workshopWriting Masterclass: Strengthen Your Narrative Drive
Master the Art of Page-Turning Storytelling with Bestselling Author Ashley Kalagian Blunt
Join bestselling author author Ashley Kalagian Blunt to learn a set of practical tools and techniques to help you craft both gripping scenes and a compelling story arc.
DATE: Wednesday, 7/2/25, 6-8pm ET
WHERE: Zoom (a replay will be available for attendees who can’t apply live)
COST: $79 ($59 early bird)
You've crafted compelling characters and a solid plot — but something's still missing.
Readers aren't turning pages like you hoped. Beta readers say they "put it down and forgot to pick it back up."
The missing ingredient? Narrative drive.
This invisible force separates manuscripts that agents reject from ones they can't put down. It's what makes readers need to know how your story turns out, regardless of genre.
In this comprehensive 2-hour workshop, bestselling author Ashley Kalagian Blunt will teach you the specific techniques that transform ordinary manuscripts into page-turners.
In this 2-hour workshop, you’ll learn:
What suspense really means when it comes to writing (hint: even memoirs use it)
How you can use scene polarity to hook readers
What you need on every page of your manuscript (the more, the better)
How tension structures narrative – and what tension actually means
What the heck story loops are and how to ramp up yours
This workshop is perfect for:
Fiction writers whose manuscripts feel flat or lack momentum
Memoir writers who want to make their stories more compelling
Authors receiving feedback that their work is "slow to start" or lacks urgency
Writers preparing to query who want to ensure their pages are unputdownable
Anyone who wants to understand what makes readers keep turning pages
Meet your teacher
Ashley Kalagian Blunt is the number one bestselling author of Dark Mode, a psychological thriller.
Dark Mode was shortlisted for the 2024 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year, the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction, and the Danger Award for Debut Fiction. Her previous books are How to Be Australian (2020), a memoir, and My Name Is Revenge (2019), a thriller novella and collected essays.
Her writing appears in Griffith Review, Sydney Review of Books, Overland, Australian Book Review, The Sydney Morning Herald, Marie Claire, Openbook, Kill Your Darlings, and more.
Ashley is an award-winning speaker and has appeared at Sydney Writers’ Festival, Brisbane Writers’ Festival, Story Club and more, and is a Moth StorySLAM winner. She is the co-host of James and Ashley Stay at Home, a podcast about writing, creativity and health, and was a judge in the 2020 Writing NSW Varuna Fellowship.
She also teaches a range of creative writing courses and mentors emerging writers. She has a decade of experience in teaching and curriculum design, working with children and adults, and has a Master of Research in creative writing.
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