Milo Todd firmly believes in creating learning environments where queer and/or intersectionally marginalized students feel safe sharing their work, feedback, worries, and goals. The publishing world is a difficult place at the best of times, starting with the individual workshop experience, and he believes information and community support can break down gatekeeping and help queer writers succeed in their goals.
Milo’s classes are places where students will be treated with respect, and he welcomes individuals of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, races, genders, gender identities, gender expressions, national origins, religious affiliations, sexual orientations, abilities—and other visible and nonvisible differences. All students of his classes are expected to contribute to a respectful, welcoming, and inclusive environment for every other member of the class. Disrespectful language or behavior toward any of the above groups will not be tolerated and may result in removal from the remainder of the course without refund.
Upcoming Classes:
**FREE!** Transcestors Series: The Stonewall Rebellion
Saturday, June 1st, 2024 from 11:00am to 12:00pm ET
Virtual via Zoom
Free!
Register for this session through The Queer Writer.
What happened during the multi-night rebellion around the Stonewall Inn in June of 1969 in Greenwich Village, New York? What was the first thing thrown and who threw it? Who took part and who stayed away? Hear the details of what happened when (predominantly) impoverished, BIPOC gender nonconforming people decided they’d had enough of police brutality, and how this ultimately led to the creation of Pride Month. There will be opportunity for Q&A at the end of the talk. Note: This session includes mentions of queer/transphobia, racism, police brutality, slurs, murder, sexual assault, and misgendering/deadnaming.
Transcestors is a series of free 1-hour sessions focused on trans and queer (but mostly trans) history based on Milo Todd’s research for his historical fiction. Those interested must have any subscription tier of The Queer Writer, paid or free, and must use their subscriber email to register for sessions. For safety reasons, sessions will NOT be recorded. A Zoom link will be sent to registered attendees ~15 minutes before a session starts.
*Sessions are open to all identities, but please know Transcestors centers trans and/or nonbinary attendees.
Writing Outside of Your Lane
Friday, June 21st, 2024 from 10:30am to 1:30pm ET
Virtual via Zoom | 12 seat maximum
$85, scholarships available
Register for this session at GrubStreet.
Over the past several years, the publishing world (and its readers) have thankfully demanded more diversity within stories. But as welcoming as this change is, it can leave many non-marginalized writers with anxiety. How are you supposed to go about it? What if you mess up? Are you allowed to write about marginalized people at all? This 3-hour course provides mainstream writers with the basics of how to write a marginalized character with which they don’t have a lived experience, breaking the process down into the bare bones of Self-Reflection, Research, Craft, Editing, and How to Handle Backlash. With pragmatic and clear-cut information—as well as the wisdom from such writers as Alexander Chee, Peter Ho Davies, and Stella Young—writers will leave this course with significantly more insight, awareness, and confidence to produce the most accurate and empathetic work they can.
*This class is open to all identities.
Novel in Progress
8 Thursdays starting July 11th, 2024 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm ET
Virtual via Zoom | 12 students maximum
$540, scholarships available
Register for this class at GrubStreet.
First drafts of novels can be messy, amorphous, and daunting. Sometimes, extensive critical feedback can be counterproductive before the first draft is finished, yet writers often find themselves losing focus without support and guidance. In class, we will do exercises, discuss craft issues—characterization, the protagonist’s desire, plot and outlining, endings—and read short scenes from each other’s work, providing feedback in an environment that recognizes the specific challenges of the novel in progress. Novels of all genres are welcome. Please bring the first page (double-spaced, 12-point font, 1” margins) of your novel to the first class.
*This class is open to all identities.
Past Classes:
Transcestors Series: Pirates of the 1600s Atlantic (1 Hour)
March 2024
Independent
Queer Writing Essentials (3 Hours)
March 2024
GrubStreet
How to Start a Newsletter (3 Hours)
January 2024
GrubStreet
The Age of AI: ChatGPT, Prosecraft, and Other Writer Concerns (3 Hours)
December 2023
GrubStreet
Sessions with the Editor: Foglifter Journal (3 Hours)
November 2023
GrubStreet
Writing Outside of Your Lane: The Basics (3 Hours)
September 2023
GrubStreet
Queery-ing: Navigating Agents and Publishers While Queer (3 Hours)
August 2023
GrubStreet
Non-Toxic Masculinity in Fiction (3 Hours)
July 2023
GrubStreet
Novel Writing Workshop for Queer, Trans, and/or Nonbinary Writers (8 Weeks)
July 2023
GrubStreet
History Reclaimed: Facts and Fictions (3 Hours)
June 2023
GrubStreet
QueerNoWriMo (12 Weeks)
June 2023
Independent
Writing Group: Accountability Cafe for Queer, Trans, and/or Nonbinary Writers (6 Weeks)
May 2023
Independent
Writing Outside of Your Lane: The Basics (3 Hours)
April 2023
GrubStreet
Writing Messy Queer Characters (3 Hours)
April 2023
GrubStreet
Queer Writing Essentials (3 Hours)
April 2023
GrubStreet
Writing Group: Accountability Cafe for Queer, Trans, and/or Nonbinary Writers (6 Weeks)
March 2023
GrubStreet
Queery-ing: Navigating Agents and Publishers While Queer (3 Hours)
February 2023
GrubStreet
Writing Outside of Your Lane: The Basics (3 Hours)
December 2022
GrubStreet
Queery-ing: Navigating Agents and Publishers While Queer (2 Hours)
December 2022
Independent
Effective Social Justice Storytelling (1 Hour)
November 2022
Independent
Inviting In Outside Readers (1 Hour)
November 2022
Independent
Writing Messy Queer Characters (3 Hours)
October 2022
GrubStreet
Jumpstart Your Novel (6 Weeks)
October 2022
GrubStreet
Writing Messy Queer Characters (3 Hours)
July 2022
GrubStreet
What Literary Journals Want You to Know (3 Hours)
June 2022
GrubStreet
Writing Outside of Your Lane: The Basics (3 Hours)
May 2022
GrubStreet
Writing Transgender and Nonbinary Characters (90 Minutes)
April 2022
Clarion West
Writing Messy Queer Characters (2 Weeks)
March 2022
Lambda Literary
Novel Writing Workshop for Queer, Trans, and/or Nonbinary Writers (10 Weeks)
January 2022
GrubStreet
What Literary Journals Want You to Know (3 Hours)
November 2021
GrubStreet
Writing Outside of Your Lane: The Basics (3 Hours)
November 2021
GrubStreet
Writing Messy Queer Characters (3 Hours)
October 2021
GrubStreet
Novel Writing Workshop for Queer, Trans, and/or Nonbinary Writers (8 Weeks)
September 2021
GrubStreet
Writing Outside of Your Lane Series: Novel Writing Workshop (6 Weeks)
July 2021
GrubStreet
Writing Outside of Your Lane Series: The Basics (3 Hours)
July 2021
GrubStreet
Genre-Queer (4 Weeks)
May 2021
GrubStreet
Writing Outside of Your Lane Series: The Basics (3 Hours)
March 2021
GrubStreet
What Literary Journals Want You to Know (3 Hours)
March 2021
GrubStreet
Advanced Novel Workshop (10 Weeks)
January – March 2021
GrubStreet
Jumpstart Your Novel (6 Weeks)
January – February 2021
GrubStreet
Writing Outside of Your Lane Series: The Basics (3 Hours)
December 2020
GrubStreet
Writing Outside of Your Lane Series: The Basics (3 Hours)
September 2020
GrubStreet
Jumpstart Your Novel (6 Weeks)
June – August 2020
GrubStreet
For Instructors: Transgender and Nonbinary Inclusion in the Writing Workshop (3 Hours)
October 2019
GrubStreet
Write on Fire: Turning Anger into Art (3 Hours)
September 2019
GrubStreet
Transgender Character Bootcamp (8 Hours)
July 2019
GrubStreet