#bonn novel writing workshop

[c-e-bernard]

Three things I would have liked to have known when I started out as a story-teller

There is a Novel Writing Workshop at the University of Bonn. I happen to be one of its teachers. In Germany, the university semester has started with a few weeks’ delay, although we can only meet the students digitally.

So I had to open the semester somehow. And I had to do it properly. And I had to do it from the tiny window of a zoom meeting, staring at my own face as it talked.

Here’s what that face of mine said:

Three things I would have liked to have known when I started out

 There are very many things I would have liked to have known when I started out telling stories, and writing books, and putting on plays. I would have liked to know, for example, that drinking one pot of black tea a day is perfect, because it keeps your hands warm and your eyes open. Three pots, on the other hand, are an attack on your heart and make you sweat in an unfavourable manner, so you really shouldn’t do that.

There are things I have learnt even more important than tea however, although that may be hard to believe. Things that I have found I need, truly need, to live and to survive as a story-teller. Here are three of them:

 First of all, I would have liked to have known that there is nothing better for your writing than truth.

Being truthful when you write, in everything you write. This begins with deciding what it is that you want to write. Not to write the book that a publisher, or your mum, or the larger demands of society, would require or like you to write; not to write the book that would please your editor if you’ve got one, or your best friend, or your partner; not to write the book that you think the world needs, or that you would like to read; instead, to write the book that you want to write.

In order to be truthful, you need to listen to yourself. You need to get know yourself. You need to realise that what you want is just as important and relevant as what everybody else wants. And you need to take the time and find out what pleases you to write, what is fun for you to put on the page.

And you need to be brave. Because being truthful means making yourself vulnerable. As Neil Gaiman says it so beautifully in Art Matters:[*]

 “The moment you feel that, just possibly, you’re walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind and what exists on the inside, showing too much of yourself.

That’s the moment you may be starting to get it right.”

 Secondly, I would have liked to have known that there is one essential tool that you need to tell a story, any story, and to putting them out into the world: You cannot do it without trust.

Writing a novel, telling a story, means running for a cliff, and then to keep running and not to look down so that you do not realise that there is no ground under your feet.[†] This is true whether you write, or edit, or put it out into the world. You have to trust the process, and trust that the writing of each single word, each sentence, each chapter will end in a finished book. And a good one, too. Sometimes, the process might take you to a paradise. Sometimes, it may end with a shipwreck.[‡] But whatever the destination, you have to get onboard for it, otherwise it cannot take you anywhere. And you need to trust yourself. That you can bear and love and survive the journey.

 And I am not going to lie: Truth and trust, they can be exhausting.

So there is a third thing you need in order to survive:

It is kindness.

Telling stories is hard. Some may not believe it, but it is nevertheless true. Writing a book takes everything out of you. Each and every story will cost you. So first of all, you need to be kind to yourself. Take enough breaks, and do not ask too much of yourself. Follow the example of Stephen King: He sets himself a word count every day that he can easily manage. And that he does, every day. Sometimes it takes him two hourse, sometimes four. And then he stops. Or so he says.[§]

And secondly, try and find a place to work that is good for you, and, if you can, outside of your home, so that you do not live life in a work space. Thirdly, allow yourself leisure, and friends, and love, and to have fun. Play video games. Go to the movies. Put on a play. See your friends. Have lovers. (Though not the secret kind if you can help it.) Spend times with humans you love, and who love and support you. Fourthly, move your body, for you will need it to write those books. And fifthly, to write what you want and what is fun and important to you, that is also a kindness towards yourself.

This is not an office job. Do not try to work it like an office job. You have to be kind to yourself, or you will not make it.

And be kind to others, too. Be kind to the people in your stories. Every person in your story is their own person. Even when they are a fox. We need to understand them. We need to love them. Whether they are similar to us or very different, whether you would like for them to be your friends or would fend them off with a stick. Especially when you would fend them off with a stick, because then they might be more difficult to understand. We need to understand the people in our books, otherwise we do them wrong. And through that, we do humans wrong that are not fictional. We do wrong by humanity. By what makes us human. You and me. All of us. Shakespeare knew this. All the people in all his plays are full of folly, and folly is just what we need, because people are strange. We are strange. The world is strange. But it is so beautiful. And if we do not observe – if we do not look more closely, listen more closely, dig deeper – if we do not take the time and the effort to listen and look and to understand, and sometimes it can take years – then we are failing as story-tellers. We are failing as authors. Then we can go and write some thing or another for television and become rich and go to glamorous parties. But we will never touch a soul in our lives. We will only be a distraction. We will not change anyone’s life. We will not save someone. We will not give them meaning when they are desperate, or make them laugh when they are sad, or remind them that sometimes it is all right to be sad and that they do not have to pretend they are fine all the time. They will not find friends in our books, people who go with them through a lifetime, and life is hard, no matter how privileged. Life is hard. We have to do what we love. We have to write what we love. And we have to love what we write, and who we write, and the person who writes.

So in the end, this is about love, and about truth, and about trust.

Be kind.

Be truthful.

Trust yourself, and trust the story.

 I wish I’d known all of this when I started out.

And the truth is: I am still learning it myself.

[*] I whole-heartedly recommend that you go out and get yourself a copy of this book, because it might truly save you on a day where you feel you cannot go on telling stories, and that day will come, trust me.

[†] This, too, I have learnt from Neil Gaiman in his masterclass. He is my close personal friend, evidently.

[‡] Another thing I have learnt from Neil Gaiman in his masterclass. I highly recommend it. You can find it on MasterClass.com.

[§] Or so he says in his book On Writing; if I am to believe my good friend Robin, who will not stop raving about that book to me.

Thank you to the University of Bonn for providing me with the opportunity to write this text, and have those thoughts, and to tell them a very kind audience.

[christineebernard]

| 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |

Roman-Werkstatt, Bonn | Novel Writing Workshop Universität Bonn | University of Bonn Wintersemester 2017/18 | winter term 2017/18 donnerstags, 16-20 Uhr | Thursday, 4 PM to 8 PM

„Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.“ – Stephen King Ganz im Zeichen dieses Zitats steht dieser anwendungsorientierte Workshop: Ziel ist es, dass Sie an Ihrem Roman arbeiten, und wir uns alle 14 Tage treffen, um Ihren Fortschritt und den der anderen kritisch zu begleiten. Dadurch soll eine regelmäßige Schreibpraxis initiiert und durch kontinuierliche Lektüre der Texte der anderen Teilnehmer die eigene Bewertungskompetenz erhöht werden. Deshalb ist Ihre Bereitschaft ein Muss, regelmäßig zu schreiben und alle zwei Wochen die Texte der anderen Kursteilnehmer zu lesen. Ergänzen werden das Seminarprogramm Gäste aus dem Verlagswesen und theoretische Einheiten zum schreiberischen Handwerk.

All's Well That Ends Well Premiere der Inszenierung | Premiere Brotfabrik Bonn Adaption und Inszenierung zum 25-jährigen Jubiläum der Theaterkompagnie BUSC | Adaptation and Direction of Shakespeare's original for the 25th anniversary of the theatre company BUSC 8/7/2017 - 15/7/2017 English-language theatre

Helena loves Bertram. She is just a girl, he is the Prince of the realm. Her best friend Parolles warns her off. And yet, she is determined that nothing shall stand in her way: She will have her happily ever after. But what starts out as a fairy tale plot might not be all that it seems, and there is a cost to every happy ending …

Find All's Well That Ends Well on the company website / Alle Informationen auf der Website der Kompagnie

KulturCampus 2, Bonn Brotfabrik Bonn 29/05/2017

Zu Gast: Kreatives Schreiben und der Kanon, Wuppertal | Speaking on Creative Writing and the Canon Universität Wuppertal | University of Wuppertal zu Gast im Hauptseminar “Was ist ein gutes Buch? Literaturkritik, Buchmarkt, Kanones, Curricula” der Abteilung Neuere Deutsche Literatur Sommersemester 2016 24. Juni 2017

Welche Werke sollen Kinder in der Schule und Studierende an Universitäten lesen? Welche Texte sind es wert, in historisch-kritischen Ausgaben der Nachwelt übermittelt oder überhaupt gedruckt zu werden? Sind die Bücher, die auf Bestsellerlisten stehen, wirklich empfehlenswert? Fragen wie diese sind Gegenstand feuilletonistischer Debatten, didaktisch-literaturwissenschaftlicher Kontroversen und Auseinandersetzungen in den sozialen Medien. Was in einer Gesellschaft in einer bestimmten Zeit als ein ‚gutes‘ Buch gilt, bestimmt das Leseverhalten vieler mit und hat starken Einfluss auf Prozesse der Kanonisierung und auf die Entwicklung von Curricula.

Mehr im Vorlesungsverzeichnis der Universität Wuppertal

Roman-Werkstatt, Bonn | Novel Writing Workshop Universität Bonn | University of Bonn Sommersemester 2017 | summer term 2017 donnerstags, 16-20 Uhr | Thursday, 4 PM to 8 PM

Zu Gast:

Axel von Ernst, Verlagsleiter, Lilienfeldverlag

Bettina Hesse, Herausgeberin/Vermittlerin/Kritikerin/Autorin, Rhein Wörtlich e. V.

Paula Peretti, Literaturagentin, Paula Peretti Literaturagentur

Roman-Werkstatt, Bonn | Novel Writing Workshop Universität Bonn | University of Bonn Wintersemester 2016/17 | winter term 2016/17 Wednesday, 16-20 Uhr

Zu Gast:

Axel von Ernst, Verlagsleiter, Lilienfeldverlag

Bettina Hesse, Herausgeberin/Vermittlerin/Kritikerin/Autorin, Rhein Wörtlich e. V.

Paula Peretti, Literaturagentin, Paula Peretti Literaturagentur

KulturCampus, Bonn Brotfabrik Bonn 01/06/2016

Was machen Bonner Studenten, wenn sie nicht im Hörsaal sitzen? Poetry Slam. Romane schreiben. Impro-Theater. An der Uni Bonn wird nicht nur studiert und geforscht, sondern auch geslamt, geschauspielt und gedichtet. Das Ergebnis? Einzigartig. Lasst Euch von einem alkoholisierten jungen Mann mit nach Ostdeutschland nehmen, plant mit drei alten Damen ihre Beerdigung und macht Euch in einem hustenden Ford Fiesta auf nach Boston. Beim KULTURCAMPUS zeigen Euch einen Abend lang junge Schauspieler, Slammer und Schriftsteller was an kreativer Energie in ihnen steckt – mit Verve und Witz, mit Reim und Musik, und ganz ohne Hörsaal.

Roman-Werkstatt, Bonn | Novel Writing Workshop Universität Bonn | University of Bonn Sommersemester 2016 | summer term 2016 Wednesday, 16-20 Uhr

Zu Gast:

Julia Abrahams, Lektorin Belletristik, Bastei Lübbe AG

Axel von Ernst, Verlagsleiter, Lilienfeldverlag

Jan Valk, Lektor Deutschsprachige Literatur, DuMont Buchverlag

MOZ Talk, Frankfurt Oder Kleistforum 25/11/2015

Die Gewinnerin der internationalen Preisfrage “Who Gets Carried Away by Europe”, Christine Lehnen, präsentiert Ihren Beitrag “Zeus/Europa” beim 12. MOZ-Talk der Märkischen Oder Zeitung und des Kleist Forums in Frankurt (Oder). Ab dem 25. November bis zum 31. Dezember werden auch die Beiträge aus der engeren Auswahl der Jury im Rahmen einer Ausstellung im Kleistforum zu sehen sein. Die Veranstaltung ist eine Kooperation zwischen der Jungen Akademie und dem Kleistforum. Die Preisfrage wurde unterstützt durch die Commerzbank Stiftung. On November 25th Christine Lehnen, winner of our competition, will present her text “Zeus/Europa” at the 12. MOZ-Talk presented by Märkische Onlinezeitung in the Kleist Forum in Frankurt (Oder). An exhibition presenting the Jury’s Shortlist will also be on display at the Kleist Forum from November 25th until December 31st. The event is a collaboration between Die Junge Akademie and the Kleist Forum. The prize question is supported by the Commerzbank Foundation.

Roman-Werkstatt, Bonn | Novel Writing Workshop Universität Bonn | University of Bonn Wintersemester 2015/2016 | winter term 2015/2016

Zu Gast:

Mona Lang, Lektorin für fremdsprachige Literatur, Kiepenheuer & Witsch

Linde Müller-Siepen, Programmleiterin, Boje und One (Bastei Lübbe AG)

Jan Valk, Lektor Deutschsprachige Literatur, DuMont Buchverlag

Öffentliche Preisverleihung Literaturwettbewerb der Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen und Neuen Literarischen Gesellschaft Recklinghausen, Recklinghausen | Public Award Ceremony + Reading 07/06/2015

Preisverleihung A Question For Europe, Berlin | Award Ceremony A Question For Europe Junge Akademien Europas | Young Academies of Europe 05/06/2015

On Saturday the German Junge Akademie jointly with a number of young partner academies in Europe awarded prizes for the best answers to their prize question “Who Gets Carried Away by Europe?”. During the academic ceremony of the Junge Akademie, Prof. Jan-Hendrik Olbertz, member of the board of trustees of the Commerzbank Foundation, gave the laudatory speech and presented the winners of the competition with five prizes. The prize question is a joint project of the young academies of Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Scotland, Denmark, Poland, and Belgium (Flanders). It was supported by the Commerzbank Foundation. Thanks to this support, the international jury was able to award three main prizes and two special prizes on Saturday. The first prize went to Christine Lehnen from Germany for her short story “Zeus/Europa”. Lehnen impressed the jury with a highly condensed text in which she applies the ancient myth to the current situation of refugees in the Mediterranean. Read more

Roman-Werkstatt, Bonn | Novel Writing Workshop Universität Bonn | University of Bonn Sommersemester 2015 | summer term 2015

Zu Gast:

Mona Lang, Lektorin für fremdsprachige Literatur, Kiepenheuer & Witsch

Roman-Werkstatt, Bonn | Novel Writing Workshop Universität Bonn | University of Bonn Wintersemester 2014/2015 | winter term 2014/2015

Zu Gast:

Peter Molden, Literaturagent, Literaturagentur Molden

Juliane Schindler, Lektorin Belletristik, Eichborn (Bastei Lübbe AG)

[christineebernard]

Man is the story-telling animal.

Salman Rushdie, Luka and the Fire of Life

Deutsch | English

Leseliste

Menschen sind das “story-telling animal.” In meiner Lehre und Forschung zum literarischem Schreiben versuche ich, dem erzählenden Tier auf den Grund zu gehe, ob in der Literatur, dem Videospiel, dem Film, der Serie oder im Theater.

Seit 2014 unterrichte ich die Roman-Werkstatt der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität Bonn. In diesem Seminar, offen für Studierende aller Fachrichtungen, arbeiten Studierende nach einem gesonderten Bewerbungsverfahren über mehrere Semester hinweg an ihren Romanprojekten. Wir kümmern uns um jedes Stadium eines Romans, von der Idee über die Planung, den ersten Entwurf, die Überarbeitung und den Feinschliff bis hin zum Anbieten im Literaturbetrieb. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt ist dabei die Kombination aus Theorie und Praxis; praktisch handelt es sich bei dem Seminar um einen klassischen Workshop mit großem Augenmerk auf der Kunst des Geschichtenerzählens. Theoretisch befassen wir uns sowohl mit handwerklich-narratologischen Ansätzen, vorwiegend aus den Vereinigten Staaten, und mit den Poetologien vorwiegend deutschsprachiger AutorInnen. Ich lege neben dem Workshop-Modell vor allen Dingen darauf wert, in dem Seminar literarisches Schreiben und innovative Erzählforschung zusammenzubringen, indem ich die Studierenden an meinen eigenen Forschungsprojekten teilhaben lasse und sie mit der Arbeit von Wissenschaftlern wie Keith Oatley, Raymond A. Mar und Melanie Greene vertraut mache.

Die besondere Herausforderung stellt die Vielfalt der Romanprojekte dar, die die ganze Lebendigkeit junger deutschsprachiger Literatur in Nordrhein-Westfalen wiederspiegelt, von allen kommerziellen Genres über die klassische Belletristik bis hin zum innovativen Sprachexperiment. Die Werkstatt ist stark in der Region verwurzelt: Jedes Semester kommen Verlagsmenschen aus Nordrhein-Westfalen zu Besuch, von DuMont, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Bastei Lübbe, Lilienfeld, Lektoren, Agenten, Autoren, Literaturvermittler, um die Texte der Studierenden dem Praxistest zu unterziehen. Außerdem präsentieren wir einmal im Jahr die Texte einem großen Bonner Publikum beim KulturCampus.

Es gibt nur eine Regel: Da draußen warten Leser. Let’s go get them.

Leseliste:

Boyd, Brian. On the Origin of Stories. Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With A Thousand Faces. Fludernik, Monika. Towards a New Narratolgy. Frey, James N. Wie Man Einen Verdammt Guten Roman Schreibt. Gardner, John. The Art of Fiction. George, Elizabeth. Wort für Wort oder die Kunst, ein gutes Buch zu schreiben. Gottschall, Jonathan. The Story-Telling Animal. How Fiction Makes Us Human. Isabel Bogdan unter www.isabelbogdan.de übers Übersetzen, Schreiben, und die deutsche Literaturwelt. Kehlmann, Daniel. Diese Sehr Ernsten Scherze. Lehnen, Christine. “Exploring Narratives’ Powers of Emotional Persuasion through Character Involvement: A Working Heuristic”. Literaturen: ein Literaturblog | http://literatourismus.net/ Oatley, Keith. The Passionate Muse. Exploring Emotions in Fiction. Rob Morgan unter https://gamestoryuk.tumblr.com/ über digital storytelling Sacks, Oliver. Dankbarkeit. Samantha Shannon unter samantha-shannon.blogspot.com über die englischsprachige Verlagswelt. Sklar, Howard. The Art of Sympathy in Fiction. Vogler, Christoph. The Writer’s Journey. Mythic Structure for Writers. Wissenschaftler unter OnFiction.ca über die Erforschung von Fiktion und Erzählungen. Zeh, Juli. Treideln.

+ 10 Bücher, die mich vorangebracht haben: Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451. Arnon Grünberg. Der Mann, der nie krank wurde. Aldous Huxley. The Island. Irmgard Keun. Gilgi, eine von uns. Irmgard Keun. Kinder aller Länder. Jonas Lüscher. Frühling der Barbaren. George Orwell. Nineteen Eighty-Four. David Szalay. All That Man Is. J. R. R. Tolkien. Der Herr der Ringe. Nina Yargekov. Double Nationalité.

Blogbeiträge über die Lehre, das Studium und die Erforschung von Geschichten und Literarischem Schreiben: #teaching

We are, as a species, addicted to story.

Jonathan Gottschall, The Story-Telling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human.

Reading Recs

We are the story-telling animal. From the beginning of time, we have told each other stories. Whether I am teaching or researching, it is my goal to understand this story-telling animal – and help my students understand it too, be it in novels, short stories, video games, TV, film, or the theatre. Since 2014, I have been teaching the Novel Writing Workshop at the University of Bonn, open to students from all disciplines. After a special application process, students may spend several semesters working on their novels. We cover every stage from the first idea over outlining, writing the first draft, editing and polishing, to submitting. We focus especially on a combination of theory and application, with particular emphasis on the craft of storytelling and the latest findings of narratology, a functional approach to fiction proposed by researchers such as Keith Oatley, Raymond A. Mar, Melanie Greene, or myself. The students work on projects that represent all the variety of young contemporary fiction in the country, from genre fiction over accessible literary to innovative language experiments dressed in long narratives. Every semester, we showcase their work to editors and agents, e. g. from DuMont, Kiepenheuer & Witsch and Bastei Lübbe, and every year we present it to a larger audience from Bonn at the annual KulturCampus. There are readers out there waiting for stories. Let’s go get them. Reading Recs:

Boyd, Brian. On the Origin of Stories. Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With A Thousand Faces. Fludernik, Monika. Towards a New Narratolgy. Frey, James N. How to Write a Damn Good Novel. Gardner, John. The Art of Fiction. George, Elizabeth. Write Away. One Novelist’s Approach to Fiction. Gottschall, Jonathan. The Story-Telling Animal. How Fiction Makes Us Human Kehlmann, Daniel. Diese Sehr Ernsten Scherze. Lehnen, Christine. “Exploring Narratives’ Powers of Emotional Persuasion through Character Involvement: A Working Heuristic”. Oatley, Keith. The Passionate Muse. Exploring Emotions in Fiction. Researchers at OnFiction.ca about the science of fiction Rob Morgan at https://gamestoryuk.tumblr.com/ about digital storytelling Sacks, Oliver. Gratitude. Samantha Shannon at samantha-shannon.blogspot.com about the English-speaking publishing world Sklar, Howard. The Art of Sympathy in Fiction. Vogler, Christoph. The Writer’s Journey. Mythic Structure for Writers. Zeh, Juli. Treideln.

Blog posts on teaching, studying, and researching creative writing: #teaching