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When you talk about fantasy books, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you can just do anything you want. But when you create a fantasy world or fantasy layer for our world, you have to ground your story in reality. Of course, you do get to create that reality. But if you don't...

Happily ever after. These three words can bring up some pretty strong opinions, especially in the romance world. While many romance readers expect some kind of HEA for the main characters, you don't have to stick with a traditional happy ending to satisfy your story. In this workshop, we'll look...

Magicians are excellent at misdirection, and we can learn from them for our writing, too. If you're crafting a mystery story, you need to rely on misdirection to lead your readers down false paths without lying to them or hiding the true magic of your plot. In this workshop, writers will learn...

As R.L. Stein once said, “Every story ever told can be broken down into three parts: the beginning, the middle, and the twist.” But crafting a good plot twist is certainly easier said than done. In this workshop, you’ll come to understand the inner workings of a plot twist, what makes them so...

Imposter syndrome can affect everyone, even successful and popular writers. But when your self-doubt starts to creep in, it’s crucial that you learn how to fight back. In this workshop, we’ll look at some of the causes of imposter syndrome as well as some tips and tricks to help you stay on...

Learn how to create a fictional case that readers won't be able to solve! Lesson One: Ineffective ways to create mystery - Learn commonly used methods that help prevent readers from solving a case - Understand why many readers dislike these methods - Learn how to catch them in...

Despite the growing evidence and support for indie publishing, there's still a lot of stigma that surrounds self-published books and their authors. In this class, we'll look at some tips and tricks that can help you appear more professional off the bat so others will take you 'seriously'. Day...

Throughout this 3-week workshop, writers will learn the ins and outs of worldbuilding and how to properly integrate information into their story. Week one will focus on macro-worldbuilding: how the world is shaped, what political powers are in play, and how religion and technology appear in the...

Being a panster isn’t always easy. But if planning everything ahead of time isn’t your thing, then you’ll need to put methods in place to help you stay organized while you write. While you don’t need to plan your plot and characters out before you get started, you do need to keep track of...

Tropes and cliches are useful tools you can use to help craft your story. But you can also break them to create a fresh breath of air in an otherwise stale plot. The romance genre has one of the most extensive lists of tropes around, and a collective of readers ready to defend them with...

It’s a known fact that setting can be its own character. Many books, movies, and other forms of entertainment have used the setting to create both emotion and movement in a plot. But creating the character of your setting isn’t always easy, and the genre you’re writing in can greatly affect how...

Capturing the voice of characters is difficult on its own, but it’s even harder when you’re writing for a different generation. Writing Young Adult works allows us to connect to our younger selves and relive the aches and pains of growing up. But what we said (and even did) as young adults isn’t...