Friday Workshops

Friday Workshops presented by MSCWC offer attendees an opportunity for in-depth instruction by our highly qualified faculty. These workshops are three hours in length, from 1:00 to 4:00 Central Standard time. Registration for a Friday workshop costs $55. See the Registration page for more details.

Hooked from the Start: The Art of the Opening Scene

with Johnnie Alexander

Every great story deserves a powerful beginning.

The opening pages of a novel must immediately capture attention—whether from an editor, agent, or future reader. For this hands-on workshop, you may submit the first five to six pages (the opening scene) of your manuscript for critique.

Together, we’ll examine essential craft elements that make an opening shine: a compelling hook, vivid characters, effective point of view, strong voice, and the balance between showing and telling. With focused discussion and practical feedback, you’ll leave with clear insights to strengthen your opening and set the stage for the rest of your story.

This class is now full.

The Author's Journey: From Concept to Publication and Beyond

with Kay and Frank DiBianca

The Author’s Journey outlines the steps that will take the author from that first inkling of an idea through the process of creation to publication. We cover topics like concept, plotting, writing, editing, revising, cover design, formatting issues, beta readers and endorsers, pre-launch issues, launch, and post-launch tasks.  In addition, we provide a project plan template for all the steps from concept to publication. Along the way, we will recommend tools that we’ve found useful.

We look forward to considerable audience participation, and we’ll spend some time as a group brainstorming novel concepts, creating realistic timelines, and sharing experiences on resources. Finally, we’ll provide a project plan template to each class member and help them begin to map the progress of their next book.

Explore a Freelance Editing Career

with Alycia Morales

Have you ever considered freelance editing as a supplement to your writing income? If so, this course is for you!

Within three hours, we’ll go over all you need to know about working as a freelance editor. We’ll start with what qualifications you to in order to become a freelance editor (no degree necessary). We’ll talk about what exactly a freelance editor does, from finding clients to the editing process and more. We’ll also go over how much income you can make and what to charge for your services.

By the end of the course, you’ll know all you need in order to set up your freelance editing business and get started.

AI: Your Writing Ally or a Threat to Your Creativity

with Liana George

AI is everywhere these days—transforming how we create stories, art, and ideas. But is it here to replace your creativity…or to spark it in new ways? This session includes the following topics:

  • Brief overview of AI and its rapid integration into creative industries.
  • Speaking AI language: AI terms you need to know.
  • Other AI options: there’s more to AI than ChatGPT!
  • The importance of prompts and how to effectively craft them for optimum output.
  • Benefits of using AI as an author.