Workshops

“Your workshop was so incredible that the coordinators have not stopped talking about you.”

— D. Randall, International Women's Writing Guild

Let’s tell stories!

Everyone has a story to tell. We just need the right tools to tell it. As an award-winning novelist, a former animation story development executive, a comic book-writing, cookie-baking, book-loving educator, my workshops will give you the straight skinny on storytelling: what to do, how to do it, and how to make it even better. Whether it’s the nuts and bolts of writing, navigating issues of empathy and diversity, or deeper explorations on craft, I approach it all with a heavy dose of encouragement and humor. Whatever your focus and whoever your audience, let’s excite and inspire them to do great work!

Current Offerings

Have you been having a rough year? Maybe you’ve lost your job, or are about to lose your insurance. Maybe your wallet is flat and your bank account low. Or maybe you just don’t want to face another holiday party where you avoid answering the question: How are you?
Let’s have fun that. Instead of a heartwarming family Christmas Letter, this year let’s write the awful truth! In this free 90 minute workshop, we’ll come up with rhymes for the challenges we’re facing, and compose our own holiday anthems to what we’ve survived. Laugh, write, and don’t worry about dropping this one in the mail. (Unless you really want to.)
WHEN: Saturday, 12/13/25 from 10 am to 11:30 am Pacific
WHERE: Online
HOW MUCH: It’s free!
HOW TO PREPARE: Come ready to write, and if you can think of some fun rhymes for the trials you’ve faced, bring them along. We’ll brainstorm more together.
WHO THIS IS FOR: Anyone who thinks this sounds like fun.
FINAL PRODUCT: A ridiculous ugly Christmas letter, and something to talk about at those holiday gatherings.
Sign up here. A Zoom link will go out on the day before the event.
Kick-start your summer writing with time in the Green Mountain State.
Step out of the noise of your daily life and step into a quiet sanctuary, where you will find inspiration, space, and community—all designed to help you deepen your connection to your writing life.
June 11-15, 2026
@ The Creative Campus at Goddard in Plainfield, Vermont
CLICK HERE TO APPLY

“Before I get down to writing, I just wanted to thank the magnificent @ Sherri_L_Smith for her great @WritingPadLA class yesterday. Huge help.”

— V. Bane

Client Testimonial

“Sherri spoke to our group of 70 or so about finding the structure for her latest novel, The Blossom and the Firefly. It was a master class in the craft of fiction: a detailed explanation of the structure she had wanted to use (along with diagrams), examples of how other stories have used it, and a narrative about her own attempt to write within it and the changes she made according to the needs of her manuscript. Her lecture was funny, personable, and incredibly useful to writers of all experience levels. Several people came up to me afterwards to say that the structure Sherri described might be just the thing to get their manuscripts unstuck. I can't recommend Sherri as a speaker highly enough.”

—Michael Noll, Program Director, Writers’ League of Texas