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Social Sciences School of Law

Workshop 1 summary

Your task over the course of this programme is to create a story of 1,000 to 1,500 words on any subject you like in a style that you choose. The story must be related to rights and justice as you understand them. So, it might have themes that touch on equality or freedom or the climate crisis. It could be inspired by the Orwell Youth Prize theme “Home.” Think about power structures and how we can make a change.

This slides shows the plan for this year's programme as follows: Workshop 1 (today) Finding and building your story; send us your ideas/plan by Sunday 25 Feb; Workshop 2 Online (Saturday 2 March) Getting guidance on your story; Send us your draft by Sunday 14 April; Workshop 3 (Saturday 20 April) Editing your story; Send us your final submission by Sunday 5 May; and join us for our celebration evening on Wednesday 15 May.

Let us know if you are coming to the Celebration Event on Wednesday 15 May 6-7.30pm on campus, and if you would like to bring any guests!

1. Find your story

Your story may come from within you (if you choose to write about something that you’ve experienced or about a place that you know or about your own identity), or it may come from outside (if you see a story that interests you, or feel curious about an issue and want to find out more about it). Whatever sparks your curiosity is enough.

If you’re still struggling to find your story, ask yourself:

  • What about the world (or my small corner of the world) makes no sense?
  • What do I wish other people understood?
  • What gives me hope for a better future?

 

You might have an issue in mind, but you’re not quite sure how to narrow it down to find your story. For example, you want to write about feminism, or healthcare or the climate crisis, but you’re not yet sure what the story will be within that field.

NARROW YOUR FOCUS We try to narrow our focus so that we’re telling a micro story (of one person, or place or moment) within a macro story (of feminism, or healthcare, or the climate crisis for example). So, Aina J Khan wrote about the macro story of Palestine by telling the micro story of grandmothers handing their recipes and cooking skills down to the next generations. Remember, just because we’re writing about rights and justice, that doesn’t mean we’re looking for stories that are about wrongs or injustice. Your story doesn’t need to be tragic or traumatic. We would love to see stories that are defiant, inspiring and uplifting.

2. Choose your style

When you’ve got an idea for a story, ask what style will work best to convey the story to your audience. Will it work best as a factual article or as fiction? Why?

You could choose to write:

  • A short fictional story
  • A news feature (like Aina J Khan’s)
  • An opinion piece
  • A poem that tells your story
  • A short scene in a play or TV programme
  • A podcast
  • Or even a stand-up comedy routine!
All style options are open to you. Be original! Surprise us! The important thing is that you’re able to explain why you think your preferred style is the best choice for conveying your story. You can get a sense of the wide variety of topics and styles available by looking at Lacuna Magazine.

3. Summarise your story

Next, try to summarise your story in one sentence, like we’ve done with these stories:

  • “A journalistic feature exploring the importance of food as a marker of identity among Palestinian families.”
  • “A first-person piece by a student who is learning to speak Yoruba so he can retrace his roots and connect with his family's culture and heritage.”
  • “A podcast asking five teenagers what they think about the climate crisis and how they hope to make themselves heard.”
  • “A short fictional story about a girl's attempts to stay connected with her grandad who is in a care home during the Covid pandemic.”


You’re aiming to create a story of between 1,000 and 1,500 words. Being able to summarise it in just one sentence will give you a sense of direction and help you to stay true to your purpose.

Ask yourself (and write the answers down in your notebook to guide you):

  • What do I want to achieve with this story?
  • What do I want my audience to feel/know/understand/do at the end?
  • What do I already know about this story? What don’t I know? What do I need to find out?
  • What has already been written about this issue? Find stories that give you inspiration (not to copy but to critique).
  • What new angle or perspective can I bring?
  • Whose voice is important?

We are looking forward to discussing these points with you during your online one-to-one on Saturday 2 March. Before that session, please email a summary of your story idea and a plan to show us how the story will progress from beginning to end. Be brave and attempt to write the first few paragraphs of your story so that we can get a sense of your writing style. Think of Maya Angelou's Still, I RiseLink opens in a new window and Tony Walsh’s, ToughLink opens in a new window, and decide, what emotion do I want to convey with my story? Email these to Alex -

Law.WP@warwick.ac.uk - by Sunday 25 February.

6 tips for getting started

  1. Truth - don’t just imagine someone else’s story. Research it. Check it. Be thorough. Even fiction has to be based in fact. Keep a list of your resources (links to websites, articles, names of books, etc.) to show us. When researching your topic, choose your sources of information carefully. Try to avoid opinion or comments picked from social media. Use verified research, reports, news stories published by regulated media organisations (such as the BBC, the Press Association), official statistics. Include links to these articles or reports so that your reader can see where the information or quotes in your story has come from. Useful sources of reliable information
  2. Safety - not all stories need to be told. Prioritise your own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. Don’t forget about the duty you have to your reader. Please take care with language to ensure maximum respect for others. Hateful language and slurs should not be repeated, even in reported speech. Please don't write descriptions or details of abuse or suffering. There are always ways around that, so think creatively and if you need our help to find an alternative path, ask us.
  3. Purpose - what are you trying to achieve? What do you want your reader to think/feel/do by the end?
  4. Be specific - narrow your focus. Instead of trying to fit a huge story into 1,500 words and skimming over the surface, look for a small story that can be told in detail and with depth. Tell a micro story within a macro story.
  5. Clarity - avoid word soup! Feel free to be creative and experimental, but don’t be cryptic. Convey your message clearly and simply.
  6. Be original – take inspiration from other people’s writing (Lacuna Magazine is a good source of inspiration) but find your own original idea.

Other writing competitions

If you want to enter the Hugo Young Award for political writing, you’ll need to write a well researched political opinion story of 500 to 700 words. The deadline is Monday 26 February. Find out more here.

If you want to enter the BBC Young Writers' Award, you’ll need to think up an original story idea and submit it by Monday 25 March. Find out more here.

Whether or not you want to enter the Orwell Youth Prize, it’s worth submitting a draft story to them to get feedback on your writing. The theme is “Home” And, just like Writing Wrongs, you’ll need to write a short story, a piece of journalism, or any other style of writing up to 1,500 words. The deadline for submitting a draft to get personalised feedback is April 1. The final deadline for the competition is May 6. Find out more here.

Do no harm

During the course of your work you might come across harmful ideas and language. Think carefully about how you handle them in your writing. You may witness misogyny, racism, transphobia, classism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, hatred towards people with disabilities and other groups. When we tackle these topics in our writing we should always strive to "do no harm": avoid giving offence and refrain from using derogatory language. If you've got any questions on this, please get in touch with us.

Meanwhile, professional writers tend to follow various codes of conduct when tackling social issues in articles for publication. Here are some that may assist with your writing. Even if you plan to write fiction, poetry, plays or another form of creative writing, it's worth holding the mantra 'do no harm' in mind.
This list is not exhaustive. We've compiled it to give you an idea of what exists. If you are tackling a topic not considered here and want advice, get in touch.