Free Writing Workshops
Join Muse & Margins for free online writing workshops on storytelling, character development, editing, publishing, and book marketing. Each hands-on session focuses on two topics, includes practical activities, and lasts 90 minutes or less. Writers at every stage are welcome, whether you’re working toward independent or traditional publication.
Explore Our Workshops
Browse our workshop topics below. Dates are announced one workshop at a time. Want to hear when a favorite is scheduled? Use the Notify Me button above to select your interests.
What’s at Stake?
Make outcomes personally important and help readers feel their possible consequences.
Making the Outcome Personal
Making Consequences Feel Real Before They Happen
Controlling Story Pace
Control the space given to events and balance intensity with time to process.
Choosing Which Moments to Expand or Compress
Balancing Intensity With Space to Process
Writing Emotion With Depth
Write specific emotional responses through thoughts, behavior, and interaction.
Creating Specific Internal Responses
Showing Emotion Through Behavior and Interaction
Writing Revelations and Twists
Design revelations that reshape understanding and change the story’s direction.
Designing a Revelation That Changes the Reader’s Understanding
Making the Reveal Change What Happens Next
Building Tension Beyond Danger
Build uncertainty and pressure around outcomes that matter, even without physical danger.
Creating Uncertainty Around an Important Outcome
Increasing Pressure as Characters Pursue It
Earning Emotional Payoffs
Build emotional meaning across scenes and give its payoff room to land.
Building Emotional Meaning Across Earlier Scenes
Giving the Payoff Enough Space and Consequence