Are you ready for MFA-level writing workshops that take your story craft skills to new heights?
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2025 Spring Workshop Series
Character, Plot, and Point of View
It was a great experience on so many levels—the learning, the support, the rich discussions…and the fun!
Motivation from the Inside Out
This workshop is all about understanding and working the deep, secret layers of your character’s psyche. It’s one thing to stick her with a “fatal flaw” or “core wound,” and another to make sure your protagonist’s psyche is motivating her every choice…especially the ones she doesn’t realize she’s making.
Our character’s backstory and psychology drive motivation, which determines choice, which in turn shapes plot, all of which are the stuff of agency.
February 4, 11, 18 | 7:00 E / 4:00 P
$99
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Scale the Mountain, Swim the Sea
This workshop is all about using plot points to build an arc that wins readers. Your protagonist’s motivation and agency are as much drivers of plot as the villain’s scheme and any external events.
We’ll look at the framework of the plot arc, define plot points, and explore what makes an arc strong, how to recognize weaknesses, and what to do about them.
March 4, 11, 18 | 7:00 E / 4:00 P
$99
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From One Head to Many
This workshop is all about how point of view defines the reader’s experience of a story. Point of view is about so much more than whether one or multiple characters has an internal lens within a story. A well-crafted narrative will successfully translate a story’s mental construct from the head of the author to the many heads of readers through deft control of narrative and point of view characters.
We’re going to examine the moving parts of POV, so that you make conscious, intelligent decisions about your narrative in order to write powerfully compelling stories.
April 8, 15, 22 | 7:00 E / 4:00 P
$99
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Get All Three Workshops
Enroll in Motivation from the Inside Out, Scale the Mountain, Swim the Sea, and From One Head to Many. These workshops can be taken separately, but they are intended to build on each other. Grow your story craft while developing your WIP on multiple critical levels with the guidance and support of a story craft expert with over 12 years experience critiquing thousands of manuscripts.
Save 15% when you enroll in all 3 workshops.
April 8, 15, 22 | 7:00 E / 4:00 P
$252
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These are practical workshops. It is recommended you have a current WIP to use during class—at least some character sketches and rough outline. If you aren’t sure if these workshops are for you (they probably are), please reach out with questions. There are contact buttons on this website.
- Sessions 1 & 2: We will meet for 2 hours over Zoom in a live, virtual classroom.
- Session 3: We will have a 1-hour call for sharing and discussing student work, answering questions, and further discussion.
- Outside of class: Expect to do some reading and multi-step, thoughtful writing exercises.
- REMEMBER: Whitelist alida [at] wordessential.com to ensure you receive communications about classes. Your email is safe and will not be shared, sold, or added to mailing lists.
- Fees are non-refundable, unless the instructor needs to cancel or reschedule for some exceptional circumstance.
Did you know...
There is an extensive library of Alida’s writing tips all about story craft, process, and the writer’s life! Alida has been sharing tips and podcasting about writing for about a decade.
Bring in the New Year with Alida’s Substack series on crafting action scenes. If you have characters who move and interact with other characters in the real world, you need to be able to effectively convey physicality in your writing.
Check out A Room Full of Books & Pencils. (Action series begins in December 2024.)
Meet Alida
Alida is your guide to mastering the art of storytelling. With an MFA in writing, two published novels (so far), two indispensable craft books (so far)—The Story Works Guide to Writing Character and The Story Works Guide to Writing Point of View—and numerous literary journal publications, Alida brings a lifetime of dedication to the written word. Over the past 12+ years, she has mentored writers of all levels as a professional Developmental Editor and Story Craft Coach, helping authors shape their vision into polished works of fiction and nonfiction. Whether teaching workshops locally—in colleges, high schools, senior centers, or even Minnesota prisons—or connecting with writers worldwide through her online platform, Word Essential, Alida’s personalized approach empowers you to achieve your creative goals. A three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Notable in Best American Essays, and Page Turner Award winner, she is also host of the Story Works Round Table podcast with over 300 craft-focused episodes.
Alida is the writer’s writer, who knows what it takes to elevate your craft. Whether you’re starting your first book or your fifteenth, she’s the expert you want in your corner.
Do you have questions?
I’d love to answer them.
