will notice two obvious differences when reading the book, the first one is Norman's rather large size, and the shocker, well, the shower scene is actually a bit more grotesque.


The film Psycho was made in 1960 as an American psychological horror thriller, directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and written by Joseph Stefano, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, John Gavin, Vera Miles and Martin Balsam, and was based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The film centres on the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Leigh), who ends up at a secluded motel after stealing money from her employer, and the motel's disturbed owner-manager, Norman Bates (Perkins), and its aftermath.
Reference:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(novel)

POETRY CLASS TERMS 3-4, 2019

POETRY with Shane McCauley

JULY - DECEMBER
12th, Friday 1pm - early December 2019 1pm-3pm

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    Writing at the Centre is an independent writing class conducted each Friday at the Fremantle Arts Centre, Print Room, upstairs in the main building.

    PROSE CLASS TERMS 3-4, 2019

    Prose Classes with Chris Konrad
    Chris will work with you each Friday fortnight bringing with him his writing skills and expertise as a published writer and prize winner.
    Dates: Friday 28th June - early December 2019, 1pm - 3pm

    OOTA ANTHOLOGY 2019

    OOTA ANTHOLOGY 2019
    Theme: Place - Closing 31/3/2019

    Dorothy Hewett Exposed as a Miscreant

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