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Fiction Debug workshop (8 weeks)

Date:
Time:
-
Location:
Virtual
Link:
https://www.alexandrawriters.org/store/p912/Fiction-Debug.html
Calendar:
Member event

Fiction Debug: Finding–and Fixing–the Most Common Writing Flaws
Instructor: Sandra McIntyre
8 Weeks | Wednesdays | Begins January 21, 2026 |
1pm-3pm AT
AWCS MEMBER PRICE: $320.00
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $425.00

Getting too many ‘error messages’ with your fiction or creative non-fiction writing? As an editor, I see the same bugs again and again. Team up with me and other brave writers to learn by example how to identify the most common writing flaws, like overwriting, problems with point of view, and dreary dialogue. Using at least one short writing sample from each participant, I’ll show you how I approach fixing flaws as a professional editor, whether it’s a quick grammatical correction or interrogation of a complex writing knot. Together, we’ll find root problems and brainstorm workarounds in the name of improvement in a before-and-after format. Get professional feedback on your writing, acquire more tools for self-editing, and improve your skill in critiquing the work of others in a fun and respectful environment.

This class is an interactive online workshop using Zoom.

Sandra McIntyre is not an engineer or a software developer so, admittedly, she can take this debugging metaphor only so far. She is a writer and book editor specializing in fiction, with more than twenty-five years of experience both in-house and freelance. Learn more about her at: www.parlaymanuscript.com

For more information about this course and to register, visit The Alexandra Writers’ Centre online at:
https://www.alexandrawriters.org/store/p912/Fiction-Debug.html

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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, writing for 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.

Occasionally, WFNS uses the phrase “emerging and established writers/authors” to mean ‘writers and authors of all experience levels.’

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 info, strategies, and skills that suit their experience. 

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 uncertain about your experience level with respect to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca