Finding the Plot: Writing Workshop with Heather Ivatt

Solving plot holes and other plotting problems in your writing. THE WORKSHOP: The plot of your manuscript is that wonderful machine of interconnecting cogs: when they work well, the experience is smooth and everything does what it’s supposed to do – but what do you do when one of those cogs gets stuck? What if it’s broken or misshapen? Whether it’s making your story a bit glitchy or stopping it from moving altogether, this workshop will focus on an Ivatt Editorial approach to solving plot holes that involves four key steps: 1) Find it: identifying the issue – is it what it seems on the surface, or is it more? 2) Filter it: work out possible solutions and decide on which one is best. 3) Fix it: solve the problem (and watch out for any sneaky knock-on effects’ 4) Feel it out: testing the plot to make sure it works. The first half of the workshop will cover the above, but the second half will be a chance for attendees to bring plot holes from their own work to practice the four Fs and find ways to solve their plotting problems. Whatever stage your writing is at, and no matter your experience, you’ll come away from this session with a slightly different approach to resolving plotting issues based on change management and continuous improvement techniques. There will be a handy handout with some tools you can use in your own time, and hopefully you’ll leave with some ways out of whatever tangle your plot has found itself in! THE TUTOR: Heather Ivatt runs the Ivatt Editorial Consultancy, a fantasy-fiction-focused consultancy that offers bespoke services and a unique editing approach. Using her experience as a change manager, she has designed a service that focuses on managing the rippling impacts of editorial changes. You can find her on Instagram and TikTok (@ivattedits), where she talks about her services, about writing and editing fantasy fiction, and other events she gets involved in. THE DETAILS: This event will be held in the Boardroom at Broadway Cinema, which can be found by heading right at the reception desk and up via the lift/stairs to Floor 2. The room is located at the back of the building. Contact [email protected] if you need any more info.