Startingto write short stories: An online workshop with Stuart Evers
Itis a common misconception that writing a short story is easier than crafting(构思) a longer form piece of fiction. Though they have fewer words, as awriter you have less time and space on the page to both capture the imaginationof your readers and craft a journey for your characters that has a beginning,middle and end.
Inthis highly practical workshop with awardwinning writer Stuart Evers, you willknow about the fundamentals of the short story writing—from building tension tocreating a current of events that invites interest—for constructing a storythat has the emotional heft of a novel, as well as breathing life intocharacters that are authentic and full.
Regardlessof your skillset or experience, under Stuart's expert guidance, you will takethe first crucial steps in short storytelling so that you will have a newfoundconfidence in your ability to continue crafting short stories, far beyond thecourse.
Course content
Whatmakes a short story?
Howto generate ideas for short stories
Howto turn something from a situation into a story
Writingtechniques that can be put into practice instantly
Postclasslearning material that includes short story reading list
Course Details
Tuesday,28 February 2023, 6 p．m.9 p．m. GMT
￡80 plus ￡4.25 booking fee
Acatchup recording will be shared after the class and will be available for twoweeks.
Thismasterclass is available globally. If you are joining us from outside theUnited Kingdom, you will be sent a link to the workshop 24 hours and 30 minutesbefore the start time.
Itis an unpleasant extinction that will change the world and how peoplecommunicate: within 20 years, two thirds of all the planet's languages will bedead.
Expertsagree that nothing can stop it happening but one academic is trying her hardestto slow it down. Professor Antonella Sorace is one of a growing number whobelieve learning a second language has enormous untapped benefits for the humanbrain. This is true not only for young children but also for adults and peopleat risk from dementia(痴呆), where researchconsistently shows that learning a new language could delay the start of thedisease for four to five years—a better result than with any medication todate.
Itis those benefits of bilingualism(双语) that shouldencourage us to preserve and protect Europe's minority languages—Gaelic, Manx,Cornish and Ulster Scots, she says.
Alreadyher work and the project she founded three years ago in Edinburgh BilingualismMatters—now expanding across Europe and in the US—have convinced the Scottishgovernment to introduce languages to primary schools. From 2023 all Scottishchildren will be learning a language other than English in their first year atschool, with two other languages to be introduced later.
BilingualismMatters is also working to encourage businesses to consider the benefits oftheir staff learning languages. "In business, people say ‘English is thelanguage of business, why would I need to learn another language？'" said Sorace. "Maybe it would mean you could do betterbusiness."
Justas disappearing forests take with them secrets of undiscovered medicines,disappearing languages can take the key to a longer and better quality of life.The first battle is to unpick the popular assumption that bilingualism mightdamage children's brains. There were even suggestions it could encourageschizophrenia(精神分裂症).
Studyafter study has shown the opposite to be true, says Sorace. "Theseprejudices are deeply rooted, but we are perhaps halfway to persuading peoplethat the brain can cope. Then we have to persuade people that it is actually ofbenefit."
Thereis such a thing as a free lunch, it turns out, as long as you don't mind toomuch what it is. Tamara Wilson found hers a few streets away from her westLondon home—and as well as picking up some unwanted bread and fruit that wouldotherwise be thrown away, she made a new friend.
Wilsonis one of 3.4 million people around the world using an app designed toencourage people to give away rather than throw away surplus(剩余的) food. "It's such a small thing, but it makes me feel good andmy neighbour feel good. And a lot of small acts can end up making a bigdifference, " she said.
Thelast few years have seen an explosion in creative ways to tackle food waste bylinking supermarkets, cafés, restaurants and individual households to localcommunities. Olio, the app used by Wilson, saw a fivefold increase in listingsduring 2022, and the signs are that this rapid growth is continuing into 2023,said Tessa Clarke, its CEO and cofounder.
Abouta third of all food produced globally is wasted, according to the UN's Food andAgriculture Organisation (FAO). Almost 1.4 billion hectares of land—close to30% of the world's agricultural land—is dedicated to producing food that isnever eaten, and the carbon footprint of food wastage makes it the thirdcontributor of CO2. Reducing food waste is one of the most effectiveways of tackling the global climate crisis.
Olio,Clarke said, was an attempt to change this on a small, local scale. "Theapp connects people with others who have surplus food but don't have anyone togive it to because so many people are disconnected from their communities."Users of Olio post images of surplus food that others in the neighbourhoodmight want. Olio also has a network of 24, 000 volunteers who collect surplusfood from local supermarkets and stores for app users to claim.
Despitethe success of the app, it was hard to make a difference to the huge scale offood waste, Clarke added. "Even though we're doing well, we've onlyscratched the surface(触及表面). But if everyonemakes small changes in the world, we'd dramatically reduce the amount of foodthat ends up in bins(垃圾桶)."
Whilethe benefits of Zoom and other videoconferencing tools made them absolutelyessential in the pandemic(疫情), the researchsuggests that heavy reliance on the technology comes at a cost to creativethinking.
Brucksat Columbia University and her team started their investigation when managersreported having trouble innovating with remote workers. Brucks doubted whethervideoconferencing was a factor, suspecting that difficulties coordinating(协调) large, global teams online might be to blame instead.
Tofind out, the researchers analysed ideas for new products generated by 1, 490engineers for a multinational company. The engineers, who were in Finland,Hungary, India, Israel and Portugal, were randomly paired up and given an houror so to brainstorm products either in person or over videoconferencing. Theythen selected their best idea.
Writingin Nature, the researchers reportthat the engineers produced more ideas, and more innovative ideas, when workingface to face. "They are not only generating a larger number of creativeideas, but their best idea is better, " Brucks said. Virtual teams werejust as good at selecting the best ideas from a bunch as those that met inperson.
"Visualfocus is a huge component of cognitive(认知) focus. When you'refocused on the screen and ignoring the rest of the environment, that affectshow you approach the task, " said Brucks. "It's uniquely bad forcreativity because it's inhibiting broader exploration."
Bruckssaid the impact on the real world "could be huge", leading to adivision of labour between facetoface and virtual meetings that could "permanentlyreshape the office and work schedules". But she urged businesses to becautious, because if virtual meetings are cheaper than inperson ones, they maystill be more costeffective.
Askedfor tips, Brucks said people could save more creative tasks for inpersonmeetings, or turn off their camera when coming up with ideas. "I think itunlocks more creative thinking, " she said.
Peoplehave tried everything to get more sleep. But unlike almost every other area oflife, effort is not rewarded. The more you try, the less you are likely to succeed. Here are some ways to improve your sleep that might just work.
There is nothing you can do between now and bedtime to guarantee that you will sleep tonight. There is, however, plenty you can start doing to improve yourchances of sleeping well next month. So instead of worrying about the night ahead, make sleeping well a long term goal and expect to see progress in a few weeks rather than tomorrow.
Have a late night. Adults need to be awake for at least 16 hours to generate enoughsleepdrive to sleep for eight hours at night. Having an early night can meanyou won't be sleepy enough to fall asleep quickly and easily. Don't pay too much attention to the exact times or the hours of sleep you are getting—the details don't matter. And don't take naps(小睡) in the day.
Smile more. Smiling can reduce tension and promote relaxation. As you turn the light out at night, try to think of something funny and smile to yourself in the dark. Even a fake smile is enough to send a message to the brain to change your mood and retrain the brain to be comfortable with being awake, thus reducing tension and allowing sleep to follow.
Stop reading articles about sleep. None of the researching, monitoring or analyzing actually leads to better sleep. In fact, constantly looking for a solution is undoubtedly making things worse. Make this the last article you read on the subject, then go and find something more interesting to think about.
A. Try to stay awake at night.
B. In fact, it is actively punished.
C. Give up trying to sleep tonight.
D. So give sleep less of your attention.
E. They take the edge off your appetite for sleep.
F. It doesn't have to be a genuine, heartfelt smile.
G. You have to do things differently to get a different outcome.
At20, I was scared and lonely. My laptop was filled with the beginning of novels,halffinished song lyrics(歌词)—things I'd startedwith teenage 1 only to be disappointed by my lack ofcreativity. I was 2 trying to find a new way to approach life,with no one to 3 mein the right direction.
OneSaturday, I went to a training day for my school's new journalism team. Theteacher suggested I start a blog as a good way to get into 4.Bored and in need of a 5, I immediately set up a Blogger account.
AsI typed post after post in the months that followed, I assumed I would run outof 6. But somehow writing about the news and,later, about 7, came easily. Here was somethinginteresting that required only a laptop and an 8.I loved the research that went into each post, loved being able to 9 what interested me and loved finding just theright phrase to describe how I 10. I found something I was good at andmore importantly, something I 11.
Ikept posting and slowly I got better. I 12,edited and even learned how to employ a metaphor. It wasn't long until my mindwas made up: I was going to be a(n) 13.
Sevenyears later, I am. Having just completed a fantastic placement(实习) in a local newspaper, I have never been so 14 to my younger self for actually listening tothe one piece of advice that turned out to 15 most.
Hometo the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Lancang rivers, the Sanjiangyuanarea on the QinghaiTibet Plateau(青藏高原) is known as "China'swater tower". It is a (whole) unique plateau wetland ecosystem andserves as important ecological defense for the country.
Decadesago, serious environmental degradation(恶化) in Sanjiangyuan, was caused by climate change and human activities, resulted in a largenumber of lakes drying out and wildlife numbers falling sharply. In 2016, thepilot program for the Sanjiangyuan National Park management system(launch). Through painstaking practice, development and innovation, effortshave been made (turn) the park into a symbol of the progress of China'secological civilization.
Overthe past years, the ecological environment of the QinghaiTibet Plateau(experience) comprehensive changes. Water conservation in the area hasrisen 11 percent every year, compared with 10 years ago.
Localresidents enjoy the gifts given by nature, and the (establish) of thenational park has enabled them to transform from exploiting(开发) nature to becoming its protectors and benefiting from it. Somework as tour guides, (assist) visitors from home and abroad.
Today,as people walk on the vast land of Sanjiangyuan, looking at the expansivemountains, glaciers, lakes and pastures, catching sight of wild animalsand birds, they cannot help but be impressed by the vastness and beauty ofnature.
On Saturday, we gathered at the hall to witness the award ceremony for the senior scouts(童子军). Receiving an award on such a day was a great honor for any scout, and all desired to be the scout selected to give the summary of the year's activities for the association.
I was not the one selected to give the summary and for that, I was grateful. I could hardly stand in front of a large crowd to make a speech, but Sean could. He was selected to do the honor because he was the President of the Boy Scouts for schools. My job was much simpler. Being the VicePresident, I was very much behind the scenes, content to ensure that everything was in smooth running order.
It was an hour to go before the ceremony began, and I had put the finishing touches to the stage. Walking down the stage, I saw my teammates in a state of panic. When they saw me, they ran to me to tell me that Sean met with a traffic accident and would not make it to the award ceremony. Someone else had to give the summary. All of them looked hopefully at me, and I could feel my knees beginning to collapse.
All their arguments against my unwillingness were valid. I had a copy of the speech as well as the benefit of having seen Sean rehearse(排练) it. I was the VicePresident and therefore should take his place. Finally, I was firmly told not to decline any longer and they said that they were convinced that I would do the right thing. I sank down onto the floor, totally shocked by the situation.
I knew I was not a confident speaker, and the thought of presenting a summary in front of so many distinguished guests horrified me. To think that the fame of the scouts would take a beating because of me! The burden of responsibility troubled me greatly.
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But there was really no way out of the situation.
As I stood on the stage, my heart beat violently.
