by Writing Workshops Staff
A day ago
When Jacquelin Cangro started writing her own road trip novel set in France, she made a discovery that twenty years of editing manuscripts at Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster had never quite prepared her for: a journey doesn't just carry your characters from one place to another. It transforms them. The story changes in transit.
That insight is at the center of Writing the Road Trip: Movement, Landscape, and Transformation, Jackie's one-evening seminar at WritingWorkshops.com, the official education partner of Electric Literature. The class meets once via Zoom on Wednesday, June 17, 2026 (6:00–8:00 PM ET) and is open to fiction and memoir writers at any stage who are building their story's arc around a character's physical journey, whether they're in early drafting or deep revision.
Jackie brings rare credentials to this work: more than twenty years as a developmental editor at two of the largest publishing houses in the world, a current practice as an independent book coach, and a road trip novel of her own in revision, set in France, the very country that showed her how much a journey reshapes a story from the inside out.
Students will leave with concrete tools for three of the trickiest elements of journey-based fiction: using pacing and transitions to build narrative momentum, treating landscape as an active force on character, and structuring a narrative arc that earns its ending. Two hours, one evening, practical craft work you can apply to your manuscript the next morning.
Here is our Meet the Teaching Artist Interview with Jackie:
Writing Workshops: Hi, Jackie. Please introduce yourself to our audience.
Jacquelin Cangro: Hi, I'm Jackie, a Brooklyn-based writer, editor, and avid birdwatcher. I worked at Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster for more than twenty years. Now, I'm an independent developmental editor and book coach, and I spend my days reviewing novel manuscripts in many genres, including historical, YA, women's fiction, romance, and upmarket. I also run a Substack called The Compassionate Editor.
Writing Workshops: What made you want to teach this specific class? Is it something you are focusing on in your own writing practice? Have you noticed a need to focus on this element of craft?
Jacquelin Cangro: Writing my own road trip novel across France taught me just how much a journey can shape story—plot twists, character growth, all of it. I love how movement sparks surprise, and I'm excited to help writers tap into that energy, take creative detours, and discover what their stories can become.
Writing Workshops: Give us a breakdown of how the course is going to go. What can the students expect? What is your favorite part about this class you've dreamed up?
Jacquelin Cangro: In my opinion, a "road trip" can take any mode of transportation. So whether your characters are traveling by plane, train, automobile or on foot, you'll find value in this class. We'll move through three sections: first, pacing and transitions—how to shape time and build momentum on the road; next, character and landscape—letting setting drive emotional change; and finally, practical craft tips to structure your story and avoid pitfalls. You'll leave with concrete tools and new insight into your work.
"Write what you're curious about. Curiosity pushes you to research, imagine, and take risks—and that's where the story starts to feel alive."
Writing Workshops: Who was your first literary crush?
Jacquelin Cangro: Judy Blume! Her books offered me something rare: honesty without judgment.
Writing Workshops: What are you currently reading?
Jacquelin Cangro: Heart the Lover by Lily King.
Writing Workshops: How do you choose what you're working on? When do you know it is the next thing you want to write all the way to THE END?
Jacquelin Cangro: My next story usually starts as a small obsession I can't quite shake. A character, a place, a question will kind of tug at me. I pay attention to what sticks. Author Ann Napolitano calls this your magnet board. If an idea or premise sticks to my imaginary magnet board, I follow it. When I find myself daydreaming about it, testing scenes, hearing snippets of voice, I start to trust it. I know it's the one when I'm willing to stay with it through the messy middle, when curiosity outweighs doubt.
When the story won't leave you alone, that's the one worth writing. Join Jackie on June 17 for an evening of practical craft work built around the journey that changes everything.
Enroll in Writing the Road Trip →Writing Workshops: Where do you find inspiration?
Jacquelin Cangro: EVERYWHERE!! Inspiration tends to show up in ordinary places if I'm paying attention—overheard conversations, a strange detail in the news, a landscape that lingers in my mind. I'm drawn to questions I can't easily answer, especially about people and relationships.
Writing Workshops: What is the best piece of writing wisdom you've received that you can pass along to our readers? How did it impact your work? Why has this advice stuck with you?
Jacquelin Cangro: "Stay with the discomfort." That advice changed everything for me. Whenever I'm tempted to skip past a hard scene or leave my writing desk to vacuum the carpet, it's usually a sign there's something important there. If I slow down and really explore it, that's often where the story deepens and becomes more honest, surprising, and alive.
Writing Workshops: What is the worst piece of writing advice you've received, read, or heard? Why is this something you push against in your own writing practice?
Jacquelin Cangro: "Write what you know" is probably the worst advice I've taken too literally. It can make your world feel small if you interpret it as sticking only to your own experience. For me, the more useful version is "write what you're curious about." Curiosity pushes you to research, imagine, and take risks—and that's where the story starts to feel alive.
"Whenever I'm tempted to skip past a hard scene or leave my writing desk to vacuum the carpet, it's usually a sign there's something important there."
Writing Workshops: What is your favorite book to recommend on the craft of writing? Why this book?
Jacquelin Cangro: I always come back to Steering the Craft by Ursula Le Guin. It's practical, generous, and full of exercises that actually get you writing, not just thinking about writing. What I love most is how it breaks craft into clear, doable pieces—sentence by sentence, rhythm by rhythm—while still honoring the mystery of storytelling. It feels like a workshop in book form, which makes it one I return to again and again.
Writing Workshops: What's your teaching vibe?
Jacquelin Cangro: Warm and encouraging with space for discovery. We're going to have fun!
That teaching vibe, warm and grounded in genuine craft, is what students will find on June 17. Jackie has spent decades inside the editorial process at the highest levels of publishing, and she knows from both sides of the desk what makes a journey-based narrative work. Writing the Road Trip: Movement, Landscape, and Transformation is a focused two hours with someone who has read thousands of novels, is actively writing one, and is ready to help you figure out where yours needs to go. Seats are limited. June 17 will be here before you know it.
Learn to write the journey that changes everything. Join Jacquelin Cangro on June 17, 2026 for an evening of craft tools built around movement, landscape, and transformation.
Save Your Seat in Writing the Road Trip →WritingWorkshops.com is an independent, artist-run creative writing school and the official education partner of Electric Literature. Since 2016, we've helped writers strengthen their voice, develop a greater understanding of craft, and forge a path to publication.
