Back to school and bored already? Liven up the year with a visit to your school from a teaching artist -- like me. In Quebec, we have two great programs to help fund an author or artist visit to your school: Culture in the Schools and ArtistsInspire. Culture in the Schools The Ministry of Education's… Continue reading Funding for Writing Workshops in 2024-25
Join me online on Saturday, January 14th at 1pm EST for a one-hour workshop on characterization: Nice is Not Enough, part of the SCBWI (Canada East) "Digging Deeper" workshop series. Here's the blurb: Nice is Not Enough: Developing Likeable and Unlikeable Characters: What makes us root for a character? How flawed can a protagonist be?… Continue reading Online Character Workshop
Featuring guest authors Cary Fagan, Philippa Dowding, Raquel Rivera, Ishta Mercurio, and Kari-Lynn Winters, talking about plotting—how and when they plot, how they feel about tormenting characters with obstacles, and what they recommend to those who want to improve their own plotting. Check out the Episode 4.5 webpage for audio, show notes, and author bios.… Continue reading Author Interviews about Plotting (Episode 4.5)
Welcome to Cabin Tales: Spooky Stories for Young Writers. This is Episode Two: Nasty People meet Nasty Ends. It's a long one at 50 minutes. I’m Catherine Austen. And my guests today are great Canadian writers Karen Krossing, Monique Polak, and Tim Wynne-Jones. Today we’ll be talking all about characters. Check out the Episode 2… Continue reading Nasty People Meet Nasty Ends (Episode 2: Characters)
To all the young writers whom I'd hoped to meet at a workshop this spring or summer (cancelled due to Covid-19)... If you're stuck at home with a pen handy, why not start a story or ten? Don't know how to begin? I'll take you through five easy entry points over the coming weeks. (Kind of… Continue reading Young Writers Workshop: Know your Character
Catherine Austen 