Creating Great Characters and Dialogue with R.W.R. McDonald

Learn the secrets of great dialogue and characters that come to life.

Great characters and dialogue are intertwined - you can’t have one without the other. In this workshop we will be getting to know your characters on a deeper level. Through class exercises we will interrogate your characters and your dialogue. Workshop lessons for the day will cover how to improve your dialogue, turning bland into realistic, and ensuring your character’s personality shines through. By the end of the day you will leave with a new set of tools for your writer's toolbox that you can apply to your own writing.

This workshop is held as part of GenreCon 2023: Forbidden Doors' Friday schedule of workshops. For more information and to book for the GenreCon 2023 program, visit www.genrecon.com.au.

Learning Outcomes

• Create and develop engaging characters.
• Understand the connection between character and dialogue.
• Apply examples and writing exercises to evaluate and improve dialogue in their writing.
• Reflect on their current writing practice when it comes to dialogue and subtext.

Format

This is a hybrid workshop held as part of GenreCon 2023, with a focus on craft; it will be held in-person at State Library of Queensland and live streamed simultaneously to an online audience. It is a level 1 course for writers of all levels: beginners, intermediate and emerging.

About R.W.R. McDonald 

R.W.R. McDonald (Rob) is an award-winning Kiwi author, living in Melbourne, Australia, with his two daughters and one HarryCat. His debut novel, The Nancys, won Best First Novel in the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards, and shortlisted in the 2020 Ned Kelly Awards with the screen rights optioned. Nancy Business, his second novel, has been longlisted for the 2022 Ngaio Marsh Awards, Best Novel.

For more information about Queensland Writers Centre’s Program of Events and answers to FAQs, please visit: www.queenslandwriters.org.au/program-info