The writing craft – creating characters that are alive on the page and to build narrative tension

Drawing on more than five years of experience working with school-aged new arrivals to Australia, many from refugee backgrounds, author Ingrid Laguna will carry out engaging and stimulating tasks and activities that support students to improve their understanding of well-crafted writing.

Ingrid will introduce engaging texts written from diverse perspectives, including her novel Songbird, about a young Iraqi refugee and her struggle to fit in at school in Melbourne.

Topics Covered:

• Writing characters that are alive on the page.
• How to create and sustain narrative tension in your writing.
• The power of editing.
• Pathways to publication.
• Engage with Songbird, Ingrid’s novel about an Iraqi girl struggling to fit in at school in Melbourne.
• A range of inspiring writing tasks and activities, using writing prompts and model texts that feature diverse voices.