Discover Your Novel: Positivity Party!

Completing your novel may be one of the hardest but most satisfying things you'll ever do. Sometimes this process can happen in a bit of a vacuum. However, novels are not always in the shape they need to be in order to receive feedback, and sometimes getting input into an idea too early is the best way to kill it stone dead. So, the OWC has designed an original workshop series to allow writers who are in the middle of a work in progress to work through road blocks, get positive feedback and reinforcement without discouragement, and, ultimately, gain a better understanding of the story they're writing. 

The first session of the series is an easy one to wet our feet! A positivity party is where participants share a piece of their WIPs with the group and the group responds with positive feedback and reinforcement only. This is not a critique circle! This is a cheerleading circle! We want writers to hear what gets readers excited about their WIP, what they're curious about, where they were mesmorized by the prose or on the edge of their seats from the thrill. There's no room for criticism here, even if it's constructive. There are other forums for that. 

The writer should come prepared with about 2-3 minutes of material from their WIP to share. (Believe me, this is longer than you think!) This can be a chapter they'd like to read, a synopsis they'd like to share, some rambling ideas you're thinking of adding, or whatever would be most helpful or exciting for you. We encourage the writer to read the sample in real time themselves, however if needed, the host can present the work as well. 

As this is the first in a series and just a facilitated session where the participants are doing most of the work, there is no cost. However, other workshops in this series may have a charge depending on the content. All profits go towards the ongoing costs of running the Ottawa Writer's Circle. 

This series was conceived, designed, and will be faciliated by founder and organizer of the Ottawa Writer's Circle, Averill Frankes. Having hosted OWC events since its inception in September 2013, Averill has extensive experience facilitating events and workshops. She has been writing with an eye towards traditional publication ever since the founding of the OWC and has worked with professional and emerging authors and editors alike. She capitalized on these experiences by earning her Bachelor of Education in Adult Education from Brock University, giving her a unique combination of education and experience to be able to design and develop professional-level, experientially-informed workshops for writers in the OWC specifically and Ottawa generally. Sometimes she can be found on Twitter as @averillelisa or her very boring website www.averillfrankes.com.