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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251119T174500
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SUMMARY:Stage-Worthy: How to Write a Play
DESCRIPTION:Seven Wednesdays\, Oct  8-Nov 26\,  5:45-7:45pm  (No session on October 29; double-session [5:45-9:45pm] on November 26)Open to allLimited to 12 participantsIn-Person Workshop* \n\n\n\nDialogue\, characters\, plot\, setting! This will be a learn-by-doing-as-you-go\, anecdotal (in a theatre history way)\, ease-you-into-it experience that’s not scary or overwhelming. If you have always wanted to write a play or already have a play idea in the works\, this is the workshop for you. I’m quite motivational\, coach-like\, and pushy in a good way. I will get that play out of you if you are willing to try. I am all for deadlines\, discipline\, and contests. Since I have more of a comic bent\, there could be more emphasis on comedy. The workshop will evolve as it goes\, based on what everyone hopes to accomplish. I am often surprised and quite happy to see what happens when I throw ideas and writing games at writers in a workshop. I am very careful about how feedback is given because everything is so new. This does not mean that there won’t be opportunities to share your work or prove that you are indeed writing. Participants will have something dramatic to show for it at the end of the workshop. A past QWF workshop resulted in Picturesque: Voices From Beaver Hall\, which saw productions at Redpath Museum\, Dawson Theatre\, as well as museums in Hamilton and Calgary. \n\n\n\n*This workshop will take place exclusively in-person at the QWF Office (Room 3\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Westmount\, Quebec). \n\n\n\nColleen Curran is an award-winning playwright\, novelist\, actor\, and teacher. Her comedy Cake-Walk premiered at the Blyth Festival in 1984 and has had more than 50 productions across North America. It was brought to the attention of Showtime Network by Whoopi Goldberg. Curran’s many plays include Villa Eden\, Sacred Hearts (winner of the International Gabriel Award and most recently done by Zeitgeist Stage in Boston) Maple Lodge (Winner Best Canadian Play\, Samuel French Inc. Competition)\, Another Labour Day (Best New Play\, QDF\, 1984)\, El Clavadista\, A Brave Girl\, Sibyl and Sylvia\, Casa de Mary\, Ceili House\, and Ireland’s Own Carmel O’Reilly Tonite! Her three novels about Montreal singing waitress Lenore Rutland are Something Drastic\, Overnight Sensation\, and Guests of Chance. Her stage adaptation of Something Drastic premiered in 2002 and has been seen in Winnipeg\, Toronto\, Athens\, and Melbourne. Her True Nature launched the 2011-2012 season at Centaur Theatre. Her latest novel\, Out for Stars\, made the long list for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/stage-worthy-how-to-write-a-play/2025-11-19/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251119T174500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251119T194500
DTSTAMP:20260502T002039
CREATED:20250827T174338Z
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SUMMARY:Deep Story Design: Story-Craft Essentials for Longer Form Narratives (Wednesday Cohort)
DESCRIPTION:Ten Wednesdays\, Oct 8-Dec 17\, 5:45-7:45pm (No session on October 15)        Open to allLimited to 12 participantsOnline Workshop* \n\n\n\nThis workshop delves into the five fundamental elements of story-making—structure\, plot\, character\, theme\, and scene building. Whether you’re writing a novella\, novel\, screenplay\, or memoir\, the skillful use of these elements allows all writers to create powerful stories that are meaningful and satisfying. \n\n\n\nAfter introducing a basic three-act story structure that’s foundational for most stories\, the workshop will progress through aspects of character\, theme\, and plot so that you can feel confident about completing fiction or nonfiction of any kind or length. We also touch on scene construction so your stories feel dynamic and alive on the page. \n\n\n\nWeekly homework exercises help writers at different stages of your story-making process\, whether you’re gathering material for a new story\, drafting an existing work\, or revising a project that is nearly ready to share with others. Completed homework will receive instructor feedback and some in-class discussion. \n\n\n\nIn addition to the focus on craft essentials\, this workshop invites writers to make personal discoveries about what matters most deeply to them and how this connects with their writing. This connection between self and story is integral to Deep Story Design\, because writers who know who they are\, and what they care about most\, are better able to access their unique creative voice. \n\n\n\nWeekly meetings will look something like this: \n\n\n\n\na 90-minute lesson\, including 15-30 mins of in-class exercises\n\n\n\na 10-minute break\n\n\n\n20 minutes for Q&A/homework discussion\n\n\n\n\nCompleted homework assignments will be due 4 days after the meeting at which they are assigned. \n\n\n\n*This workshop will take place online via Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants a week or so prior to the first session. Please note that this is the Wednesday iteration of the workshop; there is also a group meeting on Mondays. The material covered will be the same\, but note that due to limited spots\, we cannot facilitate transfers between groups.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/deep-story-design-story-craft-essentials-for-longer-form-narratives-wednesday-cohort/2025-11-19/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251119T200000
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DTSTAMP:20260502T002039
CREATED:20250819T160000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250813T202248Z
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SUMMARY:Short Fiction: Plot and the Inner Life
DESCRIPTION:Eight Wednesdays\, Oct 8- Dec 3\, 8-10pm (No session on October 29)                 Open to allLimited to 12 participantsHybrid Workshop* \n\n\n\nThis eight-week workshop will explore how deepening a character’s inner life can generate new possibilities for a short story’s plot. One premise of this workshop is that fiction’s power lies in its capacity to depict with a high degree of detail an individual’s consciousness: the realm of perceptions\, feelings\, desires\, memories\, and thoughts. How one consciousness bumps up against another—and against the external world of norms\, things\, economic and cultural forces\, etc.—is what makes a story possible. We will investigate story as\, in George Saunders’s words\, “a system for the transfer of energy.” \n\n\n\nPlot and interiority are broad categories that encompass other topics such as point of view\, dialogue\, backstory\, and deepening the role of setting and/or of the body\, all of which can be studied and discussed\, depending on the group’s interest and the story drafts that are submitted for workshopping. Note that the workshop leader’s focus is realist literary fiction\, but all genres are welcome. The larger goal of the workshop is to support writers in uncovering the best possible versions of their stories. \n\n\n\nMost of the workshop will be devoted to reading and discussing participants’ stories (two per week over seven weeks\, up to 5000 words each). However\, for the first meeting\, participants will discuss Yiyun Li’s story\, “Prison\,” a jarring tale about surrogate birth. Please read the first 23 pages before the first session\, but do not read farther than that. We will read the final 5 pages together\, tracking how the plot ultimately unfolds. \n\n\n\n*This workshop will take place at the QWF Office (Room 3\, 4023 Tupper Street\, Westmount\, Quebec) with up to 2 virtual spots for participants who are unable to attend in-person because of distance or disability. By default\, all workshop registrations are for in-person spots. If you would like to request a virtual slot\, contact Riley at riley@qwf.org stating the reason for which you would need the virtual spot\, then wait for a response before registering. Please do not register until you receive confirmation of a virtual spot for you. \n\n\n\nMichelle Syba is the author of the story collection End Times (Freehand Books\, 2023)\, a finalist for the QWF Concordia University First Book Prize. End Times explores the lives of people variously entangled with evangelical culture\, including immigrants\, the elderly\, the burned-out\, and the lonely\, examining our hidden anxieties and longings. Michelle’s shorter works have been published in The New Quarterly\, Cosmonauts Avenue\, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency\, and elsewhere. \n\n\n\nYou can find out more about her at www.michellesyba.com.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/short-fiction-plot-and-the-inner-life/2025-11-19/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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