When Words Collide 2026

Writers live by Copyright, it is a fundamental principal of our existence. But it is often only vaguely understood.

What is it? Where did it come from and how did it develop? What rights do I have and how far do they extend? How and when should I negotiate these rights? What are similar rights? What is fair use? What is public domain? How do I know when I am infringing? Or when I am infringed upon? There are books and libraries of books written on the subject, and there are decades of court decisions. We can't make you an expert. But this Crash Course can teach you enough of the basics to navigate your way through the business of writing, and give you the tools to make decisions.

Writing is unfortunately one of the endeavors in which working hard doesn't guarantee success. You can spend hours daily at the keyboard but that doesn't mean you're going to be published. Even if you write beautiful sentences, and have a great story idea, you might still struggle to land an agent.
  
What am I doing wrong? is a question you might be asking yourself more and more.
 
In this workshop, we'll look at how to avoid the 10 biggest mistakes that good writers make that are stopping them from landing an agent and getting published.
 
Bianca Marais is an award-winning creative writing instructor and bestselling author who's a host on The Shit No One Tells You About Writing. Her insights come from years of writing her own work as well as critiquing the work of others.