Creative Writer - Live 2026 - Write A Complete Story UK Tour

Dominic Canty is bringing his Write A Complete Story workshop to Summerhall on Saturday 14 November, part of his 2026 UK tour. It's a seven-hour in-person session, so you'll want to clear the whole day for it rather than squeezing it in around other plans.

Canty leads the day, and he's an experienced writer who's worked on a spy thriller, so he's coming at this from someone who's actually put a book together. The session is interactive and hands-on, aimed at writers of all levels, from beginners to seasoned pros, so you don't need a finished manuscript or a degree in literature to get anything out of it. He takes you through the ingredients of a compelling story: developing an initial idea, building a structured plot, plot twists and pace, character development, descriptions and locations, a writer's work ethic, and how to get published. There are practical exercises and supplied worksheets to work through as you go, so you're not just listening to him talk for seven hours—you'll be doing the work yourself.

Past attendees have called it a 'game changer' and say it 'kickstarted' their writing, which gives you a sense of the kind of thing you're signing up for. It's less of a lecture and more of a full-day workshop, so you'll come away with something more concrete than just a few notes. If you've been sitting on a story idea for years without knowing how to actually shape it, this is exactly the kind of thing that helps you get it moving.

The workshop runs at the Cairns Lecture Theatre in Summerhall, 1 Summerhall, Edinburgh EH9 1PL, starting at 10:00 AM on Saturday 14 November. It's a seven-hour session, so you'll be there for a good chunk of the day.