Fiction

About Time: Where to Start, Stop and Jump

Time gives a story meaning, but for a writer everything is a choice. How do you determine what to choose and what to leave out? How do you decide how to tell your story?

Will it be told over one eventful summer, or span years, maybe decades? Will you go chronologically, or test your reader by jumping around? How will you describe events that happen previously that are essential to the plot? Where will you use summary, and where will a scene be slowed down so much that a single morning can last for pages?

In this friendly and supportive workshop inspired by ‘The Art of Time In Fiction’ by Joan Silber, we will look at the ways time can be used in a story. We will discuss the strengths and restrictions of different techniques. The group will consider examples from a variety of sources: CNF, short fiction and longer work. We will also have exercises to play with different temporal techniques, and the opportunity to create new work during the session.

What Participants Will Take Away

• understanding of the different ways time can unfold in a story
• understanding of how time can be used to convey meaning to your story
• examples of use of time in different styles of fiction
• new work based on playing with time in their writing

Suitable for all levels.

There will be an optional opportunity to share during the workshop.

Choose from two possible dates:

Saturday, September 9, 2023: 8 AM PDT / 11 AM EDT / 4 PM BST / 8:30 PM IST

About Instructor

Sarah M Jasat grew up believing her family was really odd but later discovered she was Indian. She lives in Leicester, UK, and writes short fiction about the weirdness of family. She dreams about writing a novel for older children if only she could get her own children to go to sleep. Twitter: @sarahmjasat

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Click here for the text version of the September 9 time zone map.