Story Skeleton Workshop with the Darling Axe

The Story Skeleton workshop leads participants in a structural breakdown of a few classic novels. It's essentially a book club for authors, where participants are split into groups to identify the plot points of a well-known story. This is followed by short group presentations to compare insights and craft highlights. Finally, we reveal our own breakdown for a comprehensive discussion.

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About the Darling Axe (David Griffin Brown & Michelle Barker)

David Griffin Brown is an award-winning short fiction writer and co-author of Immersion and Emotion: The Two Pillars of Storytelling and Story Skeleton: The Classics. He holds a BA in anthropology from UVic and an MFA in creative writing from UBC, and his writing has been published in literary magazines such as the Malahat Review and Grain. In 2022, he was the recipient of a New Artist grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. David founded Darling Axe Editing in 2018, and as part of his Book Broker interview series, he has compiled querying advice from over 100 literary agents. He lives in Victoria, Canada, on the traditional territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.

Michelle Barker is an award-winning author and poet and is the co-author of Immersion and Emotion: The Two Pillars of Storytelling and Story Skeleton: The Classics. Her fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have appeared in literary reviews worldwide. She has published three YA novels (one fantasy and two historical fiction), a historical picture book, and a chapbook of poetry. Michelle holds a BA in English literature (UBC) and an MFA in creative writing (UBC). Many of the writers she’s worked with have gone on to win publishing contracts and honours for their work. Michelle lives in Vancouver on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations.