2025 Monthly Virtual Workshops

In this workshop, Jane Daly speaks about using various tools to write faster.

Historical Novel Malpractice focuses on areas unique to writing historical fiction. A history buff, Dr. Wells introduces the concept of medical epochs. This divides the vast centuries of the past into manageable sections for authors to research. She also gives writers ideas for where to seek legitimate research on their historical medical characters, scenarios and settings.

Few readers have as voracious an appetite as romance readers — but what are the key ingredients of stories that will keep them satisfied? Join award-winning Christian historical romance author Edwina Kiernan to discover the 5 Key Ingredients Every Romance Needs, and you’ll be serving up sweet stories in no time!

In this session, participants will learn the do’s and don’ts of writing effective dialogue. We’ll look at examples from both classic literature and modern books to determine what works and what doesn’t. We’ll address some controversial topics (like “said tags”), while also reviewing some hard-and-fast rules (such as avoiding the dreaded “info dump”). The overall goal is for participants to learn how to polish their dialogue until it shines.

Many authors struggle with head hopping—that is, jumping from one character’s head to another. Further, writers often struggle with deciding whether to use first, third person limited, or third person deep point of view. Finally, readers today expect to really feel the characters’ emotions and physiological responses. This interactive workshop will describe and give examples of the different points of view, as well as encourage viewers to actively engage with point of view in their own writing.

Flash fiction can help any writer at any experience level hone their craft, experiment with other genres, and even break out of writer’s block. In this class, students will gain a better understanding of flash fiction, how to create a satisfying story in 1,000 words (no matter the genre), and the various ways flash fiction can be used to grow an author platform.

For those of us who paid for ProWritingAid, we may wonder if we’re getting our money’s worth. I will explain to you some of the reports and details available to you through PWA that can help you bring your writing to the next level.

Writers often hesitate to cause their beloved protagonist to suffer. But since the beginning of mankind, there has never been a story that didn’t have a villain. The workshop will discuss how storytellers can write honestly about the broken world we live in without glorifying evil. Takeaways for this workshop are: 1.) The origins of sin and evil and how fallen man shapes us as writers and influences the stories we tell 2.) The different forms antagonist can take in a story and how they all originate from a single source (man against nature, man against man, man against self, man against society) 3.) Biblical examples of antagonists 4.) How to create realistic villains and why the villain is the hero of his own story 5.) Why readers gravitate to stories with realistic antagonists and what writers can reveal to readers through our “bad guys” 6.) Tips and tricks to uncover the antagonist needed to bring about the successful character arc of the protagonist.

We’ll explore the what, why, and how of Deep POV. What’s the point of this immersive writing style and how can we do it effectively? We’ll dive into examples of how to deepen narrative POV so that you can make an educated decision for your WIP.