BWW: Voice in Fiction (VF) is a five-week course that deals with writing voice in fiction. In this course, you will learn about the four elements of voice. Voice in fiction is what gives your writing its distinctive quality. Since VF is a dynamic class that is structured around individual thought and creations, this class is kept especially intimate. There will be no more than 8 students in this workshop.

What is Voice in Fiction?
Voice in Fiction (VF) is a creative writing program. It is structured around the four elements of writing voice in fiction. It helps participants identify and strengthen voice, a crucial element in fiction.

What do we mean by ‘writing voice?’
Voice is what makes your writing unique, what gives it its distinctive flavour.

Who is it targeted at?
This course is for writers who are past graduates of the BWW Classic course who are working on adding nuance to their writing, and fine-tuning their writing voice. BWW: Voice in Fiction is a workshop aimed at intermediate writers who want to focus on honing their writing voices further.

Note: If you are new to writing and don't have a particular interest in any genre, style, or form as yet, we recommend you try the BWW: Classic.

Should you apply for the BWW Voice in Fiction course and haven't done the BWW Classic, your application will be considered for the BWW Classic by default.

But I already know about plot, character, and dialogue. What is voice going to add to what I know?
Good question. Plot, character, and dialogue are all important aspects of telling a good story. Voice is an overarching element and it can influence the way all the other elements are handled. In its overarching quality, voice is what gives your writing its distinctive 'flavour'. Voice is also the element by which we most recall a favourite writer. For instance, we may say the writings of Roald Dahl have a dark, addictive voice whereas the writings of Virginia Woolf have an intense, stream-of-consciousness voice. Each voice serves the author’s unique vision. Voice is the element that comes closest to aligning with a writer’s personal vision as an artist.

Will this course strengthen my fundamentals?
No. VF will not school you in the craft of writing: story, character, dialogue. That’s what the BWW Classic (8-week course) is for.  

What is the methodology?
VF introduces you to four elements of voice and through them enables you to strengthen the voice of your narrator as well as your own voice as a writer. You will work on a combination of theory, exercise, analyses of texts and assignments. Every week involves a writing assignment.

What is the duration?
15 hours. Five 3-hour sessions across five consecutive Saturdays/Sundays.

What is the cost?
INR 24,500/- per head including GST at 18%.

Recommended Reading for the Course:

2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C Clarke

American Psycho, Brett Easton Ellis

Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo 

Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

Breakfast At Tiffany’s, Truman Capote

Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky

Disgrace, J M Coetzee

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, Robert Stevenson

Fiesta, Ernest Hemingway

Focus, Arthur Miller

From Hell, Alan Moore And Eddie Campbell

Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad

In Cold Blood, Truman Capote

In The Skin Of A Lion, Michael Ondaatje

Intimacy, Hanif Kureishi

Keep The Aspidistra Flying, George Orwell

Lady Chatterley’s Lover, D H Lawrence

Manhattan Transfer, John Dos Passos

Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides 

Miss Lonelyhearts, Nathanael West

Myra Breckenridge, Gore Vidal

Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck

On The Road, Jack Kerouac

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson

Portnoy’s Complaint, Philip Roth 

Ragtime, E L Doctorow

Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates

Slaughterhouse-five, Kurt Vonnegut

The Book of Laughter And Forgetting, M. Kundera

The Catcher In The Rye, J D Salinger

The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald

The Killer Inside Me, Jim Thompson

The Killing Joke, Alan Moore And Brian Bolland

The Outsider, Albert Camus

The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid

The Silence Of The Lambs, Thomas Harris

Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe

Transmetropolitan, Warren Ellis And Darick R.

Ubik, Philip K Dick

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Edward Albee

Note: You don't need to have read all these books to apply for the workshop. However, you will enjoy this workshop more if you have read them.