TELL YOUR STORY
CHANGE THE WORLD
Workshops Against Empire is the ONLY program that combines a complete framework for writing a publishable novel with a focus on the social impact of your story.
That’s right.
An alternative MFA in Writing program
with social justice at its core.
WHAT WE DO
Tell your story.
Change the world.
Workshops Against Empire is the ONLY program that combines a complete framework for writing a publishable novel with a focus on the social impact of your story.
That’s right. An alternative MFA in Writing program with social justice at its core.
WHAT WE DO
Tell your story.
Change the world.
Workshops Against Empire is the ONLY program that combines a complete framework for writing a publishable novel with a focus on the social impact of your story.
That’s right.
An alternative MFA in Writing program with social justice at its core.
You've worked hard on your novel
You believe in this story, and you KNOW the sort of impact it could have on your readers.
You’ve read books on craft; worked with teachers, mentors, and editors; and probably attended writers’ conferences, too. And you’ve diligently applied everything you’ve learned...
But you still haven’t broken through with your first book deal.
Before you decide you’re just not good enough, or smart enough—or white enough, straight enough, or [fill in the blank] enough—let me share a little secret with you:
Doing all these things may help you improve as a writer, but it won’t actually teach you how to write a publishable novel.
Moreover, attending conferences, working with editors, and attending graduate-level classes is EXPENSIVE.
There is a better way to learn how to write a publishable novel—as you write or revise one.
In Memory of Susan DeFreitas
Born May 19, 1977, Susan crossed to the other shore on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. After a year-long illness, her final transition was peaceful at home, surrounded by loving family and held in love and light.
Susan’s 47 years of this life were immense and full of laughter, joy, and deep conversation and connection with friends, family, strangers, and Spirit. Author, poet, artist, storyteller, emcee, book coach, entrepreneur, teacher, activist, home chef, Happy Farmer, banjo player, reader, hiker, tree-hugger, swimmer, traveler, meditator, free-spirit, star-gazer, dreamer, wife, mother, and friend. Born in West Michigan, she lived in Hart, Michigan; Prescott, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; and Charleston, South Carolina; before landing in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2018.
Susan is the author of the award-winning novel, Hot Season, and the editor of Dispatches from Anarres: Tales in Tribute to Ursula K. LeGuin. Her short stories and poems were published widely, and her writing classes were celebrated. She is the creator of Workshops Against Empire, an alternative MFA program for writers who want to change the world.
Susan is survived by her loving husband Daniel, and son Calder, as well as her mother Sally, father Bruce, step-mother Kathy, brother Andre, sister Tara, and other extended family members, including her beloved Happy Farmer community.
Though Susan has crossed over, her presence remains vibrantly alive in her words, her students, and her work. The outpouring of love and condolences from her community shows us just how much of an impact she made in this world.
Workshops Against Empire, a complete five course framework of craft with social justice at its heart, continues under the care of her team and husband, ensuring that her vision, and her belief that stories can change the world for the better, lives on.
Workshops Against Empire and her beloved Story Medicine Community remain available for writers who wish to study with her in spirit. Through these teachings, her wisdom, humor, and insight continue to guide authors toward crafting powerful, world-changing stories. The kind she believed the world needs most.
Susan would want writers everywhere to keep writing, keep growing, and keep using their stories to make this world a more compassionate, conscious, and courageous place.
If you’d like to learn more about Workshops Against Empire, click here.
Here’s to better stories for a better world,
The Workshops Against Empire team
Workshops Against Empire
is a unique synthesis of the craft based on:
1. My experience as a writer, and my understanding of the creative process from the writer’s point of view.
Many approaches to story structure miss that part, especially when they’re created by people who aren’t writers themselves. (Have you noticed?)
2. My experience as an editor, and my understanding of what it takes to produce a publishable manuscript.
It’s easy to waste time as a writer—like, years of your life—by working in ways that are WILDLY inefficient and will never actually get you over the finish line with your draft. My years as an editor showed me that there is a process for getting a manuscript in shape to publish, and it’s one that anyone can learn.
3. My experience as a book coach, and my understanding of what it takes to help a writer level up with their craft.
I know where people get stuck, I know WHY they get stuck, and most importantly, I know what it takes to get them unstuck—so they can avoid winding up in the same position with their next book.
"It sounds like anyone could benefit from this!"
It’s true: This framework I’ve developed for learning how to write a publishable novel—as you write or revise one—is something absolutely anyone can benefit from.
But I’m not interested in working with just anyone.
I’m interested in working with YOU.
The type of writer who:
cares deeply about the social impact of their story
is intersecting with issues of social and/or climate justice in their work
is writing what Barbara Kingsolver terms “socially engaged fiction,” in terms of the “moral obligation of individuals to engage with their communities in ways that promote a more respectful coexistence, to question and confront, [and] to work towards betterment.”
Moreover, I want to work with writers who:
want to avoid harm to historically marginalized people in their work (and know that good intentions are not enough!)
don’t just want to write good novels—they want to write GREAT ones
Basically, I’m interested in helping people dedicated to telling stories that matter break through with their first published novel.
Caption: From my AWP panel, Agents of Change: The Activist Protagonist, with Rene Denfeld, Julia Stoops, Carrie Luna, and Aya de León—authors of socially engaged fiction having a big impact on the world!
But why wait to make the world a better place?
When you become a member of Workshops Against Empire—either by enrolling in the year-long program or registering for a single course —10 percent of your registration fees, after expenses, will be donated to female entrepreneurs pursuing sustainable business endeavors in underserved regions via Kiva, the micro-lending site.
The framework of craft I teach is a big part of my life’s work, and I can’t imagine anything more meaningful than for this work to benefit women like my grandmother Priscilla—economically disadvantaged women in “Third World countries” working hard to lift their families out of poverty, via businesses that benefit the web of life here on planet Earth.
Sincerely, this has been the single best
investment I’ve made in a craft class.
c. wilcox
Thank you on repeat—these courses have been life-changing.
l.porter
I'm absolutely LOVING the courses. I've never gotten so much from any creative writing teacher as I have from you.
L. Lundgren
I am loving the clarity and precision of your teaching!
J. Linden
I know what I need to say in my current project but have struggled to pull it together with a plot-centric approach. I finally know why! It is because the character arc needs to lead the way (with strong plot, of course). I share this because, if you were not doing what you are doing, I would not have uncovered the true power of my story. Thank you!
K. McKernan
Free resources to level up your game with fiction
FREE QUIZ
Is Your Novel Ready to Rock the World?
An in-depth assessment designed to reveal EXACTLY what to focus on next in order to produce a publishable version of your manuscript.
FREE QUIZ
Is Your Novel Ready to Rock the World?
An in-depth assessment designed to reveal EXACTLY what to focus on next in order to produce a publishable version of your manuscript.
FREE E-BOOK
Cracking the Code: The 10 Critical Craft Techniques That Will Get Your Novel Published
Ever wonder what it is agents and editors are actually looking for when they read a novel on submission?
Here’s a comprehensive list, complete with a checklist you can apply to your novel.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT US
Can your story hold a reader’s attention for 300 pages?
Even if you’re a terrific writer with a fabulous idea, probably not.
A zillion books and conferences and coaches might help—but without getting to the crux of the matter, where transformation can happen. That’s exactly what Susan does. Her approach to structure is the holy grail of storytelling.
P. Kealey
Sincerely, this has been the single best
investment I’ve made in a craft class.
c. wilcox
Thank you on repeat—these courses have been life-changing.
l.porter
Sincerely, this has been the single best investment I’ve made in a craft class.
c. wilcox
Thank you on repeat—these courses have been life-changing.
l.porter
I've been investing in webinars and classes and craft teaching for a decade, but your first lecture here has cracked open what hooks me in a first page like nothing ever has. So glad I signed up!
c.campbell
What do you ACTUALLY need to focus on in order to get over the finish line with your novel?
Get clear on exactly where you are with your current work-in-progress—and exactly what it will take to get it published, so it can have the kind of impact on the world you know it could.
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