MET workshops

Creative voice strengtheners: fiction craft techniques to make your nonfiction writing more engaging

This three-hour workshop asks: what keeps a reader engaged when reading a text, and what techniques can we borrow from the fiction craft toolbox to deepen or strengthen engagement with nonfiction genres? In reply, we will discuss a range of fiction craft techniques and theoretical tools that can be applied to certain nonfiction genres of writing. Participants will then use these on other people’s writing in structured exercises and on their own writing in free exercises. This workshop is based on all new material; it is not an expansion of my METM25 presentation.

Facilitator: Andrew Hodges

Purpose: To teach a set of fiction craft techniques and tools to editors, writers and translators working in academic and commercial fields that can benefit from creative nonfiction approaches. Suitable fields include museums, art, literature, marketing and, to a lesser degree, any informative materials written for a general audience.

Description: The workshop will start with a creative writing prompt, to which participants will draft a short creative response. They will not have to share their response publicly but will use it as raw material for later exercises and discussion during the workshop.

The first half of the workshop will focus on structural editing and four kinds of “narrative glue” that can keep a reader engaged: tension, curiosity, wish fulfilment and insight, with suggestions for how nonfiction writers can use these techniques to pique reader interest.

The second half will cover sentence-level techniques – working with rhythm, flow, style, tone and voice – with examples from popular novels and creative nonfiction. To conclude, participants will use voice strengtheners in exercises to refine voice in their own and others’ texts.

Participant profile: This workshop is for editors and translators interested in learning about how fiction works or in applying fiction craft techniques to their creative or commercial nonfiction fields. The workshop will especially suit editors and translators who work on public-facing or published materials in the following areas: museums, art, literature, marketing and academic writing.

Participants should bring either a laptop or a pen and paper. Handouts will be provided at the start of the workshop for participants who prefer to work on paper. All material and discussion will relate to English. Many of the techniques can be applied to texts written in other languages.

Outcome: Participants will learn a mixture of introductory and intermediate-level fiction craft techniques and apply them to nonfiction writing. Those new to editing will gain insight into the difference between structural (developmental) editing and sentence-level (line/copy) editing.

Preparation: Participants are welcome to look at the handouts beforehand, and the short examples of texts provided there, but preparation is not essential. Participants will be provided with a list of resources and courses they can use to further deepen their knowledge.

About the facilitator: Dr Andrew Hodges is a developmental and copy editor of fiction and cultural anthropology. They edit fantasy-fiction novels with interesting myth-making or world-building and cultural anthropology projects with strong social justice elements. They have a PhD in social anthropology from the University of Manchester and completed editorial training with the University of Chicago and the CIEP. They are a member of MET, the CIEP, the EFA, the British Fantasy Society, and the LGBTQ+ Editors Association.