Gail Anderson-Dargatz  

Workshops for Groups
For groups and organizations. Email Gail for more.

About:

Gail offers readings and writing workshops for many organizations, both in-person and on Zoom, and will sculpt a presentation to suit your needs.

Book club and private writing group events on Zoom are free. Honorariums for library events and public writing workshops vary from $200 to $400 depending on workshop length and nature of the funding. Funding for events may be available through TWUC, of which Gail is a member, with the National Public Readings Program.

For more, contact Gail's office at books@gailanderson-dargatz.ca

Here's a sample of writing workshops that Gail offers:

From Literary to Thriller: Crossing Genres to Add New Life to Your Craft

Writers too often get stuck writing in just one genre. In this workshop, bestselling novelist and writing mentor Gail Anderson-Dargatz offers her own experience to demonstrate how borrowing from the toolboxes of other genres can breathe new life into our craft and writing lives and open the door to new markets.

Writing Hi-Lo Books for the Educational Market

People think writing for kids is easy, but any writer who publishes children’s or YA fiction will set you straight: writing for kids is hard. Writing hi-lo books for striving readers is even harder, but also highly rewarding, and there is a growing market for high-interest, low-reading-level books. In this interactive workshop, award-winning novelist Gail Anderson-Dargatz will talk about the craft involved in writing hi-lo books, a vibrant market that many writers aren’t aware of.

Sculpting a Good Idea into a Great Book 

Many book manuscripts suffer from a lack of thorough development. This can stand in the way of their potential for success, or even prevent them from being published. In this interactive session, award-winning novelist and writing coach Gail Anderson-Dargatz explores the steps and strategies of development editing that help turn a good book idea into a great book.

Writing Home

We’ve all heard the phrase “write what you know” but writing fiction from real life isn’t easy. We worry about what mom will think. We worry if we have the right to tell the story, or write about a given location. We get stuck in reality -- what “really happened” -- and our fiction flounders because of it. In this workshop, we’ll explore all these issues and more with the goal of writing powerful fiction that has the authority that can only come from “writing what you know." 
 

 

Overcoming Our Fears to Write Powerful Stories

Our fears can stop us from finishing a book -- or even starting it. We may feel we need to stick to writing only what we know, and write from personal experience, but then worry about what Mom will think. And we so often avoid our protagonist’s conflicts, for the same reasons we avoid our own. The result: passive protagonists and wandering storylines.

Author and writing coach Gail Anderson-Dargatz will draw from more than twenty years of experience as a writer, teacher and developmental editor to explore the many ways we avoid conflict in our projects and our writing lives, and offer solutions that will help kickstart your writing and help you develop your project to the fullest.

Pantser or Planner? Approaches to Plotting Your Novel

The real work of the novelist is developing conflict and structure, and most writers struggle with it. Fortunately, past writers have done the heavy-lifting. Gail will offer an overview of approaches to constructing plot, whether you’re writing literary or commercial fiction. She’ll follow up with exercises you can do at home to help you better understand story, and the outlining process. 

NaNoWriMo Prep 101:

Writers will learn how to outline in preparation for writing a discovery draft during NaNoWriMo. Even if you’ve not participating in NaNoWriMo, this workshop will help you speed up the novel writing process. Writers working at all writing levels are welcome. 
 

Submitting Your Writing 101

Getting our work out there can feel like an overwhelming task. Where do we even begin? In this presentation, Gail offers an overview of the steps involved in getting your writing published, from finding markets open to submissions to writing a query letter. Whether you're ready to get your short work or your book-length project out there, Gail will offer guidance that will help you find a home for your project.
 

Blue Pencil Sessions

Bring a 2000-word sample of your manuscript to an online or in-person meet-and-critique event with award-winning author and writing coach Gail Anderson-Dargatz. Ask those pressing questions about craft or the publishing industry in this quick 20-minute session.

 

 

Work with Gail

Gail works with writers at all levels, from newbies to pros. Choose the course that best suits your project.

Meet and Greet

Meet Gail for a 15-minute Zoom session to find out which one of Gail's services is right for you.

Fiction Mentorships

Gail's flagship course. In this one-on-one, private, four-month online mentorship, Gail will guide you as you build your fiction project.

Manuscript Evaluations

Looking for an editor’s perspective on your fiction project, but not yet ready for an in-depth developmental edit? A manuscript evaluation is the affordable next step between a beta reading and a developmental edit.

The Clean Sweep

Writing is messy. Clean it up! Get a detailed edit of your story, pitch package, grant application or fiction project of any length.

Blue Pencil Sessions

Not your average blue pencil session, this 45-minute consultation with Gail is a full workshop. Book at any time.

Alpha and Beta Reading Service

Alpha and beta readers give feedback on a manuscript from a reader’s perspective. Move your project forward with this affordable service.

Developmental Edits

Gail digs deep into your manuscript's big picture story elements - themes, story goals, conflicts and structure, character arcs, pacing, point of view, and dialogue - to help you develop your project to the fullest.

Writing Retreat

A perfect writing getaway in the beautiful Shuswap landscape found in so much of Gail's writing

About Gail

Gail's novels have been national and international bestsellers and two have been short-listed for the Giller Prize, among other awards. She works as a developmental editor and mentors writers from around the world.

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