Week 39/2025: Writing a short story in a day
Week of 22 September 2025
This post includes a copy of my recent post on Substack about a recent short story writing workshop with Angela Slatter, so if you follow my writing blog over there you may have already read this. But there’s also my usual weekly update of positive things, things I noticed and things I learned, so read on!
This post is wholly researched and written by me. I do not use AI in my writing. I will always bring you my stories in my real human voice. And if there’s an em dash in this post it’s because I put it there.
A short story in a day
On Saturday I had a wonderful opportunity to go to a writing workshop with Angela Slatter (aka A.G. Slatter). Angela is currently the University of Tasmania’s Hedberg Writer-In-Residence, and part of her residency includes running workshops for local writers.
The workshop
The workshop’s aim was for participants to learn some of the basics of short-story writing and to have dedicated time to put those skills into practice so that at the end of the day, we’d walk out with a first draft of a short story.
Yes, that’s correct. We actually had to write something in the workshop. None of this “let’s sign up for a course, take a lot of notes and do the writing exercises later”. (Because you know that “later”means “never”, don’t you?)
It was fabulous!
Angela gave us a couple of warm-up exercises to get us thinking about character development and point of view. She also touched on dialogue, and I was kind of relieved when one of the other participants said they tend to write stories that are almost all dialogue with no action, because when I sit down to write this is exactly what I do too. Why don’t we just write screenplays?
Indeed.
We followed that with a discussion about the three-act structure, which is a common way of structuring a story that helps you to pace it and make sure you include all the elements at the right time.
You set it up and establish the ‘inciting incident’ or conflict that puts the plot in motion in Act 1. A turning point marks the start of Act 2, where the dramatic tension continues to rise. Another turning point moves the story into Act 3, which is where you continue until the story’s climax. Then you conclude with falling action and the resolution, and you wrap everything up. (Or not.)
If you aren’t familiar with it, google it. There are a lot better explanations than mine out there.
The writing
After an brief explanation of what goes into Act 1, we had (scary bit!) 30 minutes to write that act. Rinse and repeat for Acts 2 and 3.
Yes, we had to actually write. I had to do it, right there. For 90 minutes. None of this “I’ll do it later” bullshit. I was writing!
At one point, I got stuck but I made myself keep writing and this is what emerged.
This is shit.
> I know it’s shit. It’s meant to be shit. Writing shit is the task. So if it’s shit, I have succeeded.
This story is stupid.
> No, Fran. Shut up and get into the back seat. You are not driving the car today.
It’s stupid.
> Whatever. I’m gonna write it anyway.
Why are you wasting your time? You know it’s stupid.
> Because words on the page matter and they count and they lead to better words and if I keep listening to you, I will never write any words and the only words that can ever get turned into a story are the words I’ve written and if I don’t write them they will never be a story. So shut up, Fran. Go away and leave me to write.
It’s stupid.
> I don’t care.
I told her, didn’t I?!
Angela was writing alongside us, so it was a lovely atmosphere where 16 people were sitting quietly, writing with no interruptions or distractions.
How often does anyone get the opportunity to do that?
It was amazing and I’m glad I went.
I didn’t quite leave with a completed first draft but I have the bones of something. I need to write it up, refine it a bit more to get it to the first draft stage, and then do as Angela suggested and put it away for a couple of weeks.
The key will be to actually do that last bit of writing and not let the inner critic talk me out of it . . .
A huge thanks to Angela for her willingness to share her expertise and experience, and to Utas for making it possible.
Three take-aways
- Don’t judge yourself against someone else’s work. Instead, ask yourself what you can learn from it.
- Be prepared to write badly.
- You hide in the woods for a reason.
Arty things
Architecture
I called into the Salamanca Arts Centre on Thursday to take a look at Julien Scheffer’s Architecture exhibition.
This is a photo project “about revealing the formal beauty and character of those things we see everyday but deem uninteresting and often dismiss as purely utilitarian city artefacts”.
I too get a lot of joy out of photographing this type of subject so I was interested to see Julien’s take on it and to get some ideas for my own photos.
Blossoms of Belonging
I also looked at Anastasiia Ananieva’s exhibition called ‘Blossoms of Belonging’, a collection of artworks that Anastasiia explains “explore a personal journey of belonging, home and migration through intertwining symbols of Ukrainian heritage and Tasmanian nature”.
One I particularly loved was called ‘The Sky Is Tilting’: “When the world shifts, the ground still holds strength for new growth.” It seems to hold all sorts of possibilities.
Habit tracker
Existing habits
- Go outside first thing (7 days): 7/7
- 15 minutes morning exercise sequence (7 days): 5/7
- Hip exercises (5 days): 4/5
- Walk (7 days): 4/7
- Carry a notebook with me when I walk (4 days): 2/4
- Thinking time (4 days): 2/4
- Mid-day journalling (7 days): 3/7
- Walk 8,000 steps (7 days): 6/7
- 9.00 shutdown & dim lights (6 days): 0/6
- Evening routine (6 days): 0/6
New habits
- Set timer for morning planning (5 days): 0/5
- Work shutdown (5 days): 0/5
Summary of the week
Some positive things
- I had a helpful conversation with my manager about the struggles I’m having with noise.
- We had a small class at acting on Wednesday and we had a lot of fun doing some improv scenes.
- Watching the 367 Collins Street falcons in Melbourne getting ready for their babies to hatch.
- The short story workshop.
What did I learn this week?
The curb cut effect states that when you design for disabilities, you make things better for everyone. For example, curb cuts on sidewalks also made it easier for people pushing strollers, people with walkers, or people rolling a bag behind them. I knew about this but I didn’t know it had a specific name. It’s an issue I’ve been exploring a lot with people at work.
Did you know that in 2021 there were 121 ancestries in Tasmania other than Aboriginal or Anglo-Saxon/Celtic? I didn’t.
And do you know what the ancestry with the greatest number of people was? I had a few guesses and was very wrong. According to the Tasmanian Multicultural Action Plan and the Australian Bureau of Statistics¹ the ancestries with the highest number of people were:
- German (19,878)
- Chinese (12,331)
- Dutch (11,838)
This would include people with those ancestries who were born in Tasmania as well as people who have moved here from those countries.
For people born overseas, the top three countries they have come to Tasmania from are:
- China (6,380)
- Nepal (6,219)
- India (6,137)
What did I notice this week?
Something hard and blue that got sucked up by the vacuum cleaner that was under the heater in Kramstable’s room. Well, I didn’t notice it, did I?
A ‘re-positioning opportunity’ for the old Tas Police building in Liverpool Street.
A petal on the ground that looked like it could be part of a collage or a scrapbooking page.
A glimpse of the old McCann’s awning under the Vinnie’s sign, and the even older one under that.
What was the best thing this week?
The short story workshop.
What am I reading this week?
- Unsettled by Kate Grenville
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
What am I watching this week?
- Stranger Things Season 4
- Resident Alien
- Doctor Who ‘Arc of Infinity’
What am I listening to this week?
1: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021, Ancestry – ranked by size (excluding Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Celtic and Aboriginal identities), cited in the Tasmanian Multicultural Action Plan 2025-29.
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