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Develop those Character Muscles (virtual) with N.L. Blandford

Are you unsure where to start when creating a protagonist, villain, or side character? Do all of your characters “sound” or “feel” the same? Do your characters seem boring, unengaging for readers, or less interesting than you’d like them to be? Do you feel something is missing from your story but are unsure what it is?

Great characters are the building blocks of a great story. This workshop will provide tools and hands-on experience to help you identify who your characters are (their personalities, flaws, goals, and emotional wounds); keep track of their life events, habits, and mannerisms; make them unique, engaging, and memorable; and avoid the trap of stereotypes.

About the instructor: Award-winning crime fighter by day and crime writer by night, N.L. Blandford crafts gripping, high-tension thrillers that captivate readers and play on their emotions. Based outside of Lunenburg, she leverages her unique background to write stories rooted in truth, using fiction to raise vital awareness around complex social issues. When she isn’t leading fearless characters through thrilling journeys, she mentors authors through Novel Bound Consulting, providing the personalized coaching needed to turn creative sparks into published realities. In her downtime, she’s an avid reader and snuggler of two cats, a dog, and her partner. 

Recommended experience levels: New, emerging, and early-career fiction writers

Participant cap: 12

Location: Zoom

Dates of 3-week workshop: Sundays, Nov 1 + Nov 8 + Nov 15, 2026 (1:00pm to 3:00pm Atlantic)

Registration for 2026 General Members: $145

Registration for non-members: $175 (includes 2026 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, 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