Pitch, Plan, and Lead: How to Get and Give a Workshop for Writers

Two Saturdays Oct 26-Nov 2, 10:30am-12:30pm 
Open to professional writers or other literary professionals. If you are not sure whether your workshop idea is appropriate for QWF, send us a note.
Limited to 10 participants
Hybrid Workshop*

Are you ready to share your knowledge of your chosen literary field? Need a hand getting started on your pitch, or polishing your workshop-leading skills? Together with other emerging and established literary folk, we’ll talk about how to conceive, plan, and lead a successful QWF workshop, whether on an aspect of craft, a literary genre, or an angle on the business of writing –in plenty of time for QWF’s spring call for workshop proposals.

Over two Sunday mornings, we’ll explore possibilities for bringing as much creativity to your workshop design as you do to your art. You’ll develop and refine your workshop idea and transform it into a solid pitch. We’ll talk about how to plan a workshop that’s fun and effective for you and the participants, whether it lasts one afternoon or ten weeks, including how to manage a diverse group of participants with differing goals, skill levels, and workshop experience.

In the first session we’ll talk about:

• choosing your topic 
• how to design a format (one day, four afternoons, two hours a week for eight weeks?) and plan your activities across that time frame
• whether and how to add readings, videos, or reference materials 
• how to describe your teaching experience and approach to leading a workshop – what will you lead participants to accomplish, and how?
• what to include in a “more detailed workshop description (up to two pages)”

Between sessions you’ll create a clean draft of your pitch using this form and share it with the group by email. In the second session, we’ll consider the drafts and help each other make them even clearer, more powerful, more engaging. 

We will also discuss:

• how to manage workshop time to strike a good balance between the various elements, such as in-class writing, group discussion, and homework tasks 
• making sure everyone in a diverse group gets what they need (even the difficult ones)
• accounting for – and celebrating – each participant’s distinct individuality
• cultivating a sense of community 
• sharing information about the writing life – how to get published, how to get paid, do you need an agent, doing public readings/open mics, etc.
• modeling and fostering respect, warmth, honesty and generosity in your workshop

In this context we’ll discuss the Guidelines for QWF Workshop Participants and Workshop Leaders. Please have a look at them before we meet. 

*This workshop will take place at the QWF Office (Room 3, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Westmount, Quebec) with up to 2 virtual spots for participants who are unable to attend in-person. By default, all workshop registrations are for in-person spots. If you would like to attend the workshop via Zoom, first email Riley (riley@qwf.org) to see if online spots are still available for this workshop, and then wait for confirmation. Virtual spots are limited and are reserved for people who either live outside Montreal or have a medical condition.

Elise Moser has published short stories, a novel for adults, a YA novel, and a nonfiction book for kids. She has edited anthologies, been literary editor of online arts and culture magazine Rover, and sat on the boards of Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal, PEN Canada, the QWF, and the English-language Arts Network. She coordinates the Atwater Writers Exhibition, co-organizes the Read Quebec Book Fair, and is a co-coordinator of the National Juries and Awards Working Group. She has been a QWF mentor four times, and has led workshops on the short story, on having a successful writing group, and on combining the practices of writing and walking, as well as a previous iteration of this workshop. At least two of her workshop groups became writing groups, and continue to meet and write together.