Writing a Romantic Short Story. Leader: Diana Cranstoun. In this workshop, which will explore what a short story is, you will learn how and why you should write one (or more!), and gain an understanding of the expectations of the romantic short story reader. From January 9, 2021
Burnout. It’s All in Your Head. Leader: Swati Chavda. Creative fire burning out can feel like an end of the road. It doesn’t have to be. A complex interplay of neuroscience underlies the brain circuits processing creativity. Use this to find your way back into creativity after a dry spell. From January 28, 2021
How to Write a Sex Scene. Leader: Tammy Lyn Carbol. Should your characters have smoldering heat between them, have sex, or both? Do you write it in all its graphic glory, or should you tease your reader and let them finish it for you? Our own Tammy Lyn Carbol presents How to Write a Sex Scene that feels comfortable for you to write, and hot enough for your readers to love. From February 13, 2021.
Writing Your Scenes. Leader: Cassandra Arnold. There are tricks of the trade to crafting scenes that hook your readers, advance your plot, and build a compelling narrative. At the end of this session, you will understand what makes a scene, when you need the different types, and how to troubleshoot problems. All the tools you need to put your characters into a marketable book! From February 25, 2021.
Explore the Magic of Arts Grants. Leader: Sarah Kades Graham. Sarah shares how applying for and being awarded an arts grant has been a game changer. After twelve years of writing, this pivotal decision has changed her life and writing career, from giving her the freedom to prioritize her writing practice to feeling the power of community support, this experience has added potent fuel to her creative fire. From March 13, 2021.
Show, Don’t Tell. Leader: Jessica Jackson. We all want our writing to be more appealing to our readers and one way to help with that is to cut out a bunch of ‘telling’ sections and replacing them with ‘showing’ sections! Let’s look at a couple of ways to change your telling sections to showing ones! From March 25, 2021.
What Comes After the First Draft. Leader: Mahrie G. Reid. How to achieve clarity, create imagery, and evoke emotion in your writing? Get the basics and look at the five most common issues muddying your first draft. In this workshop, you will to learn usable guidelines for editing the early version of your manuscript. From April 10, 2021.
Emotion in Writing. Leader: Swati Chavda. “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~ Maya Angelou. Readers will fall in love with our stories, remember our world and the characters, and spread word about our books — only if our stories make them feel. And feeling something requires emotion. So let’s dive in and find out more about emotion in writing. From April 22, 2021.
Book Formatting – A DIY Guide. Leader: Bret Cousins. Formatting your book for printing and ebook is not as hard as one might think. Finding some of the key functions on your word processing program can allow you to format your book yourself and save money. Bret takes you from researching the best formatting for your book through to the technical tricks in word processing programs to create a finished printable file for Amazon and many other ebook and print services. From May 8, 2021.
How to Set Up Your Mailing List. Leader: David Singh. It is crucial to have a mailing list for direct access to readers. David will take you through the process of setting up your mailing list from scratch and integrating it to your website. From May 27, 2021.
Writing with Neural Diversity. Leader: Brandy Ackerley. Brandy is an author and artist living with aphantasia. She is going to give what promises to be an amazing workshop which will cover a variety of neural conditions, clues you may have one and strategies to work with them when writing. From June 12, 2021.
The Hero’s/Heroine’s Journey. Leader: Diana Cranstoun. We’ve all heard about The Hero’s Journey but is there a Heroine’s Journey? Join Diana Cranstoun on Saturday, July 10th, for an exploration of Kim Hudson’s book The Virgin’s Promise, where both journeys will be examined. From July 10, 2021.
Feeling Feedback. Leader: Sulya Fenichel. Receiving feedback on our work can be challenging to say the least. It can encourage us to continue on our journey or send us into a spiral of self-doubt. Learn how to listen, filter, trust yourself and make your work better as our guest speaker, Sulya Fenichel, M.Ed leads us through strategies to get the most out of feedback by processing it and our feelings about it in a healthy way. From July 22, 2021.
Synopsis/Query Letters/Book Jackets/Hook. Leader: Allison Gorner. Often authors find penning novels easier that writing the crucial synopsis, query letter, book jacket blurbs and hooks required to ultimately publish your book. In this workshop, our own Allison Gorner, will give you the tools you need to create a book package that shines. From September 11, 2021.
Self Editing for the 21st Century Writer. Leader: Swati Chavda. Don’t let your book end up in a reader’s “did not finish” pile. Use neuroscience-based tips, tricks, and tools to revise and self-edit your manuscript to hook the reader’s attention and keep it engaged throughout the story to have them come back, asking for your next book and the next.. From September 23, 2021.
Advertising on Amazon. Leader: Cassandra Arnold. Have you heard that you need to advertise on Amazon to sell your books? Are you overwhelmed by the thought of yet another thing to learn? Terrified of losing vast sums of money? By the end of this session you will be able to set up your first ads, confident in what you are doing, with your budget planned, and with links to resources to deepen your knowledge and skill over time. From October 9, 2021.
Secondary Characters. Leader: Allison Gorner. Why is developing your secondary characters important? How can it enrich your writing? What strategies can you use to create an unforgettable supporting cast? What pitfalls should you avoid? Join Allison Gorner as she discusses strategies and tips about how to create vibrant secondary characters. From November 13, 2021.
The Concept Book Launch. Leader: Julie Hiner. Guest speaker, Julie Hiner, author, storyteller, and blogger, is famous in the Calgary writing community for her fabulous interactive book launches—both live and virtual. Join Julie as she shares strategies on how to rock a concept book launch that will get your books the megawatt exposure they deserve. From November 25, 2021.
Effective Front and Back Matter. Leader: Cassandra Arnold. As readers we have all seen these parts of a book: dedications, copyright pages, endnotes, other books in the series… the list is huge. If you are traditionally published, then the choice of what to include might be made for you. As Indie authors, we get to decide ourselves. So, what is current best practice, and how do we use these sections increase read though and sales? Come to this interactive talk, discuss examples, share our experiences, and leave better equipped to make effective use of these pages in our manuscripts. From December 11, 2021.