Olive Senior
How do I hook the reader and keep them turning the pages?
We write first drafts of stories – long or short – for ourselves. We answer the need to get things down on paper. That is good. The real work starts when we begin to look at what we have written through the eyes of a reader. Does it work? Have I said too much? Enough? Are my characters believable? Is the conflict clear? Motivation believable? Pace quick enough?
This module will give you the tools to answer these questions and sharpen your work, whether you are a beginning writer or one who is experienced but wrestling with your writing. Looking more fully at the traditional techniques is good preparation for any writer, regardless of what kind of fiction you are writing. The challenge is always the same: how to hook the reader and keep them turning the pages.
Through writing exercises, reading samples, sharing work and robust conversation, we will look at the traditional elements of storytelling such as: Pace and story structure, creating believable characters, point of view, language, scene and setting, and how they all work together to pull the reader in. You already know most of this, anyway. Think – ‘Once upon a time……’
Olive Senior is a prize-winning poet, author, and independent scholar with over 20 published books. Her work spans multiple genres, including poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and children’s literature. Her novels include Paradise Once (2025) and Dancing Lessons (2011), shortlisted for the 2012 Amazon First Novel Award and the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize. Her short story collections include Summer Lightning (Commonwealth Writers Prize), Arrival of the Snake-Woman, Discerner of Hearts, and The Pain Tree (2016 Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature).
The historical novel Paradise Once reflects the same deep research as her prize-winning non-fiction books, including The Encyclopedia of Jamaican Heritage, and Dying to Better Themselves: West Indian Builders of the Panama Canal. More recent work includes Hurricane Watch: New and Collected Poems and Pandemic Poems: First Wave. As Poet Laureate of Jamaica 2021–2024, she created Tree Seen, an anthology of poems and photographs celebrating the environment, published in 2025 by the National Library of Jamaica.
She received Jamaica’s Order of Distinction in 2025 and was named a Royal Society of Literature International Writer in 2024. Other major awards include Canada’s Writers Trust Matt Cohen Award for Lifetime Achievement, Honorary doctorates from the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, and York University, Canada, and the Gold Medal of the Institute of Jamaica. Summer Lightning was named one of the 70 outstanding books from the Commonwealth chosen to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee. In 2021, four of her books were included in “The 100 Caribbean Books that Made Us”, organised by the Bocas Literary Festival.
About Us
PREE is an online platform for lively, vital writing from the Caribbean. Our scope is wide, ranging from fiction and poetry to art writing, non-fiction, interviews and experimental short to medium form film, videos and texts. We are the pre-eminent forum for writing in, from and on the region, a showcase for the exceptional prose and creative expression the Caribbean is fast developing a reputation for.
PREE Writing Studio 
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