Events & Workshops

 

The Time We Have: Ditching Preciousness and Making the Work Matter

This talk is about the one resource every writer struggles with most: time. Too often, we treat writing as something that requires ideal conditions: long stretches of free hours, the right mood, the perfect idea. That preciousness in believing our work needs perfect circumstances to happen ends up consuming the very time we claim we don’t have. Craig Silliphant will explore how writers (or anyone) can let go of that mindset, stop waiting for pristine moments that never arrive, and instead make meaningful use of the small, imperfect pockets of time that are available to all of us. 

Craig works a full-time job that’s at least 50 hours a week. He also spends about 40 hours a week doing freelance and personal creative projects. He has a wife, two young kids, family responsibilities and activities, and a social life that also demands his time and attention. He had to learn how to truly embrace these ideas to get anything done; fast-turnaround freelance assignments, projects at work, and personal long-term creative projects. 

Craig will talk frankly about ambition and being honest with ourselves. We must recognize that progress comes from intentional choices and small sacrifices. This session is about reclaiming the hours we already have, removing the drama around the work, and learning to make every moment matter. The goal: help writers stop romanticizing the time they wish they had and start using the time they actually do.

 

To register for this online event, please visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vaNcbx_fRACtFvIFJJxZZg

 

About this event:

 

First Draft: Conversations on Writing is an online talk series that dives into themes that affect our writing lives. Writing helps us to understand things and to communicate these findings to our audience, even if our audience is ourselves. Sometimes we are driven by these themes, other times they’re the things that hold us back – what we learn through the process can be revolutionary. The quest to be understood unifies all writers.

 

This event features a 15-minute talk presented by Craig Silliphant. Following the talk is an interview conversation with Joanne (J.C.) Paulson to dig deeper into the event theme.

 

Participants are welcome to submit questions in advance of the event to swgevents@skwriter.com.

 

Please be mindful of your time zone as all times listed are Saskatchewan time. Find your time zone here: https://dateful.com/time-zone-converter

 

Accessibility measures in this event:

• Live auto-captions through Zoom during the live event
• (TBD) A read-along copy of the presenters’ talk is available during the live event only
• Presenter self-description
• This event will be recorded, captioned, and made available for 30 days (until April 6, 2026) on the SWG YouTube channel following the event: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRAIIcrpQW0NcY6ZM0GGSzw
• Transcript of the event is available upon request for 30 days (until April 6, 2026)

 

Presenter

 

Craig Silliphant is a writer, critic, journalist, broadcaster, filmmaker, and creative director. His work appears in both mainstream and underground outlets like CBC, The National Post, Rawlco Radio, and CTV. Craig wrote and co-produced the Global TV/Fahrenheit Films documentary, Stolen Sisters, about missing and murdered Indigenous women. His first book, Exile Off Main St., was a local non-fiction bestseller about Saskatoon’s music scene. His second book is a short story collection, Nothing You Do Matters. His latest book is a series of non-fiction humour essays called Bunnyhug Cynic. He lives in Nutana in Saskatoon with his wife, son, and daughter.

 

 

Host

 

Joanne (J.C.) Paulson, a long-time Saskatoon journalist, has been published in newspapers including The StarPhoenix, The Western Producer, Your Saskatoon News, allSaskatchewan and a variety of magazines.

Her insomniac brain requested a shift from fact to fiction several years ago, when she started writing mysteries based in Saskatchewan. The independently-published series includes the titles Adam’s Witness, Broken Through, Fire Lake, Griffin’s Cure, and Two Hundred Bones. She has also written a historical fiction/western novel entitled Blood and Dust, published by Black Rose Writing, and a wee children’s book, Magic Mack and The Mischief-Makers. Book six in her mystery series is hopefully coming in 2026.

 

 

 

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Funding provided by:

 

                    

 

In proud partnership with: