Whether it’s a one-to-one consultation or a group setting, workshops are a great way to pick up some practical skills and get the advice you need.
Feedback flashmob mechanics — fiction and creative nonfiction
1 hour pre-reading plus 1 hour consultation
(Okay, so it’s less of a ‘mob’ and more of a ‘one-to-one consultation’)
You’ve driven it to Heartbreak Point, let it idle and now you’re ready to either drive it over the edge or cut the engine?
Sounds like you’ve finished writing. Time to let someone else get under the engine and check out its structure, character development, voice, style, pace, tone, dialogue, use of tense, consistency and general verisimilitude (which is a fancy way of saying ‘does it all work’?).
You’ll leave with all the tools you need to keep it humming … and avoid hitting any metaphorical roadkill/overkill in your path.
Edit your own work — level-up basics
2 hours with a 15-minute break
Learn about the ‘editorial loop’ and what editors look for when they’re riding it. Zooming down through the levels of editing — from structure to the word level — you’ll come to understand the benefits of version control through to keeping a style sheet and knowing when and why a piece of writing works.
Write like a pro [fessional communicator]
2 hours with a 15-minute break 
Knowing your dangling modifier from your expletive, it is essential to stop it ruining your sentence.
Huh?
Dangling modifiers are phrases that don’t connect with the subject of the sentence. This makes the meaning of the sentence ambiguous. Expletives are simply weak verb forms, such as ‘it is’. Sticky patches like these make the reader work harder to make meaning from your sentences. Professional communicators know how to avoid and fix mistakes like these. They also know their audiences well enough to decide whether or not it’s okay to use jargon and specific terminology. (I mean, when exactly did we start referring to a plate as a ‘food format’?)
Clare Murphy 