Morning Workshops
For a full, five day experience: Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 6pm
The heart of Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers is its morning workshops, where attendees have the opportunity to workshop their manuscripts with an industry professional. You will be in small groups of 20 or fewer students in each class during the morning portion of the conference.
Registering for one of the morning workshops also includes:
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20 hours of workshopping & instruction from a published author & your peers
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Specific feedback from faculty on your manuscript
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An agent/editor consultation on the first 750 words of your manuscript
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An in-class visit from an editor/agent
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The Afternoon Sessions (plenaries, HOWs, & break-out sessions) taught by industry professionals
Early Bird Discount!
Register by March 10, 2026 for $50 off all morning workshops. We also offer payment plans for those who register during the early bird timeframe.
Our 2026 Workshops
THE THREE BEARS CHAIRS: FINDING JUST THE RIGHT SIZE FOR YOUR STORY
A Workshop for Adventurous Writers of Picture Books, Middle Grade, Young Adult,
and Graphic Novels.
Picture Books, Middle Grades, Young Adults, Graphic Novels –– all have something to show us about form and content. What unites them is our desire to tell a story.
But telling your story is a unique experience and requires creative leaps. Creativity doesn’t come from following a path or a set of rules. Innovative ideas come to a writer sideways not head on.
In this workshop, we’ll challenge your straight-ahead journey by placing your Work in Progress in different containers. We’ll mix and match approaches and ideas. That sticky place in your YA novel might get unstuck when you try the scene as a picture book. Your picture book might benefit from a deep dive into a complex Middle Grade world. Or maybe a Graphic Novel will reveal the new path that will set your story on fire.
My middle grade novel, These Are Not the Words, started life as a picture book. My latest book, Looking at the Sky, started life as a theatre workshop, became a live stage production, was submitted as a picture book biography and has now emerged fully formed as a Graphic Novel. Whatever the impulse has been for your WIP, experimenting with different genres for your story will make it richer. And who knows –- you may find a whole new container for your voice.
NOVEL WORKSHOP: POLISHING THE GEMS OF YOUR NOVEL
You want your novel to stand out and shine, and I'd love to help you get it there! In this class, we’ll use a “gemology approach” toward your writing: identifying the gems in your story, appraising them for both the story you want to write and for the market, and determining what treatments may enhance them. Your class submission materials will include a Novel Gems Questionnaire that will ask you to evaluate what inspired your story, why you wanted to write it, and personal connections (if you want to share.) You’ll also draft a mission statement for both your novel and your writing life. We’ll work on craft to increase emotional resonance, create memorable characters, further develop voice, improve pacing, and strengthen setting. Each attendee will also meet with me individually to discuss your writer strengths, items to work on, and to prepare a revision plan and next steps to help you reach your goals. This class includes required reading.
Please submit the first 5,000 words of your novel (approximately 20 pages, double-spaced) by April 15, 2026. After registration, you’ll receive an email from our class assistant with the Novel Gems Questionnaire about your work. Please allow yourself time to complete and submit that by May 15, 2026. We’ll discuss and critique the version of your manuscript that you submit by the April 15th deadline.
NOVEL WORKSHOP: REVISION ROADMAP
So, you finished writing a chapter, the first half of your novel or maybe even an entire draft. . . . huzzah! Now what?
Now, we revise!
In this class, we’ll use Erin’s revision roadmap to tackle developmental edits that will ensure your plot, characters and theme are all working together to build the strongest story possible. We’ll identify your characters' backstory wounds and make sure the plot changes your characters, page by page. We’ll tackle plot points, especially four critical scenes so that the pacing never lags, tension never quits and each scene brings your character closer to that all-important climax.
Whatever stage of your novel you are in (from outlining to full draft), this class will help you think through the building blocks to make your story great. You will leave with either a strong revision plan for your manuscript or a solid plan for writing that first draft. All students will receive critique from Erin Stewart, as well as a class critique.
Materials to Submit before class:
· First 3 chapters (or first 7,500 words) of your latest draft
· A 1-page synopsis of your novel
THE DECIDING FACTOR: CREATING CHARACTER-DRIVEN SCENES [VIRTUAL INTENSIVE WORKSHOP]
What makes a compelling scene?
Scenes are the vertebrae that, together, hold up a plot’s structure. But how do we know when our scenes have the right shape, size, and craft elements to keep our characters’ stories moving forward?
In this intensive, we will study the anatomy of scenes, including setting, external events and internal response, and using cause and effect to move from one scene to the next. We will examine how to structure a character-driven scene, one that hinges on a moment of decision rather than an external crisis.
You will submit up to three distinct scenes, comprising 6,000 to 7,500 words total (no more than 30 double spaced pages). Options for your three scenes could be: 1 scene each from the beginning, middle, and resolution of your novel; 3 scenes that represent a twist or turning point in your narrative; 3 scenes that you feel aren’t quite working. In addition, please send a one page synopsis of your novel.
FULL NOVEL WORKSHOP: SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF
Participants will each turn in a 65,000-word manuscript. Tim will give each individual feedback on their novel, commenting, at the sentence and paragraph level, through track-changes in the manuscript itself, as well as providing a detailed cover letter that looks at larger issues. In the workshop, we will examine what a final edit is all about. It’s a lot more than just copy-editing.
By the time I get to the “Sweating the small stuff” revision of a manuscript, some of the excitement of invention has, inevitably, worn off. I’m already beginning to get excited about sending it off into the world. I know I’ve got to read the darn thing again, for the umpteenth time, and read it carefully, to catch typos and obvious gaffs, but I have to wrestle with my impatience. Primarily, sweating the small stuff is about diligently correcting, cutting and polishing. It is seldom about actually adding anything, let alone–Gasp!–making a wholesale change. What I want to do this week is give you an extensive, practical checklist of things to look for in the cutting and polishing process, while also providing ways of looking at your manuscript from different angles to see if there is still more you might infuse into the story to give it more energy and make it all the more un-put-down-able.