Whoa! Long time no see, dear blog.
That sounded like a diary entry. Sorry, I’m really out of practice. It has seriously been a long time since I’ve done an actual blog post, ya dig?
OMG! I can’t stop myself.
Okay, get it together, Meg, because this post actually contains some helpful information for writers both aspiring and already published. Recently, I took part in a spring writers workshop run by Write. Draft. Repeat. The workshop consisted of a handful of small groups (applicants were separated into different groups based on how frequently they would submit original work to the group and other factors that I’m not sure of), where each writer submitted original work numerous times over a six week period to be critiqued by their fellow groupmates.
Basically, I was in a small group with five other writers and one moderator. I submitted 7k words each week by a specified deadline, and while my submission was being critiqued that week by my groupmates, I critiqued each of their work in turn. So at the end of this workshop, you had 6 submissions with a multitude of really helpful feedback.
And also a major headache. Because this workshop is rigorous and intense, but so so so worth it.
But it’s not just that your work was getting critiqued and made better with every comment, you would also be learning by analyzing other writers’ work. You’ll learn to study what works and what doesn’t for them in your critiques, which means, when you edit your own work afterward, you can apply the same technique to critique your own work.
Aside from all the great things you’ll learn, you will also get to interact with other writers. The workshop is such a great, close family of sorts. It really helped me to get out of my little writing bubble that I tend to put myself in. And there’s no need to worry about your work leaking out or something. The workshop is very secure, and I’m sure that if anyone steals your work, there will be an army of fellow workshop writers to kick the thief in the shins for you.
So now that I have you convinced, I get to tell you the best part. There’s a fall workshop!! The application is live now, so you still have time to sign up. If you want more information, here is the Write. Draft. Repeat website and application.
Seriously, you want to sign up. This workshop is the best thing I’ve done for my career so far.