Workshops

Futures Literacy and Creative Writing

Futures literacy asks us to use the future to understand the present, and creative writing, which requires a rigorous understanding of time, place, and character, asks us to articulate our understanding of the world through narratives. When CW and FL are used together in a group setting, we can become more accustomed to using our collective intelligence, narrative capacity, and capacity for reframing to co-create narratives and become futures literate.

The creative writing exercises that will be presented have been used as part of a creative writing course at the University of Guelph offered specifically for students in the sciences. This method moves writers away from thinking of innovation as a linear process and promotes more sustainable mindsets.

Presenter: Sheung-King, Aaron Tang
Date: Saturday, September 18, 2021
Time: 12:00 pm ET ♦ 9:00 am PT ♦ 10:00 am MT ♦ 11:00 am CT ♦ 1:00 pm AT

The Power of a Plan: Outlining Your Novel

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” So said Ernest Hemingway. Sometimes the pain and misery of writing comes from not knowing enough about the stories we’re trying to tell. Terry Fallis will explore the benefits and challenges of outlining your novel before writing it. An inveterate planner, he’ll walk the participants through his own approach to outlining, showing examples and explaining how his process has evolved over the course of seven novels.

There will be a couple of workshop exercises to bring the power of outlining to life, and plenty of discussion. While outlining may not work for you, this session will remind us all of the need to figure out how we write best.

Presenter: Terry Fallis
Date: Saturday, September 18, 2021
Time: 1:15 pm ET ♦ 10:15 am PT ♦ 11:15 am MT  12:15 pm CT |♦ 2:15 pm AT

Your Book as a Business

In this interactive workshop you will learn how to make your book a business.  You will discover how to launch for success, sell books in bulk, double your sales at signings, get more media and, make your book a business.

You’ll also receive templates to plan your launches and book tours, a sample press release and tips on where to promote your book events (for free!).

Presenter: Charmaine Hammond
Date: September 18, 2021
Time: 4:15 pm ET ♦ 1:15 pm PT ♦ 2:15 pm MT 3:15 pm CT |♦ 5:15 pm AT

Portals, Links & Energy Lines

What does it mean to listen to words? To find the entryway into and through a creative writing project? Join Catherine Graham as she discusses her creative journey through portals and openings to uncover the stories and poems that needed to be written.

Presenter: Catherine Graham
Date: Sunday, September 19, 2021
Time: 12:00 pm ET ♦ 9:00 am PT  10:00 am MT |♦ 11:00 am CT ♦ 1:00 pm AT

GOING LONG: How to Conceive, Research, and Organize Your Nonfiction Masterpiece

Are you bent on writing a nonfiction book? A memoir, a biography, a sweeping historical narrative? In this presentation, veteran author Ken McGoogan will point the way forward into the process.

What story are you telling? Why are you the right person to tell it? Why this book now? Is this a vertical project (tight focus, deep dive) or a horizontal one (controlling idea, numerous people)?  Do you have a work plan? Does your research include travel? Interviews? When exactly will you do what? What does your outline look like? Once you begin piling up pages, how do you avoid getting lost? Are you ready for this?

Presenter: Ken McGoogan
Date: Sunday, September 19, 2021
Time: 1:15 pm ET ♦ 10:15 am PT ♦ 11:15 am MT  12:15 pm CT 2:15 pm AT

7 Things I Learned About Publicity and Marketing While Promoting Seven

Authors are expected to self-promote, even if they have a publicist. Join novelist/poet Farzana Doctor to learn strategies to make social media, traditional media, events (virtual and in-person) and marketing work for you. She’ll also share thoughts on how to manage time, and how to strike a fine balance between sharing your work and building community.

This workshop is ideal for writers who are getting ready to raise their profile, release a book, reignite publicity for an older book, and points in between.

Presenter: Farzana Doctor
Date: Sunday, September 19, 2021
Time: 4:30 pm ET ♦ 1:30 pm PT 2:30 MT |♦ 3:30 CT ♦ 5:30 pm AT

Panels

Publisher and Agent Panel: Where do we go from here?

Moderated by Scott Overton, this session will help writers get a sense of what’s hot, what’s not, and pitfalls to avoid when querying agents and publishers.

Ample time will be allotted for registrants’ questions.

 

Date: Saturday, September 18, 2021
Time: 3:00 pm ET ♦ 12:00 pm PT ♦ 1:00 pm MT ♦ 2:00 pm CT ♦ 4:00 AT

Amanda Betts
Senior Editor, Knopf Canada
at Penguin Random House
Sam Hiyate
President & CEO
The Rights Factory
Stephanie Winter
Associate Agent
PS Literary Agency
Scott Overton
Author, Audio Book Narrator
Panel Moderator

Beyond Print: Exploring different forms of storytelling

Do What You Love,The Money Will Follow advises Marsha Sinetar in her 1989 book of the same title, but let’s face it: the competition for dollars from writing books and articles is pretty stiff these days. This panel will discuss potential ways to expand your audience and reach, as well as whether Sinetar’s advice makes sense (pun intended). While the panel won’t cover all the possible ways to tell our stories, they will touch on turning stories into games, films, and audio books. Ample time will be questions from registrants.

 

Date: Sunday, September 19, 2021
Time: 3:00 pm ET ♦ 12:00 pm PT ♦ 1:00 pm MT ♦ 2:00 pm CT ♦ 4:00 AT

Jean Leggett
One More Story Games
Daniel Scott Tysdal
Author, Teacher, Filmmaker
Scott Overton
Author, Audio Book Narrator

SJ Sindu

Author, Teacher

Keynote Address with Terry Fallis

Join us at the wrap-up event of day one of CanWrite! 2021, as we briefly review the day, toast the association’s 100th anniversary, and listen to award-winning—and always entertaining—author and CAA member, Terry Fallis.

 

Saturday, September 18, 2021, around 5:30 to 6:15 pm ET

Post Conference Pitch Sessions

A pitch session is a 12-minute opportunity to virtually meet with an agent or a publishing executive one-on-one to pitch your book—and yourself. If you impress them, they might ask to see more of your manuscript. However, you should consider this as a chance to practice your pitch and an opportunity to get expert feedback on your pitch approach and the saleability of your concept. All pitch sessions will be conducted via CAA’s Zoom platform.

If you are booking a pitch session, be prepared to submit a one-page query letter and up to 10 pages of your manuscript a week in advance. Once you’ve registered and paid for your pitch session, you will be provided with detailed instructions and the time of your 12-minute session. Please note that there are a limited number of pitch appointments available, and sessions are booked on a first-come, first served basis, so be sure to register early—especially if there is a particular agent or publisher you want to pitch to!

Pitch sessions are scheduled for Saturday, September 25, 2021, the week after the conference sessions. This activity is not included in the conference registration package—you need to sign up and pay separately ($40).

Due to the limited number of sessions available, you may book only one pitch appointment at this time; all registrants will be notified if there are any additional sessions available closer to the 25th.

Note: These sessions are only open to conference registrants.

 

Select your preferred pitchee (find out more about each by clicking their name below), then sign up and pay for a pitch session at the sign-up page here

Note: You will also be able to sign up for a blue pencil session if you choose to do so.

Amanda Betts
Senior Editor, Knopf Canada
at Penguin Random House
Sam Hiyate
President & CEO
The Rights Factory
Stephanie Winter
Associate Agent
PS Literary Agency
Karen Green
Associate Publisher
Anvil Press

Ready to sign up for a pitch session? You can register and pay here

Post Conference Blue Pencil Sessions

A blue pencil session is an opportunity for you to have your work reviewed and critiqued by a professional author and editor. These one-on-one virtual sessions are 12 minutes each and have been scheduled for September 25, the week after the regular conference program. All blue pencil sessions will be conducted via CAA’s Zoom platform.

This activity is not included in the conference registration package—you need to sign up and pay separately ($50). If you are booking a blue pencil appointment, be prepared to submit up to 6 pages of your manuscript (double-spaced) in advance. Once you’ve registered and paid for your session, you will be provided with detailed instructions and the time of your 12-minute session.

Please note that there are a limited number of appointments available, and sessions are booked on a first-come, first served basis, so be sure to register early!

Note: These sessions are only open to conference registrants.

Register for a blue pencil session with Leah Bobet here.

LEAH BOBET is a writer, editor, and reviewer of fantasy, literary fiction, horror, and the spaces in between. Her novels have won the Aurora Award, the Sunburst Award, and the Copper Cylinder Award and have been recognized by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, the Ontario Library Association’s Best Bets list, the Canadian Library Association, and the Kirkus Reviews Best of the Year.

Her short fiction has been reprinted in multiple Year’s Best anthologies, transformed into choral work by American composer Timothy C. Takach (“The Wings of Our Children”), included in junior high-level textbooks in Australia and New Zealand, and taught at Toronto’s York University and Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

 

Program

BLUE PENCIL SESSIONS: Saturday, September 25, 2021