inSCRIBE Bengaluru 2019
Narrative Non-Fiction Workshop
The Art of Narrative Non-Fiction
“Non-fiction writing is a state of mind, a way of life, an extra set of eyes and ears. It's a key that can open many doors, a passport to travel far and wide, an introduction to fascinating people, a guide to wonderful adventures, an excuse to ask any question you want, a reason to be curious and to learn, a way to reach out to readers and to the world."
—John M. Wilson, The Complete Guide to Magazine Article Writing
INSCRIPTIONS, India's only content and publishing consultancy firm of its kind, is pleased to announce the first inSCRIBE workshop in narrative non-fiction writing. The workshop would be spread over ten days, and would include five days of extensive fieldwork.
Narrative non-fiction is about telling a story—a story that is real; and broadly speaking that is what this workshop would be about. Participants will work with the Workshop Mentor in developing, researching and writing articles (1–3) that would be suitable (i) for publication in a magazine; or (ii) as a standalone piece in a book; or even (iii) something that an be expanded later into a full-fledged book.
To extract the most from this workshop, you are expected to have basic creative writing skills and techniques, and know communicably good English. And yes, you should be dying to tell a story.
This is a workshop; not a crash course in writing. The atmosphere will not be that of an educational institution, but a workplace. Everything would be hands-on, and there would be no place for abstract theories. This is where you learn what they don't teach you at journalism schools.
The Structure of the Workshop
The workshop is being structured in a manner so as to ensure that participants both gain insights into how to plan and execute a story, and acquire enough hands-on experience.
Participants will be paired as teams. In other words, two participants will work together on the stories they wish to pursue. A participant with sufficient experience may be allowed to pursue stories on his/her own, but that would be only at the sole discretion and approval of the Workshop Mentor.
The ten-day workshop will roll out as under:
- Day 1 (full day): Introduction to narrative non-fiction and feature-writing; guest lectures by journalists/writers on how they plan and write long-form features.
- Day 2 (full day): Planning the stories. The story ideas of each participating team will be discussed and planned.
- Day 3-5: Groundwork. Participants will pursue their respective story ideas, which can include speaking to people, ferreting out information, taking photographs.
- Day 6 (full day): Course correction. Participants will report on the work done hitherto, and make necessary course corrections for their stories; guest lectures by journalists/writers on how they plan and write long-form features.
- Day 7-8: Groundwork continued. Participants will fill up the gaps in their respective stories, or take corrective measures. In short, everything needed to write out a piece that is well-rounded.
- Day 9: Writing the stories. Submissions will have to be made by EOD.
- Day 10 (full day): Evaluation. Announcements.
Post-event (date TBA later): If articles are selected by the Workshop Mentor for publication, then those might have to be updated / expanded for the purpose. This will fall outside the scope of the workshop.
Note: Even though this is not technically a "course", exhaustive reading materials will be provided to all participants. Tea, snacks and lunch would be on the house.
Important Dates
- Applications: September 1-20, 2019
- Selection of participants: September 21-24, 2019
- Registration and payment: September 26-30, 2019
- Workshop: October 11-20, 2019
Eligibility Criteria
The candidate must know communicably good English, and should ideally have some kind of writing background (though that is not a pre-requisite). If you have written for a living, you are almost there.
The Fees
The fee for the entire workshop would be ₹17,500 (including GST). Reading materials and stationery would be provided to all participants. Tea, light snacks and lunch will also be served on the four days of interactive sessions.
The Venue
TBA once participants have been selected. We will finalise the location depending on the convenience of as many participants as possible.
The Workshop Mentor
Subir Ghosh
The Chief Mentor of the workshop is Subir Ghosh, Director of Inscriptions, the company that owns and runs this website. Subir is a Bengaluru-based journalist-writer-researcher who writes about sustainable fashion, political corruption, crony capitalism, conflict, wildlife and cinema. He is the author of three books, and has co-authored three with others. He has also written over a thousand articles in his career spanning close to three decades.
FAQs about the Workshop
I do not have a journalism / media background. Can I still apply?
Of course, you can. All you need is to know communicably good English.
What if I have further questions about the assignment after the first two sessions?
The Workshop Mentor will be accessible to all particpants during the ten-day workshop. You are most welcome to send in queries.
I already have a published piece that I want to polish up. Can I do that?
Yes, you can... in the sense of taking the story to its next logical level. But mind you, the "polishing up" bit does not mean that you will get your story edited by us; it only means that you will be able to rework that article.
In case I’m unable to attend the workshop after registration, will I get a refund?
We do have a cancellation policy. In the unfortunate event that you wish to cancel your registration after the payment, you will receive a refund: 75% of the amount if you cancel 10 days before the workshop; 50% of the amount if you cancel five days before the workshop; and 10% of the amount if you cancel on the eve of the event. No refund will be issued for cancelling once the workshop gets under way or for failing to attend the workshop. If the event is cancelled by INSCRIPTIONS, the entire workshop fee would be refunded.
Will there be an extended programme for writers to connect?
No. But should there be enough number of quality articles that can be published together as a book, then we will surely need to organise a meet-up. That will, however, not be part of this workshop—it would be a professional interaction between a publisher and a group of writers.
I’ve been selected, but I’m 4 days late to pay the registration fee. Am I still eligible to register?
If you are selected on basis of your application, you will need to pay the workshop fee by September 30. Since the number of participants is limited to 20, we may not be able to accommodate you if all seats are taken. But in case we are able to do so (rope you in), we surely will.
What are the things I need to carry for the sessions?
Ideally, all the paraphernalia required for writing—certainly in today's world. Those would include a laptop. Writing materials and internet connections would be provided by us.
I know very little about Bengaluru as I just shifted here, will that be a problem for me to collect stories?
Not necessarily. But it would not be easy. If you are a newcomer it would be better if you could figure out first what story ideas would be feasible to execute without knowing much about the city or its people.
How do we get paired up?
We will do that through lots.
Can I pair up with a friend?
Sure, but let us know well in advance.
Is there a discount for registrations done in groups?
No.
How do the partners work? What if we want to work on separate stories?
You can work individually. Then again, you will need to tell us that well before the workshop gets under way.
Should the stories only be from Bengaluru?
Yes, because that would be more feasible given the fact that this is a ten-day workshop with five days of fieldwork. That would leave precious little time to travel out.
Do I need to take photographs while covering the stories? If so, is carrying a DSLR a requirement?
Photographs definitely add value to a story. If you can take photographs, why not? Please do so! But carrying a DLSR is not a must since these days you can take print quality photographs with most smartphones.
Do we get to keep the study materials we receive from the workshop?
Of course.