Dialogue and Dialect Workshop 2026

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Dialogue and Dialect Workshop

An essential part of creating a character is understanding how that individual speaks or communicates. For writers who are working to create inclusive fiction with diverse characters from races, cultures, and backgrounds different from their own, crafting appropriate dialogue is more than just idealizing and compressing speech to make it seem natural. It may also mean figuring out how to get across the nuances of language, accent, or dialect without Othering or exoticizing characters or the real cultures and identity groups they represent.

In this craft-focused webinar we’ll help you sharpen your dialogue skills through short lectures and hands-on exercises led by author, editor, and Writing the Other co-author Nisi Shawl. They’ll lead students through analysis of the ways familiar and unfamiliar cultural assumptions are embedded in texts and talk about alternative techniques for conveying difference via voice–yours and your characters’. At the end of class you’ll get a wealth of resources for further study and practice.

Event Details

Date: November 21st, 2026 
Time: 10AM – 3:30 PM Pacific
Where: Online — Zoom Classroom
Price: $175 Scholarships are available for attendees who need financial assistance.
Registration Deadline: November 15th, 2026

Who Should Take This Class?

Prose writers of all genres — Literary, YA, Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Children’s Books, Romance — at any point in their career from newbie to professional. This class is designed so that any writer who wants to write inclusive fiction well and create characters who aren’t caricatures will find it beneficial.

Required Texts

Please read the following text before class begins.

Accessibility

The class takes place in Zoom and files will be available through Google Drive. Closed captions are available, auto-generated by Zoom.

If you have questions about potential needs, or if there are any other ways we can make a class accessible for you, please contact us before registering and we’ll answer within 24 hours.

Full and Partial Scholarship Opportunities

We have full and partial Vonda N. McIntyre Sentient Squid Scholarships available for this class. If you do not have the financial means to pay for all or part of the registration cost for this class, we encourage you to apply. We have a broad definition of financial need that ranges from writers who do not have the money at all to writers who have the funds but can’t afford to use them for a writing class.

We especially encourage writers who have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to apply. Wherever you exist on the financial needs spectrum, don’t self reject! (Still not sure whether you should apply? Read this post.)

Our scholarships are available to any writer regardless of background or identity. We set aside a portion of scholarships specifically for students who identify under the POC, BIPOC, or BAME umbrellas as well as for Palestinian writers/writers of Palestinian heritage.

If you can afford to pay for part but not all of the registration fee, please apply for a partial scholarship. Under this financial aid plan you can let us know the amount you can afford. If you cannot afford to pay at all, please apply for a full scholarship. 

To apply, please fill out this form. You’ll be asked to provide:

  • A brief (300 or fewer words) statement of financial need.
  • A brief (500 or fewer words) description of a work or works in progress that you hope the class will help you write.
  • If you customarily identify as POC, BIPOC, or BAME, or are of Palestinian heritage, you may indicate that if you wish.

Deadline: 11:59PM Pacific October 31st, 2026. We will notify all applicants of their standing two weeks before class begins. If you have any questions, please use our contact form to ask!

Refund Policy

If you find that you need to drop the class, you may do so via Humanitix.

If you send a refund request up to 14 days before the class start date, you will receive a full refund minus a service fee.

Beyond that time you will not have your registration fee refunded. However, you will be able to use your payment as credit toward enrollment in a future class.

Register Below 

If you have a promo or discount code, please choose your registration option first, click Enter Details, then add it to the Discount Code field on the next screen. If the whole box below gives you trouble, click here to register on our Humanitix page.