Activities / Programs / Workshops

Writing Historical Non-Fiction

This all-day workshop with best-selling author and journalist Julian Sher takes you through the steps to make your next historical non-fiction project a success.

Want a discount? Become a member by purchasing QWF Membership – Student, QWF Membership – General or QWF Membership – Professional!

Description

Sunday, Oct 22, 10am-4pm
Open to all
Limited to 12 participants
Hybrid Workshop*

Writing original and entertaining non-fiction is hard enough.

But when you set about writing historical non-fiction about true events and real characters that happened many years, decades or even centuries ago, your challenges only increase. You cannot interview your main characters, they are long dead. Archives may be hard to access or expensive. How do you bring to life your locations and scenes and make them accessible and understandable to the modern-day reader?

This all-day workshop with best-selling author and journalist Julian Sher takes you through the steps to make your next project a success – or at least achievable. The topics covered include:

  • CHOOSING YOUR TOPIC
  • KEY RESEARCH TOOLS – BOOKS
  • KEY RESEARCH TOOLS – NEWSPAPERS
  • KEY RESEARCH TOOLS – PHOTOS
  • KEY RESEARCH TOOLS – LIBRARIANS
  • WRITING: START RIGHT AWAY
  • WRITING APPROACH
  • WRITING STYLE
  • CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES: (Cultural appropriation. Political correctness, presentism and trigger words.)
  • FACT CHECKING
  • SELLING YOUR BOOK

We will be using examples from some of the best writers of the genre from a variety of backgrounds —  women, men, Black and  Indigenous including Margaret McMillan, Eric Larsen, Sidney Schama, Tanya Talaga, Ben MacIntyre and Isabel Wilkerson.

Participants are encouraged to read samples of these authors’ work and, if they want, Julian’s three historical non-fiction books: The North Star, Until You are Dead and White Hoods. More information on these books at www.juliansher.com/books.

*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.

Workshop leader

Credit: John Mahoney
Julian Sher is an award-winning investigative journalist -- the author of seven books, a veteran TV documentary writer and director as well as an accomplished. Julian’s latest book tells the little-known story of Canada’s role in the American Civil War. The North Star: Canada and the Civil War Plots against Lincoln, published by Penguin Random House. Released in April 2023, it became an Amazon bestseller hailed as “a riveting and fascinating read”  with excerpts published in the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Montreal Gazette and La Presse. He also wrote the award-winning national bestseller Until You Are Dead: The Wrongful Conviction of Steven Truscott about Canada's most famous murder trial, which led to an official re-opening a 40-year-old case. The best-selling book was re-issued with an updated afterword in 2023.
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Register

Please note that workshop registration is on a “first come, first served” basis.

Payment is required to confirm your place in the workshop. 

Payments are to be made online via credit card or PayPal. Click on the link below to add the workshop to your shopping cart, then proceed to payment. QWF Members must be logged in to receive their discount. If you are not already a QWF member, you will have the option of purchasing a Membership, in which case you will receive the discounted workshop rate.

If you are unable to pay online, you can temporarily reserve a place by registering online. Your payment must be made to the QWF office by cheque or cash within 7 days of registration or it will automatically be cancelled. Cheques must be written out to “QWF–Quebec Writers’ Federation” or “Quebec Writers’ Federation”

If the workshop is full, you will have the option of joining the waiting list. If a space becomes available, all those on the waiting list will be notified at once by email. The available spot will be assigned on a first come, first served basis.

Please familiarize yourself with the rest of the Workshop Policies in the shaded box.

Member

General $85 + $2.23 Fee
Student $60 + $1.66 Fee
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Non-Member

$120 + $3.02 Fee
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Programs

Workshop Policies

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Special Thanks

QWF gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Government of Canada.