Katie Bickell is an Albertan short story writer and novelist who writes with a focus on the representation of place. Katie's debut novel, Always Brave, Sometimes Kind (Brindle & Glass, 2020) won the 2021 Indie Author Project for Alberta, the 2020 Alberta Literary Award's Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction, and was shortlisted for the 2020 ReLit Award for Novel. Earlier versions of the chapters won the 2017 WGA Emerging Writer Award, the 2015 Howard O'Hagan Award, and the 2014 Alberta Views Fiction Contest.
When not writing, Katie provides manuscript consultations and teaches a variety of creative writing courses both online and in-person for numerous schools, libraries, and writing groups. She is a proud member of both The Writer's Union of Canada and the Writer's Guild of Alberta, and lives in Sherwood Park, AB, with her husband and daughters.
Katie regularly attends book clubs as a featured author (please find "Book Club Freebies" for Always Brave, Sometimes Kind on her author site), and is also available for library and bookstore readings, literary panels, keynote speeches, and author interviews.
Workshops
Packing a Punch: Big Stories in Small Spaces
Learn how to craft powerful narratives in as few words as possible from an award-winning short story writer. Working from a collective prompt, students will workshop a piece of flash fiction into a succinct-but-rich tale using a variety of tools. This course has been successfully featured in numerous libraries and for such groups as Alexandra Writer’s Centre Society, The Writer’s Guild of Alberta, and Pandemic University.
The Details:
- Zoom-based workshop
- The workshop can be tailored to fit 1-3 hour time slots
- Students should expect to leave the course with a polished piece of flash fiction, as well as a list of flash fiction markets open to submissions
- Student participation and story sharing required (not applicable for 1-hour workshop length)
When You Just Don't Wanna: Tips for the Lazy Writer
Some call it writer’s block, others call it a lack of motivation. Either way, every writer sometimes struggles to get their butt in the seat. This lighthearted course will cover several ways to trick your brain and seduce the muse, even when tapping keys feels like pulling teeth. This course has been successfully featured in the past through Alexandra Writer’s Centre Society and the University of Calgary.
The Details:
- Zoom-based class presented with a live slideshow
- The class can be tailored to fit 1-2 hour time slots
- Students can expect to receive a Lazy Writer’s Tip Sheet and to share a few laughs
The Artist's CV
Often immersed in a culture outside of the traditional workforce, many artists don’t think about their resumes until either grant season or until the perfect position becomes available. At that point, they often come to Always Brave Creative for a professional resume.
An author herself, ABC Founder Katie Bickell has written CVs for writers, filmmakers, editors, publishing agents, and visual artists, and has witnessed firsthand the self-doubt that can occur as these professionals try to sum the wealth of their skill, experience, and credentials into only a couple pages – and often at high stake in a highly competitive environment. This class has been successfully featured in the past through Alexandra Writer’s Centre Society. In this workshop, Katie breaks down The Artist’s CV section by section (including overall graphic design), answering the most common questions she receives regarding this topic:
- What is the difference between a resume & a CV, and which one do I need?
- Are gaps in work history okay?
- How do I narrow down my publication list?
- Should I include my employment outside of the arts sector?
- How should I explain upcoming gigs or obligations?
- Can I still list the experience if it wasn’t paid?
Where's the Action? Narrative Pace, Architecture, and Transitions
Many editors will tell you that good writing comes down to good transitions. So, how does a writer lead readers through a narrative in a way that is compelling, organized, and smooth? In this workshop, participants will explore tried-and-true ways to structure stories, speed up and decrease pace, and ensure flow when knotting a story together, scene by scene.
Change is Good: Character Arcs and Plot Development
No change = no story. Literature demands character-driven narratives but readers want a story, too. In this workshop, learn how to create compelling characters and demonstrate their emotional growth (or downfall) through the development of dynamic plots. With insights into various common character arc types and traditional story structures, this is a must-attend class for all plotters (and most pansters, too!).
Courses
From Crafting to Completion: A Short Story Intensive
While there is no one way to write a short story, there are ways to make its creation a thing of beauty and creative fulfillment. In this multi-week course, award-winning short story writer and novelist Katie Bickell will lead students through various techniques used to enrich creative strategy, story architecture, subtext, plot, character development, the writer’s relationship to the creative mindset, and the inner critic, and early draft editing. This is an interactive course that will result in the completion of publication-ready stories. Students will be invited to present their work to the class should they so choose to participate.
