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SUMMARY:Novel Essentials: The Art & Craft of Long-Form Fiction
DESCRIPTION:Have you had an itch to write a novel\, but haven’t known how to tackle such a large project? Now is the perfect time to dust off your ideas! This workshop is a boot camp for budding writers eager to turn their novelistic dream into a reality. From iron-clad structures and story tropes to the ins-and-outs of how character motivation pushes a great plot\, this 10-week intensive workshop will impart professional tips and tricks-of-the-trade essential to bringing long-form fiction to life. \n\n\n\nThe workshop will focus on practical knowledge not covered in a typical writing workshop: initial idea development; a deep dive on novelistic structure; how to build the perfect plot; character development and motivation; scene development; and how to handle secondary and tertiary characters\, to name a few. Each week\, you will learn one or more essential techniques and/or theories\, as well as participate in short\, practical exercises that will help you build your novel. As you master the elements\, you will have opportunities to develop and workshop your original novel concepts. \n\n\n\nWhile an emphasis will be placed on long-form writing\, all writers looking to master essential elements of fiction writing are encouraged to attend. You do not require prior workshop experience or an idea for a novel to take this workshop. Participants interested in developing fiction of all kinds are more than welcome! \n\n\n\nL. E. Sterling (Erin Vollick\, also published under L. E. Vollick) is the author of numerous novels spanning contemporary\, Young Adult\, fantasy\, science-fiction\, dystopian and romance genres. Her hit series\, the True Born Trilogy\, was optioned for television\, and True Born\, the first novel in the trilogy\, was recognized internationally with the 2017 Athena Award® in Young Adult literature. With a B.A. and M.A. in Creative Writing and a Ph.D. in Literature\, Sterling taught creative writing and literature for many years. She has appeared at BookCon NYC\, the LA Times Festival of Books\, and Ad Astra.  
URL:https://qwf.org/event/novel-essentials-the-art-craft-of-long-form-fiction/2025-04-28/
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:20250428T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250428T220000
DTSTAMP:20260520T202032
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SUMMARY:Craft Meets Magic: The Alchemy of Short Fiction
DESCRIPTION:Is there an art form more maddening than the short story? Demanding the complexity of a novel\, the lyricism of a poem\, and the economy of a joke\, the work is tedious and the rewards  (for most of us) are slim. Still\, for us cursed few\, the short story is an addictive nut to crack. After all\, there’s little more thrilling than the prose of a writer who can do more with a handful of pages than most can do with 300. The complexity of a novel! The lyricism of a poem! The economy of a joke! \n\n\n\nJoin us\, if you dare\, for an 8-week workshop where participants will share and critique each other’s work with an eye towards craft. Specifically\, we will ask ourselves questions like\, “What are characters made of?” “How is a plot built?” “Do I really need to describe everything?” \n\n\n\nEqually important to studying these questions will be putting them aside\, as we celebrate and cultivate the magic that makes art artin the first place–that intangible whatever that defines our passion for fiction. After all\, what else do we have to keep us warm as we trudge through draft to draft? \n\n\n\nAs time allows\, we’ll also read stories by published authors like ZZ Packer\, Donald Barthelme\, Jhumpa Lahiri\, Joy Williams\, and George Saunders. Participants will be asked to read and prepare responses to a short story (distributed from me by email) prior to our first meeting. \n\n\n\nFrankie Barnet is the author of Mood Swings (McClelland & Stewart)\, which was a finalist for the Grand prix du livre de Montréal; Kim: A Novel Idea (Metatron); and An Indoor Kind of Girl (Metatron). Her work has appeared in places such as PRISM International\, EVENT\, Joyland\, The Erotic Review\, and Biblioasis’ Best Canadian Short Stories Anthology. She has an MFA from Syracuse University and lives in Montreal.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/craft-meets-magic-the-alchemy-of-short-fiction/2025-04-28/
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:20250429T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250429T200000
DTSTAMP:20260520T202032
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SUMMARY:So You’ve Written a Novel – Now What?
DESCRIPTION:The first time I typed THE END on a manuscript\, I didn’t know what to do next. There’s a lot of information and encouragement on HOW to write a book\, but not a lot on what to do after you’ve written the thing. And the advice you find online can be woefully misleading\, confusing\, or at its very worst —fraudulent. \n\n\n\nThis 8-week workshop aims to fully lay out the roadmap to traditional publishing for someone who’s finished\, or is close to finishing a fiction manuscript. The journey of getting your story from your laptop to an actual book you can pick up at Indigo follows a very specific series of steps. From landing an agent\, to signing with a publisher\, to contract details\, this course will take you\, in minute detail\, through every step\, with a centerpiece intensive workshop formulating your all-important Query Letter\, along with details on crafting your logline and your pitch kits. \n\n\n\nDesigned for absolute newbies to the world of publishing\, this workshop will offer you tips and tactics to maximize your chances at every step\, and by its end you should have the knowledge and confidence to approach this perilous enterprise knowing exactly what you need to do next. Because typing THE END is only the beginning. \n\n\n\nThere is no submission required prior to the first session\, but participants will be expected to write loglines and query letters and share them with the group as the workshop progresses. They will also be expected to read and critique each other’s work. \n\n\n\nToronto-born\, Montreal-based writer and illustrator Sherwin Sullivan Tjia has written many odd and eclectic books. Their 2005 collection of pseudohaikus\, The World is a Heartbreaker\, was a finalist for the Quebec Writers’ Federation’s A. M. Klein Award. Their 2010 graphic novel\, The Hipless Boy\, was a finalist for the Doug Wright Award for best emerging talent\, as well as being nominated for 4 Ignatz Awards. Their 2011 Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style book from the POV of a housecat entitled You Are a Cat! won that year’s Expozine Award for best English-language book. Their latest graphic novel entitled Plummet is about a woman who wakes up one day to find herself in literal\, perpetual freefall. It was optioned for animation and named one of CBC Books’ “Top 20 Graphic Novels of 2019.”
URL:https://qwf.org/event/so-youve-written-a-novel-now-what-2/2025-04-29/
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:20250429T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250429T220000
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SUMMARY:Make It Make Sense: Writing Memoir
DESCRIPTION:Writing a story about something that really happened seems like it should be easy: after all\, compared to something like fiction\, a lot of the work is already done for you. You already know what happens! But as anyone who has attempted to make art about their own life and experience can attest\, the practice can feel a lot more complicated when you actually get down to it. Life doesn’t always make sense — but a good story has to. \n\n\n\nLed by Tara McGowan-Ross\, the author of the Hilary Weston Prize-shortlisted memoir Nothing Will Be Different\, Make It Make Sense is a workshop that engages directly with the complicated questions that can impede creativity when writing about real life. What makes memoir different from other kinds of nonfiction? Why does writing about yourself honestly so often feel like lying through your teeth? What are the ethics of writing about other people? And what gives me the right\, in our complicated global environment\, to take up space telling my own story at all? \n\n\n\nThis workshop aims to foster a sense of confidence and capacity in a genre that is both highly marketable arts entertainment and powerful personal reflective practice. Participants will be asked to think critically about memoir from the perspective of both writer and reader in a discussion-based environment that features short lectures\, collaborative dialogue\, peer editing\, and revision to foster a sense of ease in one of the most fraught and risky modes of self-expression. \n\n\n\nMake It Make Sense is designed for writers of all skill levels who feel they are psychologically blocked in their memoir-writing practice. Participants will be encouraged to develop a solid foundation of confidence and understanding so that they can live with the sense of uncertainty (or even danger) that often makes this genre so challenging and exciting. Participants will be required to write a short piece for peer editing and workshop with their cohort and encouraged to revise that same piece based on feedback. Not all revised pieces will be workshopped.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/make-it-make-sense-writing-memoir/2025-04-29/
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:20250430T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250430T200000
DTSTAMP:20260520T202032
CREATED:20241212T160000Z
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SUMMARY:Listening for the Poem
DESCRIPTION:This workshop engages poetry through a listening practice. \n\n\n\nListening shifts attention away from prosaic sense-making and toward poetic meaning-making. Through listening\, we can quiet our inner editorial voice\, make unexpected leaps of thought\, create new patterns of association\, and attune to the fullness—the timbre\, tone\, and sway—of any given moment. \n\n\n\nDeveloping a listening practice also carves out dedicated time\, space\, and attention for writing. Listening permits an encounter between you and your voice\, which emerges when you do not self-consciously construct it. Listening halts self-critical chatter\, allowing you to tune in to your natural rhythms\, embodied knowledge\, and inner language. \n\n\n\nYou will be invited to engage in a directed listening experience\, on your own time\, before each workshop. During this experience\, you will compose the poems that will be brought into workshop\, which will be spent reading new poems aloud and providing feedback on one another’s writing. The idea is that you will bring in new work during each session to share\, with writing taking place on your own time. Consequently\, this is a writing-intensive workshop. Short readings and audio files will be assigned\, and participants will need a recording device for one exercise (phone is OK). \n\n\n\nThe workshop will fully engage the intellect and life experiences of all the writers in the room as we talk shop about craft\, poetics\, and more. New work is privileged to demonstrate the limitless potential we have within us to create poetry—the potential to hear poetry in everyday life. \n\n\n\nJay Ritchie is an English PhD candidate at McGill University and holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is the author of Listening in Many Publics (Invisible Publishing\, 2024)\, which was a finalist for the QWF’s A. M. Klein Prize for Poetry\, and Cheer Up\, Jay Ritchie (Coach House Books\, 2017). He has taught creative writing at UMass and Bishop’s University. His writing and music have appeared in Maisonneuve\, SAND\, on CBC Radio One\, WMUA Amherst\, Frozen Section Radio\, at the PHI Centre\, and he performs expanded poetry readings using portable cassette players and field recordings.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/listening-for-the-poem/2025-04-30/
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:20250430T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250430T210000
DTSTAMP:20260520T202032
CREATED:20241212T160000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241210T174534Z
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SUMMARY:Don’t Quit Your Day Job…Yet: Freelance Writing for Print and Internet
DESCRIPTION:The Internet has boosted demand for articles\, photo features\, website text\, and niche content for both online and print outlets. The technical skills to post\, blog\, tweet\, and upload are common – especially amongst the younger generation! \n\n\n\nLess common\, however\, is the combination of these skills with the ability to write clear\, concise\, targeted\, interesting\, and well-structured prose suitable for small screens\, short attention spans\, F-pattern skim reading\, and search engines. \n\n\n\nConducted by a professional journalist\, author\, freelance writer and PR lecturer\, this workshop is designed to enhance the communications skills of freelancers\, publicists\, bloggers\, and other writers. It will also help you acquire the business and survival smarts you’ll need if you want to earn money from your writing. \n\n\n\nVariations of this workshop have been delivered online and live\, for credit and non-credit purposes at McGill University\, UCLA\, Shaanxi University\, and various arts groups. \n\n\n\nThrough discussions\, examples\, simulation exercises\, and peer review\, workshop sessions are conducted in a “real-life” context that aims to get participants published after the course. \n\n\n\nExercises are written and reviewed during sessions to mediate feedback and prepare participants to work within time limits. The instructor will set a main homework assignment\, to be reviewed before it’s submitted for publication: \n\n\n\n\nA third-person profile\, based on an interview\, which describes an interesting person\, their occupation and achievements.\n\n\n\n\nor \n\n\n\n\nA researched\, first-person narrative analyzing a subject of topical interest.\n\n\n\n\nSessions will cover all aspects of choosing\, planning\, pitching\, writing\, and editing the article. \n\n\n\nParticipants enrolling in this workshop should have a clear idea why they want to write\, what they want to write\, and for whom. They should also consider whether they intend to sell their writing to external outlets\, give it away\, or use it for personal\, career/business development. \n\n\n\nWorkshop schedule \n\n\n\nWeek 1 \n\n\n\n\nCourse introduction\n\n\n\nOvercoming writer’s block and generating story ideas\n\n\n\nChoosing the right topic at the right time\n\n\n\nDifferences between print and online writing\n\n\n\n\nWeek 2 \n\n\n\n\nAnalysis of techniques\, tone\, and content of publications\n\n\n\nInverted pyramid writing\n\n\n\nResearching and selecting relevant material\n\n\n\nSearch engine optimization\n\n\n\nOnline vs print reading patterns\n\n\n\n\nWeek 3 \n\n\n\n\nWriting catchy leads\, headings\, and subject lines\n\n\n\nBasic writing structures\n\n\n\nShow don’t tell – writing for the senses\n\n\n\nSimiles\, metaphors\, allusions\, and other writing devices\n\n\n\nCutting jargon and superfluous words\n\n\n\n\nWeek 4 \n\n\n\n\nInterviewing techniques and psychology\n\n\n\nTurning an interview into a profile\n\n\n\nUse of quotations\n\n\n\nChoosing a publication for your article\n\n\n\nPitching stories\n\n\n\n\nWeek 5 \n\n\n\n\nWorking with editors\n\n\n\nBuilding your network\n\n\n\nCaption writing\n\n\n\nSourcing\, choosing\, and editing pics\n\n\n\nTravel writing\n\n\n\n\nWeek 7 \n\n\n\n\nWriting as a business\n\n\n\nQuoting for jobs\n\n\n\nTax and invoice issues\n\n\n\nMarketing\n\n\n\nSelf-publishing\, hybrid publishing\n\n\n\n\nWeek 8 \n\n\n\n\nCourse review \n\n\n\nPreparation to submit workshop article for publication
URL:https://qwf.org/event/dont-quit-your-day-jobyet-freelance-writing-for-print-and-internet/2025-04-30/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250503T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250511T160000
DTSTAMP:20260520T202032
CREATED:20250430T182435Z
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SUMMARY:Subverting the Canon: Writing Plays As Though Race\, Class\, Gender and Sexual Orientation Mattered
DESCRIPTION:With Corrina Hodgson\n\n\n\nSubverting the Canon: Writing Plays as if Race\, Class\, Gender and Sexual Orientation Mattered is an innovative workshop designed to challenge conventional storytelling and enable playwrights to craft narratives that reflect the diversity of human experience. Focusing on perspectives historically marginalized in traditional theatre\, participants will explore how inclusivity and authenticity can enhance the impact of their work.  \n\n\n\nThis workshop is essential to fostering a vibrant artistic community. At a time when audiences demand stories that resonate with the complexities of contemporary life\, it’s essential that playwrights are able to address themes of identity and social justice. By offering writers a space where they can hone their craft while exploring these crucial issues\, the workshop cultivates voices capable of engaging\, educating and inspiring.  \n\n\n\nIn this workshop\, participants will learn theory in the first two sessions with the trainer\, receive a writing assignment to complete during the week\, then return to theory and practice in week 2. \n\n\n\nDates: May 3\, 4 + 10\, 11 2025Location: In person location TBD & Over Zoom upon requestTime(s): 12-4 PMRegistration Fee: $45Number of Participants: 8
URL:https://qwf.org/event/subverting-the-canon-writing-plays-as-though-race-class-gender-and-sexual-orientation-mattered/
CATEGORIES:Workshops
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