Story Seeds with Hilary Bell

Through a series of playful prompts, discover how to overcome the horror of the blank page by generating a bunch of fresh ideas.

Sometimes you’re hungry to start writing but can’t find the way into your subject. Or maybe you’ve got the itch but no ideas for content. This workshop is a frolicsome adventure using a variety of ‘found objects’ as entry points to a new story. They could include a mysterious photograph, or a household item, a myth or fairy tale, a piece of music, an anonymous letter... who knows? All that’s certain is that by the end of the day, you’ll have a handful of kernels ready to develop into stories.

Learning outcomes

As part of this workshop, you will:

• Detour around the anxiety of finding ideas.

• Learn what to do with an idea once you’ve found it.

• Discover the pleasure of collaborating.

• Connect with the joy of using your imagination.

• Take home methods of kickstarting your work.

Format

This is an in-person workshop with a focus on writing craft; it will be held at the State Library of Queensland. This workshop is suitable for writers of all levels and backgrounds.

About Hilary

Hilary Bell is a multi-award-winning playwright and lyricist. Her work has been produced around Australia, and internationally by theatres including Atlantic and Steppenwolf (USA), London’s National Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe. She won a scholarship to Juilliard’s playwriting program, was the 2003-04 Tennessee Williams Fellow in Creative Writing at Tennessee’s University of the South, and the 2013 Patrick White Playwriting Fellow at the STC. As well as Juilliard, Hilary is a graduate of NIDA and AFTRS, and a founding member of 7-ON Playwrights. With composer Greta Gertler Gold, she is currently writing a musical adaptation of ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’.

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