Whether you are writing an historical recounting of Genghis Khan, or the career of a shoplifter in Burnaby, facts – the raw ingredients of your writing – will need to be discovered and dealt with. The pressure to get them ‘right’ is enormous, as writers imagine a panel of experts ready to tear their fictions to pieces. Yet while it’s important to be accurate, Chris (CC) Humphreys maintains that a fact’s true worth is in how it acts as a springboard for the imagination. How an item of period clothing, a sword parry, or a special festive gift wrapping can launch the character into revelation and adventure. Join him for a workshop where we uncover the facts, bend them, shape them, above all use them for forward momentum. Learn how to avoid the dreaded ‘info dump’, and create believable scenes where facts are deployed at the service of the story. Above all – learn how not to use research as procrastination!
