Notes From a Writing Workshop

Reflecting on my first writing workshop.

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

Are you considering taking a writing workshop?

I attended my first writing workshop this past weekend. I’ve been writing fiction on and off for about five years but haven’t finished anything. I’ve never formally studied writing aside from a few literature classes back in college so I wanted to take a workshop and pick up a few tips. Before dedicating time and funds to a multi-week class I focused on something short and simple to try out. I combed through options offered in the New York City area before settling on a two-day generative fiction workshop at the Center for Fiction.

Located in downtown Brooklyn, The Center for Fiction is an organization “dedicated to celebrating the creation and enjoyment of fiction”, featuring a bookstore, cafe, library, and members area, which regularly holds discussions and workshops. It’s history dates back nearly 200 years.

So what is a generative fiction workshop? I had the same question. The workshop focused on getting us writing through the use of prompts. The goal was to find out what we did well and to build on that.

There were about 20 people in the class with varying levels of writing experience. Some were beginners while some were journalists or writers who wanted to write more fiction. Our instructor was clear, helpful and understanding. I was excited to be in a room with a bunch of writers to talking about the craft, share stories and influences. I realized this was something I was missing. I have access to the online community of Substack but nothing beats sitting in a room with people, working on your craft together and holding each other accountable.

On the first day our instructor gave us prompts to write from and we discussed what we learned. We also read and spoke about short story excerpts which developed the elements we focused on in our prompts. We also looked at how to enrich a story with characterization, creating authentic dialogue and using figurative language. For homework we built on what we wrote and shared it with the class the following day and received feedback.

The exercises and discussions helped us uncover how we think, feel and work while writing fiction. What do we like? What do we dislike? Our instructor said writing should be joyful, though that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. We were encouraged to build on our strengths and develop from there.

The feedback portion of the class was particularly fun. We heard a short piece of writing from each participant and gave positive feedback on what was working well, what we liked and noticed. Everyone’s story was different - so many creative writers with singular voices. I shared a story I’d written in class then spent some time revising. This was the first time I shared my fiction with anyone other than close friends and family and I enjoyed hearing everyone’s takeaways along with some great book recommendations.

This was an extremely helpful class for the new knowledge I’ve learned and also the experience of being in a workshop. I’d like to take a longer class on the foundational elements of writing short stories and novels. This is what I need to get to the next step towards meeting my fiction writing goals.

Since taking the workshop I’ve gone back through a few of my old and unfinished short stories with new eyes. They’re pretty rough around the edges but maybe now I can finish them using some of the tools and tips I learned over the weekend. I’ll keep practicing and hope to publish some work here in the future.

If you’re looking for a workshop, be sure to check out The Center for Fiction, and if you have any other workshop recommendations please let me know!

Happy writing,

Keith.