TPL’s Summer 2021 Writer in Residence is Kate Cayley. Learn more about TPL’s Writer in Residence program.

“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

How do you shape a story? Do you outline meticulously, charting every move, or make it up as you go along? Follow a roadmap or constantly reinvent the wheel? What is plot? What is the journey of a character? How much do you need to think about theme, ambiguity, suspense, maintaining tension by withholding information from the reader? And what about repeat images, metaphors, sudden reveals and reversals? Do you need to know the ending before you begin, or do you work on hunches and surprise even yourself? What happens when you hit a wall and don’t know what comes next? Sometimes you have to feel your way forward in the dark, and sometimes you have to stop and figure out the steps, and fiction comes out of the balance between freedom and structure. Often you start off in one direction and end up somewhere else, but you need to figure out a few landmarks on the way. An informal talk and Q and A on structure and craft.

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Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks' notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

Structure and Outline: where to start and how to go on