What is a writing workshop? Everything you need to know.
S.R. Beaston
Crafty with words, wit, and wisdom, just add caffeine to make it more interesting.
$ $ There’s a stereotype around writers that we are not social by nature. We like our alone time. We function better by ourselves, and our friend circles tend to be tight and small. I am not the stick by which you should measure the writing community, but I’m about as reserved as they come.
But as a writer, I have learned the importance of surrounding myself with those who can help me, who understand my passions and frustrations. I strive to be better and learn from those better than me. I love feedback from writers in my genre, and from those outside of it. Every person offers a fresh perspective, and each opinion holds value as a tool to grow my writing skills.
So I finally joined a writing workshop.
What is a writing workshop?
A writing workshop is, at its core, a structure to help manage and teach writing. Libraries, seminars, and schools commonly advertise the workshop format with one teacher and multiple students (be it children or adults).
Workshops can also be a simple gathering of friends at your favorite local hot spot, or even online. These workshops often have no teacher, but the ‘proprietor’ may take on a leading role until everyone gets comfortable with whatever methods and rules have been established between the members.
Within the workshop, you have a piece of writing that is ready to be critiqued, be it a short story, poem, memoir, chapter, or anything in between. Your peers will take the time to go through and give their feedback and together discuss what works and what doesn’t in your piece of writing.
Regardless of the type of workshop you join, you will likely share your work and have it kindly ripped apart so you can piece it back together, but better.
What are the different types of writing workshops?
"Writing workshop" isn’t the only term for this structure of partnership and camaraderie. There are a few types of workshop to choose from.
In-Person Writing Groups
These can be a haphazard group of writers in your area that meet up at the local coffee shop once a week to talk about writing. It can be an organized group of acquaintances you found in a Facebook group, or your friends who decided it would be fun to hold each other accountable for your writing.
There are many forms of in-person writing groups, and we can find easily them through local Facebook pages or websites like $ Meetup$ .
Seminars
A seminar is a training-focused conference that can run from one week to a couple months, but tends to stay on the shorter end of a timeline. They are often run by a professor or someone with prior knowledge of the craft who prepares a lecture, teaching the attendees a specific lesson in writing before letting them group up to discuss and apply what they learned.
You may make great connections here, as seminars can be pricey, so anyone attending is sure to be serious about writing.
College Courses
Classes in creative writing typically act like a writing workshop, allowing you to explore different styles and genres of writing while listening to your peers explore and grow their own tastes as well. These are more exclusive to college students, but sometimes colleges offer credit courses without the need to enroll.
There are also free online courses, hosted by the college that owns the course. Even Harvard has hosted some literary classes. Don’t be afraid to scout around for these opportunities.
Online Writing Workshops
The internet can be an amazing thing, allowing people to connect instantly to one another over common interests. Writing is no different. Through social platforms and writing communities, writing groups are easy to form online. Even some writing software companies like $ NovelPad$ have their own ongoing writing workshops for users.
What happens in a typical writing workshop?
The "typical" writing workshop has certainly adapted and changed over the years. They used to be confined to in-person conferences and college courses, but with technology, your typical writing workshop has become much more accessible. So let's see what takes place in today’s typical workshop.
Workshops that are promoted through sites like meetup, NaNoWriMo, discord, and other social sites are sought after and run by writers, for writers. The one who forms the group is usually the one who establishes their desire for how the workshop is to be run.
The logistics are unique to each group. There’s a set time, usually once a week, where the group gets together and discusses the piece of writing that they read over the week. Think of it like a very small book club, with a lot more criticism.
And that’s a good thing! That’s why workshops exist. The piece of writing is critiqued with the good, the bad, and the in-between. It will be the focus for the week, and everyone will share what they thought worked well and what could be improved upon.
This will vary from group to group, workshop to workshop, but the bottom line of every meeting is that someone, somewhere, is bettering their craft.
So are writing workshops helpful?
Always.
Though there are $ pros and cons to workshops,$ they will ultimately help most writers improve and grow in their craft.
Fear is often the first motivator to not join a workshop, followed by doubt, worry, playing scenarios in your head, remembering that one time a whole group disbanded because of an argument that had nothing to do with you but somehow you were the center of…
I get it, trust me. Collaborating with others can be a unique challenge. But no amount of doubt and anxiety adds up to the experience and connection and learning you can get out of a workshop.
Once you get over that initial hump and find yourself a group, you’ll see that every meeting makes it easier to talk with your partners. You learn how to critique a piece as well as accept the criticism. You learn how to weed through what you may or may not agree with, and you learn how to discuss and workshop a piece of writing.
Workshops can build confidence and leadership skills in all ages, as well as resilience and critical thinking. There’s really no downside to trying workshops. Even with poor experiences, there’s always something you can take away from it. There’s always something to learn.
How do I join a writing workshop?
Though I’ve briefly covered where to find workshops, we can break down the best ways to find them here.
It can be as simple as doing a google search for lectures and conferences in your area if you want a more controlled, short-term environment. Authors and teachers host workshops from time to time, but they can be costly.
Websites like NaNoWriMo are a great way to make your own group or find one, but I’ve personally noticed that, outside of November, it’s hard to keep a group motivated.
Sites like Meetup and Facebook have dedicated spaces to search or promote your desire for a critique group, but depending on your location, face-to-face meetups can be impossible at best and sketchy at worst.
$ Disboard$ hosts discord servers dedicated to writing and critiquing, just type in keywords like "writing workshop," "critique groups," or "writing group". You may even find more specific targets by adding the genre of your choice in the keywords.
If you want a no-hassle, well-moderated option, NovelPad has set up their own writing workshop! $ This service$ takes place in their discord with any NovelPad subscription. And you don’t even have to leave your house!
Wherever you find your group, writing workshops are a great way to meet people, learn something new, and keep the passion for writing alive and thriving.
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