Strangely Familiar: Language for Creative Writers
Are you secretly a bit bored with your writing group? Stalled in your practice and not getting anywhere with write, share, repeat? Want your prose to feel more alive on the page but don’t know what to do next?
This is the workshop for you. It provides you with an approach to creative writing that you won’t get elsewhere.
With my workshops, you’ll learn how to:
See patterns in language you’ve never noticed before
Understand why they matter to your craft
Harness this knowledge to achieve the results you really want in your writing
So if you want to:
Break old habits and experiment with style as a deliberate choice
Achieve effects with language you didn’t realise were possible
Sharpen your revising and editing skills
Join me for this 2-hour workshop. We meet on-line via Zoom. The workshop runs in September, December, March, and June in the early evening. Workshops are themed and focus on perennial challenges, such as:
Dialect, variety and authenticity
Writing different minds
Using today’s English to evoke the past
Suggesting alien languages in science fiction
The workshop is suitable for creative writers at any level, from aspiring to expert. We concentrate on prose fiction, but poets, dramatists, and screen writers are most welcome. 18+ only. Prices are in the region of £30 per person.
Want to Know More?
Not convinced yet? Here are more good reasons to choose me as your workshop guide.
A former academic, I’ve written two books on language and style: Language in Science Fiction and Fantasy and Twentieth-Century Drama Dialogue as Ordinary Talk.
I’ve also published on weird -y suffixes in Buffy the Vampire Slayer; dialect in Sheila Quigley’s Bad Moon Rising; Chinese-English code-switching in Firefly, Seven-of-Nine’s language in Star Trek Voyager; and language and power in Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter. For a full list of my publications, click here.
I bring to this workshop a lifetime of expertise in the language of fiction and a discovery-based approach to training that makes linguistics engaging and accessible for audiences with no prior knowledge. I keep the jargon to a minimum and you get only the technical detail you need.
You’ll walk away with fresh ideas to level up your prose that you can put into action immediately.
Still Not Convinced?
Here’s what people say about my workshops.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I used Susan’s work in a lot of my MA assignments, and have met her a few times at a local writing group. She’s great and her knowledge works! It’s refreshing to see an academic speak about genre writing and not focus on lithic. You should think about taking advantage of her knowledge and experience.” – Stephen McGowan, Creative Writer and Author ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “A brilliant masterclass covering the linguistic and technical aspects of character and conversation.” - Nicholas Robinson, Writer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Susan’s sessions are always a highlight of my writing calendar. They are so well-structured, well-researched and entertaining.” — Helen Wilco, King Ink CIC ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Dr Susan Mandala has a gift for explaining the mysteries of writing. After a session with her I feel that I can bring more variety into my writing”. - Chris Hodgson, Workshop Participant ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️