Workshops Scheduled Now Through 2026
LIMITED IN-PERSON SEATS AVAILABLE
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These In-Person Writing Workshops all have limited seats available per session. For all In-Person Writing Workshops, please contact Dean Wesley Smith to apply. These are heavy writing craft workshops and we want to make sure this is a good fit for your current writing level.
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For IN-PERSON Writing Workshops, please email Dean Wesley Smith at dean.wmgworkshops@gmail.com to apply.
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If you are not able to attend onsite, there is a STUDY ALONG workshop option that is available to everyone at every level.
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For STUDY ALONG workshops, please click on the provided button next to your preferred workshop listed below to take you to the Study Along workshop purchase page.
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Questions? Reach out to us at subscriptions@wmgbooks.com.
GOTHIC
MAY 5th-8th, 2025
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Want to pull readers swiftly into a dark and stormy world? Then this is the workshop for you! Learn how to write moody and atmospheric settings, as well as more than a dozen other techniques needed to write good gothic fiction. Particularly good for mystery and romance writers, good gothics also incorporate fantasy and light horror. Perfect for writers who like to mix genres.
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Email Dean Wesley Smith To Apply At:
dean.wmgworkshops@gmail.com
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If you can't attend in-person, there is a STUDY ALONG Workshop option, as well. You do not need to apply. Just click below.
TIME TRAVEL
OCT 13th-16th, 2025
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Do you like exploring what-ifs? Imagining the future? Thinking about a different version of the past? Then this is the workshop for you! Learn the secrets of time travel and how to use it in several fiction genres, from fantasy to mystery to romance...and of course, science fiction. A fun but rigorous craft workshop that will get you thinking about the past, future, and what might have been.
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Email Dean Wesley Smith To Apply At:
dean.wmgworkshops@gmail.com
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If you can't attend in-person, there is a STUDY ALONG Workshop option, as well. You do not need to apply. Just click below.
ADVENTURE
Jan 12th-15th, 2026
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We all love adventure fiction. From sailing to the stars to falling in love while on the run, adventure forms the core of most genres. Learn how to create a page-turning reading experience and craft the perfect adventure tale in any genre. This workshop will improve your storytelling, no matter what kind of stories you like to tell.
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Email Dean Wesley Smith To Apply At:
dean.wmgworkshops@gmail.com
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If you can't attend in-person, there is a STUDY ALONG Workshop option, as well. You do not need to apply. Just click below.
WORLD BUILDING
MAY 4th-7th, 2026
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Most writers consider making up new worlds easy. In fact, worldbuilding is the most difficult skill of all. Whenever writers leave the modern world, they must make up a brand new world. That world needs to live and breathe as clearly as our world does. This advanced-level skill provides the basis for most science fiction and fantasy stories as well as historical tales. Learn techniques that will make your worlds come alive and provide the escape that readers crave.
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Email Dean Wesley Smith To Apply At:
dean.wmgworkshops@gmail.com
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If you can't attend in-person, there is a STUDY ALONG Workshop option, as well. You do not need to apply. Just click below.
DETECTIVES
Oct 12th-15th, 2026
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Detectives solve crimes in all genres. The best detectives head their own series and become names we know, like Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Peroit. To write good detectives, writers must learn how to write great characters. In this workshop, acclaimed mystery writer Kris Nelscott (aka Kristine Kathryn Rusch) will teach you the secrets of creating memorable detectives, like her internationally loved Smokey Dalton.If you want to make your characters sing, then this is the workshop for you.
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Email Dean Wesley Smith To Apply At:
dean.wmgworkshops@gmail.com
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If you can't attend in-person, there is a STUDY ALONG Workshop option, as well. You do not need to apply. Just click below.