Creative Writing Workshops

 
The main table at the Firefly studio with a cup full of pens. Lots of light and wood and softness.

The main table at the Firefly studio with a cup full of pens. Lots of light and wood and softness.

 

Welcome to the cozy core of Firefly.

These small group workshops are our deepest offering, opportunities to carve out real time and space for your writing in a small, committed community of support.

Some of these are for absolute beginners and others are for seasoned writers. Some are themed and some are wide open. What they all share is encouragement, laughter, inspiration and a deep dedication to helping every participant realize their own creative power.

We believe that writers find their power through sharing and feeling heard, so we keep these workshops small. If you’re looking for something lighter, check out our large group writing programs.

Whatever it is, we hope you find just what your writing needs.

 

 

Multi-Week Workshops

 
A bowl full of words printed on cut up pieces of paper.

Begin Here
A fun and easy creative writing workshop for absolute beginners

This is a super accessible 5-week workshop for anyone who has the urge to write and isn’t sure where to start. Feeling nervous about taking the plunge? We made this workshop for you.

Spring 2024 registration is open
This workshop will run on your choice of Monday evenings (virtual), Wednesday evenings (in-person), and Friday mornings (virtual).

 
A candle on a desk full of papers.

Keep Your Pen Moving
A wide-reaching writing workshop for beginner and seasoned writers

This 8-week workshop covers a little bit of everything — life stories, poetry, character development and reflective writing processes. A perfect place to start, or as a follow up to Begin Here.

Spring 2024 registration is full
This workshop will run on Thursday evenings (virtual).

 
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Brief Bursts
A workshop about writing short, true things

In this 5-week workshop, we’ll explore the art of conciseness, contraction and brevity in writing non-fiction. By the end of this course, you’ll have a handful of flash pieces in your collection and many ideas for more.

Spring 2024 registration is open
This workshop will run on Tuesday evenings (in-person).

 
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Exploring Our Racialized Identities
A life story writing workshop exclusively for people of colour

A 5-week workshop for anyone who identifies as Black, Indigenous, a person of colour, racialized or mixed-race to write and share personal stories on themes like identity, colonialism, resilience and racism.

Next session dates to be announced.

 
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Lift Off The BIPOC Edition
A playful workshop for people of colour who want to dive into the world of poetry

Drawn to poetry but no idea where to start? We made this for you. We’ll spend 6 weeks enjoying poems, writing poems, sharing poems and dismantling everything you’ve been taught in order to bask in the wide field of freedom that poetry offers.

Spring 2024 registration is open
This workshop will run on Thursday evenings (virtual).

 
A flock of geese lifting off above a field.

Flight Paths
A poetry workshop dedicated to playing with forms

Each week, we’ll get busy exploring at least one new form such as Pantoums, Haibuns, Tankas, Golden Shovels, Cinquains, blackout poems, and more. This is a great workshop for people who have previously taken our beginner poetry workshop, Lift Off, but there’s no pre-requisite.

Spring 2024 registration is open
This workshop will run on Thursday mornings (virtual).

 
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Hearts on Paper
A writing workshop for folks who want to write romances

In this 6-week workshop, a small group of eight writers will dive into different areas of writing romance. From the first meeting (the meet-cute) to steaming up the windows (however explicit you want to get), we’ll talk about plot theory, dive into character development, play with dialogue, and write lots.

Spring 2024 registration is open
This workshop will run on Thursday evenings (virtual).

 
A side view of a laptop on a table scattered with crumpled papers, candles, a pottery mug, a yellow pad and a pen.

The Art of Revision
A workshop for learning and practicing the process of revising our work

A 6-session workshop that cracks open a new approach to revision, starting with big questions around themes and structure, and then narrowing in on scenes or chapters, and finally line-by-line editing.

Spring 2024 registration is open
This workshops will run on Thursday afternoons (virtual).

 
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Permission Slip
A workshop for writing as a doorway to softness

This 6-week workshop is a big, bright invitation to change gears, even just for a couple hours. We’ll step out of giving and into receiving, out of doing and into being. We’ll use writing, mindfulness and word-play to come back to our bodies, our hearts and our spirits, and to commit to giving them what they need.

Next session dates to be announced.

 
Some cut out words on a table with a candle.

The Fiction Workshop
A workshop for fiction writers who want to write and write and write.

A super simple 8-week workshop for fiction writers who have a project on the go and want to get the words flowing. Our focus will be on productivity rather than the mechanics of fiction, for that check out Tiny Worlds.

Next session dates to be announced.

 
Several word dice resting on a cloth napkin on a wooden table. There are four small wooden hearts to the right of the napkin.

Focus and Flow
A writing workshop for busy brains

In this 8-week workshop, we'll experiment with using writing to cultivate flow state as a counterbalance to the state of constant distraction around us. Together we’ll step out of the noise and clear space to hear our own ideas, our own thoughts, our own voices… And then create from there.

Spring 2024 registration is open
This workshop will run on Monday evenings (virtual).

 
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New Suns
A speculative fiction class for BIPOC writers

This 6-session workshop will invite Black, Indigenous and other people of colour (BIPOC) to push back against the status quo and explore what it means to write speculative fiction through the lens of our experiences as racialized people.

Next session dates to be announced.

 
A white feather on some moss.

The Further Shore
A workshop for writing about death, loss and dying

In this 8-week workshop, we’ll use writing as a tool to explore dying, loss, and the bittersweet corners of the experience of mortality. Together, we’ll excavate our feelings and beliefs around this huge topic with honesty and compassion in a community of people who actually want to talk about it too.

Spring 2024 registration is full
This workshop will run on Friday mornings (virtual).

 
A small paper sign that says courage.

Getting Out of Our Own Way
A writing workshop about loosening the hold of our inner critics

Tired of procrastinating, overwhelm, and doubt? This workshop is for you. Over 8 weeks we’ll examine all the things that hold us back from the writing life we dream of, including fear, ego and the inner critic.

Next session dates to be announced.

 
A mug full of pens.

The Life Stories Workshop
A memoir writing workshop for anyone with stories in their heart

An 8-session workshop for people who want to get their life stories out on paper. We’ll work from a new theme every week, writing lots between sessions and sharing deeply.

Spring 2024 registration is open
This workshop will run on Saturday afternoons (virtual).

 
A white lighthouse looking out over the sea.

Rising Tides
A studio-style workshop for anyone longing to lavish a writing project with attention

This 8-week workshop is designed for people with projects on the go, who need a place and a process to get their words down. It includes 1-on-1 coaching and two quiet writing sessions.

Spring 2024 registration is open
This workshop will run on Wednesday evenings (virtual).

 
A foggy landscape with grass, a path, and some rocks in the distance.

Stranger Horizons
A speculative fiction workshop devoted to creating otherworldly realities

This 8-week workshop is designed for writers who have a spec fic project started or visioned, and want to get busy writing, imagining and sharing their worlds with others.

Next session dates to be announced.

 
A leaf covered in water droplets on a wooden table.

Tiny Worlds
A writing workshop dedicated to the love of short fiction

Fascinated by short fiction but not sure where to start? This 8-week workshop will cover all the basics to get your first (or 100th) short story written.

Spring 2024 registration is open
This workshop will run on Tuesday mornings (virtual).

 
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Writing Towards the Body
A writing workshop that draws from the body as a source of creativity

An 8-week workshop where we’ll use writing exercises, contemplative practices, and visualization to spark new connections between our physical forms and our creative expression.

Spring 2024 registration is open
This workshop will run on Wednesday evenings (virtual).

 
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A Year of Stories
Write 12 stories in 12 months, in great company

Designed for people who are looking for a long, steady journey of writing and sharing with a small, dedicated group.

Next session dates to be announced.

 
A door opening onto a cozy writing space, there’s a lamp on and a laptop glowing.

The Novel Writing Toolkit
A writing workshop to help you take your novel idea from seed to scene

In this 12-week workshop, we’ll explore this amazing and expansive form. You’ll leave with a deep picture of what you’re making, some completed scenes, and a new, deeper understanding of the novel form. You’ll also have loads of tools to keep going through the full first draft and into revisions.

Next session dates to be announced.

 
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Deeper Waters
A workshop for projects that are ready to go far

12 weeks to go deep! This season-long workshop is for people with projects on the go or ideas that are ready to be explored and expressed more fully.

Next session dates to be announced.

 
A rocky cliff side.

The Big One
A deep and wide writing journey for writers ready to hunker right down

Our deepest course ever, this workshop stretches over three seasons! To ensure balanced groups with a range of genres and approaches, it’s by application only.

Next session dates to be announced.

 

Weekend Workshops

 
Writers sitting around a table, passing an orange mug of tea.

City Sanctuary The BIPOC Edition
A full day of writing in the heart of Toronto for + by BIPOC writers

This retreat is a space for and with people of colour to write what we want and need to write, whether that’s poems, personal essays, speculative fiction, blog posts, notes to ourselves, or rants about injustice. This is a place to sink into whatever our writing voices need.

Winter 2024 registration is full
This one-day retreat will run in-person on Saturday March 2.

 
A white mug with colourful pens, and two small planters on either side.

City Sanctuary
A weekend of writing in the heart of Toronto

This “sleep at home” retreat is an invitation to step out of the sway of the day-to-day into something different. Together we’ll make a sanctuary for our writing selves in the middle of the city, to shake off our fears and resistances, and write the things we are longing to write.

Spring 2024 registration is open
This weekend workshop will run in-person Friday May 24 to Sunday May 26

 

Workshops for Teens

 
A bowl full of words cut out on paper with some spilling out onto the table.

Worlds of Words
A workshop for teens to explore their writing voices

A fun and engaging workshop for teens. We’ll explore the freedom of the writing process and focus on building our unique voices and visions.

Next session dates to be announced.

 
Books open on a rustic table, there’s a candle glowing in a lantern and little purple flowers.

Worlds of Words: the Fiction Edition
A workshop for teens to discover the world of fiction

Calling all teens who love to write fiction. We’ll dive into the world of your beautiful imagination and create worlds and characters that are all yours.

Next session dates to be announced.