Master Classes

Online and Recorded In this class, we'll cover back story, what it is and why it matters. For instance, though characters **are** what they **do**, every surprising action has to make sense in light of the character’s past. The challenge for the novelist is finding “Page One” and then revealing back story without bogging down the front story. In-class writing exercises. Topics include - What is back story, and why back story matters to the front story - Identifying the various possible sources of back story (character, setting, situation, context...) - How to formulate back story and determine how much the reader needs to know - How to find your Page One - Strategies for layering in back story so that it enhances the front story - Methods for avoiding the 'back story dump.'

Online and Recorded Writers are often told they need a platform, a brand, or a social media strategy. This session offers something more useful: a way to think about relevance as an ongoing creative practice rather than a performance requirement. We'll explore how writers stay visible to readers, publishers, and literary communities through small, sustainable actions that grow naturally from the work itself. You'll leave with practical approaches you can use immediately, whether you are preparing a first manuscript or building a long-term writing life. We'll demystify tools like newsletters, storefronts, and light social media use, all with the goal of keeping you focused on what actually matters: the writing itself. By the end of this session, you'll have a clear, writer-centred strategy you can stick to. One that grows with you, protects your time, and lets you stay close to your creative work.

Online and Recorded When people struggle to write short fiction, the problem usually begins with the idea. It often leads to a story that is too long, or the beginning of a novel, or so simplistic that it is dull. In this workshop, we'll walk through the process of how to create and structure a short story. You'll be given in-class exercises and worksheets to put theory into practice immediately. Yes, this means that you will be writing a (very) short story in class.

Online and Recorded Whether the romantic element takes front-stage-centre or hides in the shadows offstage, nearly every work of fiction has a love story in it somewhere. We’ll look at ways to craft n this workshop we’ll look at ways to craft that avoid clichés, deepen the themes in your writing, and help make your love stories memorable.

Online and Recorded Things have changed a little since Jane Austin ventured out to publish her first novel. The 21st century book world can seem more like a giant multiverse full of too many options to explore, leaving new writers struggling to know where to begin. Whether you are looking to share your memoir with family, or are sure you have have written the world's next big best-seller, join author kc dyer for a marathon, information-packed hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy of publishing for new writers. Bring all your questions and be prepared for writer's cramp!

Online and Recorded Writing tight and clean first pages can be tricky, if not sometimes confusing. What elements are essential to capturing the attention from the get-go? Bring your first pages and join agent Karly Dizon from Fuse Literary for the First Three Pages master class to receive feedback on your work. We'll deep dive into the elements that work as well as opportunities to improve. Note: Registered attendees who want the chance to have their pages critiqued will be asked to submit three pages to a Dropbox link about a week before the conference. As many submissions as can reasonably be critiqued in the available time will be. Not all submissions will be reviewed, but there is always a lot to learn from critiques of other people's work, too.

In Person, Livestreamed, and Recorded Sometimes it feels easier to write a whole book than it is to pitch, summarize, or talk about one. This interactive session will give an overview on how to talk (and write) about your book in one sentence, in one paragraph, and in one page. We'll go over uses for each, from logline/elevator pitches to query synopses and (for DIY authors) book jacket descriptions, press releases, Amazon descriptions, and more.

In Person, Live-streamed, and Recorded Ever since Aristotle, story theorists have been looking at story through a temporal lens—beginning, middle, and end, or first act, second act, and third act. But what if there was another way of conceptualizing story on a more elemental level? What if there was a way of understanding story that was easy to visualize and remember and that would apply to any genre you write? Well, there is, and in this seminar you’ll learn how it can transform your writing and storytelling forever.

In Person, Livestreamed, and Recorded Crafting a mystery can be fraught with peril, but there are three questions that lie at the heart of the terror: Who are the suspects? What makes them suspects? Who is the sleuth? This session will help participants use those three questions to kickstart a killer cozy community crawling with crimes, kooky characters, cliffhangers, and comedy. Since we also want audiences to care about the crime, understand the motivation of our detective, and remain stumped until the final page, we’ll cover the tenets plotting, pacing, clue placement, and characterization--everything participants need to create a cozy from scratch!

In Person, Livestreamed and Recorded What do Sherlock Holmes, Elizabeth Bennet, and Jamie Fraser have in common? They leap off the page (or screen) with their richness. After this lively, interactive masterclass, your characters will, too. Great fiction starts with great characters. Setting, plot, point of view, conflict—every element of story is fueled by the characters who drive it. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll use creative role-play techniques (yes, acting is encouraged but optional!), verbal storytelling, and deep-dive character investigations to develop characters that feel real, vivid, and unforgettable. I’ll provided guided character worksheets and questions to aid in storytelling. Whether you’re building brand-new characters or refining characters already in progress, you’ll walk away with concrete tools to create living, breathing people on the page. Warning: You may leave this class with characters so genuine, they’ll hijack your next novel.

In Person Only - Limited to 15 participants Every step we take along our author journey requires us to make choices. And each and every decision we make contributes to the experiences we'll have, people we'll meet, money we'll make, opportunities that present themselves, the connections we'll forge with our readers—and most importantly how we'll feel about all of those experiences. Hopefully, building your writing career will be a lifelong endeavour. And the more your choices are in alignment with your values, the more satisfying your authorly adventures will likely be and the less stress and anxiety you will feel along the way. In this masterclass, you will learn to - Identify your core values, in relation to your writing and publishing journey—and your life in general - Recognize areas that are in (or out of) alignment - Implement tools and strategies to help course-correct when you identify a mismatch - Ask yourself some simple, key questions you can use at each decision point to help avoid misalignment in the future

In Person, Livestreamed, and Recorded So you've got a world. And a character. Amazing! But how does your character move through that world? How do their identities, experiences, and events within that world affect the way they make decisions, relate to others, and understand the world around them? In this workshop, we'll create an inventory of everything your character could be carrying with them as your story begins, discuss how those elements intersect and interact with each other, and talk through techniques for ensuring that your character's movement through the story reflects, responds, and reacts to both the world they're in and their experiences within it.

In Person, Livestreamed, and Recorded Have you ever heard of someone having “a good ear for dialogue?” Have you ever read a book or watched a movie and the dialogue felt real and natural? Whether you are writing a play, a novel, short story, memoir or screenplay, your characters need dialogue. In this hands-on workshop, Aren X. Tulchinsky will teach you how to write authentic sounding dialogue. Aren will lead participants in short writing exercises during the workshop, so bring a notebook and pen.

In Person, Livestreamed, and Recorded Let’s explore the spirals, braids, reflections, and segments that inform the myriad of ways to structure our personal essays. In this master class, we will diagram essay shapes used by notable writers and discover ways to expand and explode shapes to fit our own narratives. This highly interactive session includes readings, writing activities, workshopping opportunities to inform and (re)energize our memoir and personal essay drafts.

In Person Only Finishing the first draft of your novel is just the beginning. But revision doesn’t have to be a chore: it can be exciting and rewarding, and when it goes well, it can feel downright magical. Revision is about re-envisioning your story with fresh eyes and finally seeing the forest after months or years of staring at the trees. In this masterclass, we’ll explore techniques to gain distance from your draft, find the emotional heart of your story, identify weak spots in character, plot and pacing, troubleshoot common manuscript problems, and increase the narrative tension. We’ll talk about how and when to use reader feedback, and—because revision doesn’t end when you sign a contract!- how to navigate the creative process when working with an editor.

In Person Only Romantic comedies have always been popular in movie theaters, but lately they seem to be everywhere in bookstores, too. In this workshop, Farah will delve deeply into what differentiates a rom com from a traditional romance and discuss necessary elements to a great romantic comedy. With tips on developing high-concept storylines, writing biting and witty banter, and finally layering in laugh-out-loud scenes. Most importantly, Farah will show you how to maintain the emotional romance arc that will keep your readers swooning between the belly laughs.

In Person, Livestreamed, and Recorded Bad news: hook opening lines, inciting incidents, sharp voice and saving the cat may stir reader curiosity for a second or two, but their effects fade almost instantly. What is it that actually draws readers deeply into a story, and does so immediately? The hidden elements of highly successful openings are revealed in this hands-on workshop.

In Person, Livestreamed, and Recorded Finding the right platform for your writing is as important as the story itself. From novels to novellas, screenplays to audio plays, fiction to non-fiction, cross-media storytelling is a vital part of the "process". This masterclass will take a deep dive into the various formats, platforms and styles that are available to writers of all experience, backgrounds, genres and disciplines. And will shed light on how a good story can become a GREAT one, all with the right media.

In Person, Livestreamed, and Recorded Do you ever feel stuck? Frozen? Devoid of ideas? Depression or fatigue at how to execute them? Welcome to the artists’ club! But here’s the good news: I guarantee you can escape this creative hell to complete your unfinished works and start (and finish) new ones. In this master class, you’ll understand that “writer’s block” is a convincing mix of actually highly solvable problems, and gain the strategies to solve enough of them to restart what gives your life so much purpose and joy: creation and completion!

In Person, Livestreamed, and Recorded Over the past decade, tabletop roleplaying games have grown from a niche pastime into a multi-billion-dollar creative industry. While Dungeons & Dragons remains the most iconic TTRPG, major publishers and indie creators launch thousands of games each year to meet the growing demand for new settings, adventures, and characters. Whether you're dreaming of writing your own game or hoping to write for an established publisher, this workshop will give you the tools to get started. We’ll explore TTRPG mechanics, interactive narrative design, worldbuilding, character creation, layout, and module structure. We’ll also dig into the ethics of game writing, how it differs from traditional sci-fi and fantasy writing, and all those pesky rules. Participants will leave with a structural outline for their own TTRPG module, a suggested reading list, and a layout template. No prior gaming experience required, all writers welcome!