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:
The Age of AI: ChatGPT, Prosecraft, and Other Writer Concerns
Saturday, December 2nd, 2023 from 10:30am to 1:30pm ET
Virtual via Zoom | 12 seat maximum
$85, scholarships available
Register for this session at GrubStreet.
ChatGPT can produce entire stories with just a few prompts. Prosecraft scraped the text of over 25,000 published books for “the linguistic analysis of literature” without consent. Some literary magazines have been flooded with AI-generated stories to the point that they’ve had to shut down. People are selling AI-generated stories on Amazon under the names of established authors.
With this sudden onslaught of AI use in ill-intentioned hands, it’s understandable that writers, journals, publishers, and the whole of the literary community feel panic. But the first steps in combating fear and despair is to investigate a given problem and connect with your peers. In this 3-hour session, we’ll look at the above situations, discuss our thoughts and feelings, and engage in writing prompts aimed to both strengthen our confidence in our work and understand how to ethically use AI as writers (if we choose). Writers will leave class with a firmer understanding of the situation and a better knowledge of AI, what they can (and can’t) do about it, and see how nothing can stop the irrepressible beauty of—and desire for—human-generated prose.
How to Start a Newsletter
Friday, January 12th, 2024 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm ET
Virtual via Zoom | 12 seat maximum
$85, scholarships available
Register for this session at GrubStreet.
With social media on fire, many writers are seeing newsletters as the wave of the future. Newsletters not only break away from the bombardment of information on social media (resulting in greater focus and dedication from your followers), but they also provide more control and the potential for monetization without ad revenue, data mining, or other shady practices. But all these benefits also come with work. In this 3-hour session, we’ll look at the basics of starting a newsletter, tips for success, platforms available, and exercises to help brainstorm personal approaches, providing students with the tools to enter the next stage of information sharing.
Queer Writing Essentials
Saturday, March 9th, 2024 from 10:30am to 1:30pm ET
Virtual via Zoom | 12 seat maximum
$85, scholarships available
Register for this session at GrubStreet.
Writing authentic marginalized work can come with some unique problems, especially if/when we engage with the mainstream publishing industry or its readers. This 3-hour class was designed to help queer writers navigate some of the less-discussed aspects of marginalized writing, including how to introduce your characters as queer, creating effective social justice themes within your storytelling, handling “relatability,” and how to invite in outside readers without compromising your story’s authenticity. Peppered with writing exercises, this class will engage with works from such authors as Gabby Rivera, Andrea Lawlor, Rajiv Mohabir, Kacen Callender, Akwaeke Emezi, Carmen Maria Machado, Jordy Rosenberg, and more.
*While this class is designed with queer writers in mind, cisgender/heterosexual writers are welcome to attend and learn. However, please know we won’t be discussing introductory levels of queer representation or community, nor the do’s and don’ts of writing outside of one’s lane.
Past Classes:
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