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Death by Info Dump (virtual) with donalee Moulton

Great stories need backstories—but when and how you share this makes all the difference between readers turning the page and turning away. This workshop tackles the common trap of the info dump and discusses how to reveal character histories, settings, and key facts in ways that feel natural, compelling, and necessary. Through examples, discussion, and quick exercises, you’ll discover techniques to keep readers hooked but not weighed down.

About the instructor: donalee Moulton’s first mystery, Hung Out to Die, was published in 2023. Conflagration!, won the 2024 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense (Historical Fiction). donalee has two new books out in 2025, Bind and Melt, the first in a new series, the Lotus Detective Agency. donalee’s mystery story “Troubled Water” was shortlisted for a 2024 Derringer Award and a 2024 Award of Excellence. donalee is also an award-winning freelance journalist who has written for publications across North America, including The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, and Lawyer’s Daily. As well, donalee is the author of The Thong Principle: Saying What You Mean and Meaning What You Say. She has published poetry and short stories in literary journals across Canada and the U.S.

Recommended experience level: New and emerging fiction writers, including those more experienced in other forms (About recommended experience levels)

Participant cap: 12

Location: Zoom

Dates of 2-week workshop: Tuesdays, Nov 18 + Nov 25, 2025 (7:00pm to 9:00pm Atlantic)

Registration for 2025 General Members: $109

Registration for non-members: $139 (includes discounted fall 2025 General Membership in WFNS)

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Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) uses the following terms to describe writers’ experience levels:

  • New writers: those with less than two years’ creative writing experience and/or no short-form publications (e.g., short stories, personal essays, or poems in literary magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks).
  • Emerging writers: those with more than two years’ creative writing experience and/or numerous short-form publications.
  • Early-career authors: those with 1 or 2 book-length publications or the equivalent in book-length and short-form publications.
  • Established authors: those with 3 or 4 book-length publications.
  • Professional authors: those with 5 or more book-length publications.

Please keep in mind that each form of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for children and young adults, and others) provides you with a unique set of experiences and skills, so you might consider yourself an ‘established author’ in one form but a ‘new writer’ in another.

The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the above definitions. A workshop’s participants should usually have similar levels of creative writing and / or publication experience. This ensures that each participant gets value from the workshop⁠ and is presented with information, strategies, and skills that suit their career stage. 

For “intensive” and “masterclass” workshops, which provide more opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback, the recommended experience level should be followed closely.

For all other workshops, the recommended experience level is just that—a recommendation—and we encourage potential participants to follow their own judgment when registering.

If you’re uncertain of your experience level with regard to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca