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Write from the Start

Date:
Time:
-
Location:
Halifax (will be communicated to participants)
Link:
https://narrativeagency.ca/workshops.html
Calendar:
Member event

Write from the Start: A No-rules Writing Project to Support a Year of Writing with writer and editor Valerie Compton is an in-person workshop for anyone yearning to establish a regular writing practice and start, or re-start, a fiction or nonfiction writing project.

Each session will consist of opportunities to share and discuss your work, study published writing, discuss craft and learn new skills. No experience necessary. Expect tangible results, lively discussion, clear guidance, and a chill, collaborative approach to creative problem-solving.

Wednesdays, 10:00 am–11:30 am, January 7–January 21, 2026.

Registration is $450. and includes a preliminary guide, copious handouts, and a personal editorial letter to send you on your way. Gift certificates available. For details or to enrol—please visit Narrative Agency.

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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