Part book club, part writing class (minus the homework) for new and emerging writers who love words and want to dive deeper into the craft of writing.

I’ve teamed up with fellow editor Steph Preston, to create these online workshops that explore all things writerly.

We’ll bring you some of our favourite passages from fiction memoir and look at why they’re so good and how they work. Then we’ll invite you to join the conversation.

If you dabble in writing, are quietly sitting on your first manuscript or just love words, join us and other word nerds as we unpack the magic woven into compositions by some of our favourite writers, and consider how some of their tricks might boost your own writing.

We meet online in a group of up to eight writers and cover a different theme each session.

We are cooking up a new round of workshops for 2025. This will include some new topics and a reprise of some of our previous topics.

Previous topics

Please drop me a line if you are interested in a repeat session of any of these or would like to be in the mailing list (there’s also a sign-up form at the bottom of this page)

Playing with book format (new topic)

There is nothing wrong with a standard manuscript format, but sometimes stories benefit from being shared in different ways. We will look examples where authors have opted for things like interviews, illustrations and even more unconventional storytelling tools.

Show don’t tell

There’s so much more to this writers’ maxim than meets the eye. We look at passages where writers have used this masterfully and discuss the effect that has for the reader.

Character: first impressions

Readers often cite that the characters are their favourite part of a story. We look at bite-size character descriptions that rock to inspire your own writing and excite your readers.

Symbolism and metaphor

There are plenty of clunky, cliche examples out there, but we show you how symbolism and metaphor can be used to artfully convey vivid, deeper meaning in your writing.

Narrative voice

Discover the power, potential and limits of different styles of narration, from the deeply immersive first-person present, to the more detached third-person past.

Narrative voice 2: breaking the rules

Our first session on narrative voice was jam-packed but it barely scraped the surface, so this time we dig deeper. The focus for this session will be writers who break the ‘rules’ (whatever they are).

Scene vs. summary

Understanding when (and how) to switch between these two storytelling lenses is a great addition to your writing toolkit. We will talk about the difference between scene and summary, when to use them, and what they both offer as storytelling tools.