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Start to Write

w/ Miles Allinson

Have you always wanted to write fiction? Everyone needs to start somewhere and Start to Write is the course designed to get you across the basics, as you begin to generate ideas and get the very first words of your concept down on the page.

Saturday 10am – 4pm (AEDT), 8 November 2025

Faber Writing Academy at Kathleen Syme Library

Kathleen Syme Library
251 Faraday St,
Carlton VIC 3053

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$195/ $165.75 (alumni)


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In this one-day program, you’ll get the hands-on teaching you need to start writing fiction from Miles Allinson. Working with Miles, alongside your fellow classmates, you will:

  • Discover the tools you need to start writing
  • Overcome common problems shared by emerging writers
  • Understand some of the key fundamentals of writing fiction
  • Meet other aspiring writers starting out in a welcoming, supportive classroom.

This course is designed to help you foster ideas, play with structure and techniques, and get your words going – plus practical advice on ‘where to next’. Interactivity is encouraged throughout, and there will be space for questions and answers during each session.

Your course includes:

  • A complimentary copy of a recent A&U publication.
  • On Completion of the course, an alumni discount of 15% on future Faber Writing Academy courses, including Writing a Novel, and 20% books from the Allen & Unwin website.

 

Writers you'll be working with:

Miles Allinson

Miles Allinson is a writer from Melbourne. His first novel, Fever of Animals won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2014 among other prizes. His second novel In Moonland was published in 2021 and won the Age Book of the Year Prize for Fiction in 2022. He has a Bachelor of Creative Arts and a Post…

Course outline

Morning – Part 1: Freedom (The Ecstasy of Influence) 

  • Ways of beginning
  • Imitation and invention
  • Tapping the energy
  • Surprising yourself
  • Suspending disbelief
  • Finding your question
  • A rough first draft

Midday – Part 2: Form (Elements of Storytelling) 

  • Voice
  • Drama
  • Scene and summary
  • Showing and telling
  • Dialogue

Afternoon – Part 3: Generosity (Failing and Failing Better) 

  • Befriending your reader (or not)
  • Redrafting for economy, accuracy, and truth
  • Common mistakes and how to learn from them
  • What now?

This course is held in person at Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre, 251 Faraday Street Carlton VIC 3053. This class is not recorded or available to attend online.

The exact course content could be adjusted according to the experience and concerns of the group. The detail of the course is at the discretion of the Course Director and Faber Writing Academy at Allen & Unwin.

Praise for this course

“Loved it. Miles was generous and a great commentator.”

“I loved the relaxed atmosphere, it gently created a safe place for all the attendees.”

“I really liked the literary nature of the course. Definitely makes it different to other courses I have taken that have been more genre focussed.”

How to Book

Includes 10% tax