Quebec Writers' Federation

Edit like an Editor: How to Edit Your Own Prose
2023-01-12 19:00 - 21:00, 2023-01-05 19:00 - 21:00, 2022-12-29 19:00 - 21:00, 2022-12-22 19:00 - 21:00, 2022-12-15 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Online via Zoom
This workshop is open to all levels of writers who have a prose manuscript they want to work on.

Limited to 12 participants.

This workshop will be conducted via Zoom.

Using tips, tricks, and hands-on exercises, workshop participants will learn about the different types of editing (including developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, and fact checking) and how to see their own work with fresh eyes.

Through reading, discussion, and exercises, this workshop will cover:

How to see your own work with an editor’s eyeSpotting common problems (info dumping, “as you know, Bob” explanations, insufficient conflict, misunderstanding genre conventions, etc.)Understanding character development (goals and motivation)How to make the most out of dialoguePoint of view, and common problems with point of view (e.g. head hopping)

This workshop is geared toward book-length manuscripts, including short story and essay collections. Applicants must submit an excerpt from their manuscript (maximum 25 pages) along with a short description of the whole project in order to be considered for the workshop. After registering below, you have until September 9 to send your document(s) to workshops@qwf.org, with “For Maria Turner” in the subject line.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have an in-depth editorial plan for their manuscript and have a solid understanding of the different types of editing and how to apply them to their own work.

Maria Schamis Turner is a freelance editor specializing in developmental editing and line editing for fiction and creative nonfiction. She is a founding editor and previous editor-in-chief and creative nonfiction editor of the literary magazine carte blanche. She worked for 10 years on literary projects for CBC Radio, including as an editor for Canada Writes. She was also the producer of the true story storytelling series This Really Happened and has taught numerous workshops on storytelling, writing, and editing.

Turneredits.com

Twitter: @turnmaria

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/turnmaria

Writing Outside the Box: A Workshop on Edgy Fiction
2023-01-05 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-12-29 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-12-22 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-12-15 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Open to writers of all experience levels.

Due to the content in some of the exercises, this workshop is restricted to participants aged 18+.

Limited to 12 participants

We plan to hold this workshop in person at the QWF office, with up to two virtual slots available for people who are unable to come to our office. If public health conditions necessitate it, this workshop may transition to a purely online model.

Looking to shake up your process? Interested in breaking the rules a little? Designed to inspire unique approaches to creative writing, this workshop will help squash your inner editor and provoke your inner rebel, giving you the confidence you need to write more openly and honestly.

Over the course of eight weeks, participants will delve into the work of unconventional writers like Italo Calvino, Kelly Link, John Elizabeth Stintzi, and George Saunders. You’ll learn tips and techniques for producing work quickly and fearlessly. You’ll dabble with ekphrasis, magic realism, and second-person perspective, and you’ll hone your ability to give and receive constructive feedback in a wildly creative working environment.

This is a fun, provocative, and productive workshop that’s generated award-winning fiction and long-term friendships. It is suitable for writers of any experience level, from the shy beginner to the established professional, working in any medium or genre. And while filled with lesson-based exercises and guided assignments, this workshop is happily (and willfully) anti-academic. Participants are not taught writing theory but are encouraged to develop their skills through the acts of reading and writing alone. Here, you learn by doing.

There is no submission required prior to the first session. Participants will be expected to share fiction with the group as the workshop progresses.

This is the perfect way to kickstart a project, rejuvenate your existing process, or to simply step outside of your comfort zone by experimenting with new approaches to creativity.

Come play with the weird kids of creative writing. (One of us. One of us.)

Trepassey-born writer Tracey Waddleton splits her time between the island of Newfoundland and the island of Montreal. Her first book, Send More Tourists… the Last Ones Were Delicious, was published by Breakwater Books in July of 2019 and won the 2020 ReLit Award for Short Fiction. She is the inaugural recipient of the Quebec Writers’ Federation Max Margles Writing Residency and is spending/spent the month of August writing in Dublin, Ireland in 2022.

www.traceywaddleton.com

Instagram: @bartlebomb

Twitter: @traceywaddleton

Facebook: www.facebook.com/tracey.waddleton

Holiday Book Giveaway
2022-12-14 11:00 - 16:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
The Quebec Writers’ Federation is hosting a holiday get-together and book giveaway!

Stop by the QWF office for a friendly chat in the company of good friends and good books. QWF members get to take three free books (while supplies last). Non-members can come register and also get three free books. Bring your friends and/or family!Light refreshments will be available.

Where: Atwater Library, Room 3 (upstairs).When: Wednesday, Dec 14, 11am-4pm

Note: Wearing a mask is strongly encouraged and appreciated when not eating/drinking.
