Jason Fischer is an award-winning writer and workshop facilitator, and is available to host writing workshops throughout South Australia. His workshops are fun and hands-on, and participants leave energised and brimming with ideas.
His workshops are suitable for all ages. Jason has delivered writing workshops for libraries, writers centres, secondary schools and in the more adventurous of bookshops. You’ve never learnt writing like this before!
Some examples of Jason’s workshops can be found below. Please contact him on mail@jasonfischer.com.au to discuss his availability and his rates.
Fast Characters, Fast Stories
A repeat favourite, this workshop uses group brainstorming techniques and the use of deepfake images and random elements to build fully rounded characters, link them together and generate a satisfying plot – all in 30-60 minutes! Guaranteed to get the whole room involved. Suitable for all ages.
Everything Happens In This Town
Dipping into everything from sleepy English murder mysteries through to “How to Train Your Dragon”, this workshop is about making small settings. The group will completely brainstorm, create and describe one location and the surrounding environment, and just how this place effects everyone who lives there. Participants will end with a complete and fully functioning setting suitable for any number of stories, as well as the rulebook for creating their own small setting.
Ninja Editing!
Half of writing is rewriting, and in this workshop Jason will guide participants through some quick and fast rules to improve any manuscript. Participants will get a chance to compete for a prize by being the best at editing a section from the infamously awful story “The Eye of Argon”.
Roll Up Role Playing for Character Creation
What can role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons teach us about character creation in fiction? In this workshop award-winning author Jason Fischer will walk you through how to use generic RPG stats and the character creation process to develop interesting characters with compelling strengths and weaknesses.
This is a hands-on and fun workshop aimed at challenging your creative process and providing you with alternative character creation techniques. But be warned – there will be bucket loads of dice!
Participants will learn:
- Stats and Dice – how to roll up classic RPG stats for a challenging character.
- Min/Maxing – superstar characters need not apply! Why a flawed/weak character is inherently more interesting.
- Character strengths and weaknesses and how to use them in storytelling.
- Character classes – how to use the story of “what people do here” to begin fleshing out your setting.
Welcome to World-Building!
Do you dream of creating your own written universe where all the rules are made by you? Are you imagining a world of dragons, or a space station where aliens meet and trade? If so then Aurealis Award-winning writer Jason Fischer will guide you through the steps needed to create your own world and setting, either to kick-start your own stories and comics, or just for fun.
This workshop is a hands on and interactive way to learn how to build worlds with words, and will involve drawing maps, creating creatures, and talking about the natural laws observed by writers when creating their fantasy settings.
Suitable for beginners and writers at any level interested in learning creative ways to enhance their world building skills.
Testimonials:
“Jason delivered an energetic and multifaceted workshop to our year 11 students. He mixed anecdotes from his life as a writer with useful writing games and tasks. Students were engaged and inspired by the session which supported their learning in English.” – Catherine Carter, Brighton Secondary School
“Jason came to our school to share his experiences as a writer. He had our students engaged from the start by using his roulette wheel of characters and asking them who would win the fight? The students were thoroughly engrossed in the discussions, sharing ideas and opinions and excited to create shared stories” – Fiona Papps, Lonsdale Heights Primary School
“It has really helped us to visualise and build on our characters and plan plots that tell the characters backstories, why they respond in certain ways and how a story builds to hook the reader before finding a resolution”. Yr 5/6 class, Lonsdale Heights Primary School
“Jason has shown us how to build our own stories, from deciding on characters, setting and a problem and how to make the story more exciting and dramatic’”. – Yr 5/6 class, Lonsdale Heights Primary School
‘Fun and interactive. We need this type of workshop more often!’
‘I really enjoyed the interaction with fellow writers in the room.’
– Writers SA Workshop participants