training:
book writing and story telling
Julian Sher has trained in newsrooms around the world, all through Europe and North America and Africa, as well as in the Middle East and Bangladesh. Contact Julian directly for more information about in-person or Zoom training.
For a sample of the training, see the slideshows below available for download in PDF format as well as some videos of my courses.
You can also see more videos about journalism on My YouTube Channel.
PDF SLIDESHOWS TO DOWNLOAD:
THE PILLARS OF GOOD STORY TELLING
Your characters have to go on a journey and you need to take your readers/viewers/listeners with them.
You need a narrative arc with a beginning, middle and end and a mounting tension.
You need a focus that makes it clear what the story is about, why I should care - and helps you throw out the clutter.
TURNING YOUR STORY INTO A BOOK
a five-day class
(A Quebec Writers Federation workshop, October-November 2025)
You have a great story, maybe something you published in a magazine or a newspaper. But how can you turn that into a book? This workshop takes you through the steps: from making sure you have the right topic to building the best narrative arc, the best techniques for writing through to how to do thorough research. Not to forget the agents, publishers and legal issues.
TURNING YOUR STORY INTO A BOOK
one day class
(Toronto Festival of Authors, June 2025)
A book is not just a much longer version of what you have already written, it’s a different beast altogether. This workshop takes you through the steps to make your next project a success.
My Story, My Way:
How to Write the Story You Always Wanted to Tell
A Quebec Writers Federation workshop, July 2025
FOUR WEEK COURSE
This was a class over four weeks aimed at non-professionals - people who are not journalists or writers. We tell stories all the time—about our lives, our families, an exciting adventure or a difficult moment in our lives. But how do you transform those spoken words into written words that you can share in a journal for your family, a personal book, or an article in your local newspaper? This easy-going workshop takes you through the steps of finding a character’s path and their journey, how to build that into a narrative arc, and how to write for all five senses.
My Story, My Way:
How to Write the Story You Always Wanted to Tell
A Quebec Writers Federation workshop, January 2026
SIX HOUR COURSE
This was a six-hour class aimed at non-professionals - people who are not journalists or writers. We tell stories all the time—about our lives, our families, an exciting adventure or a difficult moment in our lives. But how do you transform those spoken words into written words that you can share in a journal for your family, a personal book, or an article in your local newspaper? This easy-going workshop takes you through the steps of finding a character’s path and their journey, how to build that into a narrative arc, and how to write for all five senses.
WRITING HISTORICAL NON-FICTION
(A Quebec Writers Federation workshop, November 12, 2023)
Writing original and entertaining non-fiction is hard enough.But when you set about writing historical non-fiction about true events and real characters that happened many years, decades or even centuries ago, your challenges only increase. You cannot interview your main characters, they are long dead. Archives may be hard to access or expensive. How do you bring to life your locations and scenes and make them accessible and understandable to the modern-day reader?