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I don’t believe a word of it: Suspending Disbelief (virtual) with Julian Mortimer Smith

Fantasy and science fiction stories—as well as horror and suspense—often require readers to accept unbelievable settings or plot points. This workshop focuses on techniques for helping readers suspend their disbelief and accept fantastical occurrences while maintaining immersion in the world of the story. We’ll talk about the importance of internal consistency within your story, the difference between your characters’ perceptions of an event and your readers’ perceptions, and the role of style in getting an idea across. We’ll also discuss how different types of readers are looking for different things when it comes to suspension of disbelief. It’s hard to get a hard sci-fi purist to accept faster-than-light travel, for example—but if you know your audience and you know your imaginary world, you can make even the most fantastical impossibilities seem believable.

About the instructor: Julian Mortimer Smith is an award-winning writer of speculative fiction. His stories have appeared in many of the world’s top science fiction and fantasy magazines and anthologies, including Asimov’s, Terraform, Lightspeed, and Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. His first book, The World of Dew and Other Stories, won the 2020 Blue Light Books Prize and was published by Indiana University Press. Julian is an experience writing instructor who had led workshops for the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia and the Western Counties Regional Library. He has also been an invited guest at Hal-Con, Y-Con, and other fan conventions. He believes that speculative fiction allows us to imagine different ways the world could be, which is an ever-more-important skill. He lives in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

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

Participant cap: 12

Location: Zoom

Date of 1-night workshop: Thursday, Nov 20, 2025 (7:00pm to 9:00pm Atlantic)

Registration for 2025 General Members: $59

Registration for non-members: $89 (includes discounted fall 2025 General Membership in WFNS)

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Simultaneous Submissions

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) administers some programs (and special projects) that involve print and/or digital publication of ‘selected’ or ‘winning’ entries. In most cases, writing submitted to these programs and projects must not be previously published and must not be simultaneously under consideration for publication by another organization. Why? Because our assessment and selection processes depends on all submitted writing being available for first publication. If writing selected for publication by WFNS has already been published or is published by another organization first, copyright issues will likely make it impossible for WFNS to (re-)publish that writing.

When simultaneous submissions to a WFNS program are not permitted, it means the following:

  • You may not submit writing that has been accepted for future publication by another organization.
  • You may not submit writing that is currently being considered for publication by another organization—or for another prize that includes publication.
  • The writing submitted to WFNS may not be submitted for publication to another organization until the WFNS program results are communicated. Results will be communicated directly to you by email and often also through the public announcement of a shortlist or list of winners. Once your writing is no longer being considered for the WFNS program, you are free to submit it elsewhere.
    • If you wish to submit your entry elsewhere before WFNS program results have been announced, you must first contact WFNS to withdraw your entry. Any entry fee cannot be refunded.

Prohibitions on simultaneous submission do not apply to multiple WFNS programs. You are always permitted to submit the same unpublished writing to multiple WFNS programs (and special projects) at the same time, such as the Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program, the Emerging Writers Prizes, the Jampolis Cottage Residency Program, the Message on a Bottle contest, the Nova Writes Competition, and any WFNS projects involving one-time or recurring special publications.

Recommended Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) recommends that participants in any given workshop 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. The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the following definitions used by WFNS.

  • 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, and writing for children and young adults) 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.

For “intensive” and “masterclass” creative writing 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