IN PERSON Thinking on Paper: Journaling for Fun and Inspiration
One-Day Workshop | Thursday, February 12, 2026 | 11am-2pm MT
Instructor: Tanya MacIntosh
MEMBER PRICE: $60.00
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $80.00
We’ve all said it. “I really should be journaling.” And if you’re a writer, you really should. But what if we threw out the dreaded should to bring play, honesty, and fearlessness into our personal notetaking?
Keeping a journal for recording personal thoughts and experiences is a centuries-old practice. For writers, journaling is a place to test out new ideas, ground ourselves, and tangibly reflect on our thoughts. Using examples, prompts, timed writings, and discussion (and sharing if you’re comfortable doing so!), we’ll explore this personal journey together. Bring your favourite journal and pen – no electronics! – to connect with your creativity directly on paper.
Tanya MacIntosh has been journaling for over 40 years – sometimes daily, most often not. Journaling was a way for her to channel her anger when she was younger and it’s now a trusted friend and tool to help her make sense of the world around her as well as work out ideas for her fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. She aspires to help others connect with themselves, their intuition, and their bravery, regardless of where they are in their artistic practice.
Disclaimer: Although the therapeutic and mental health benefits of journaling are documented, this is not a group therapy session and is not meant to be a replacement for psychotherapy.
This class takes place in person at the Alexandra Writers' Centre Society.
Tanya MacIntosh is a queer author of speculative fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry with a BA in Creative Writing from York University. She put her writing, editing, and workshop facilitation skills to use in the corporate and retail worlds until she left in 2024 to follow her dream of writing full time. Her poetry and short fiction have won several prizes, as well as a Pushcart Prize nomination; you can find her work in Blank Spaces and its anthologies, Off Topic Publishing, and elsewhere. She was a participant in the Story Makers Author Development Program in 2025 and was accepted into the 2025-2026 Chapter by Chapter cohort. Tanya has lived, studied, and written in Toronto, Quebec City, Jerusalem, and Calgary which is now home. Gigi, her rescue dog, generously shares the house with her.
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