| "As for myself," says Stephen King in his | | | | IT entrepreneur, a midwife and a publisher. Each |
| wonderful book On Writing, "I'm doubtful about | | | | was in the process of writing a book - both fiction |
| writing classes, but not entirely against them." | | | | and non-fiction - or on the brink of starting. |
| What I want to insist on in this article is that | | | | And here's what great workshops should do: |
| writing classes - or seminars, or workshops, or | | | | - Workshops should provide solid intellectual |
| writing circles, call 'em what you will - can be | | | | stimulation. Something for the participants to get |
| - Inspirational | | | | their teeth into. Something designed to be useful |
| - Motivational, and | | | | to them in the writing process. Something |
| - A spur to action and that Mr King would do well | | | | practical. How to choose the most appropriate |
| to approach the subject a tad less skeptically. | | | | point of view. The nuts and bolts of creating |
| Our experience as facilitators of such groups | | | | memorable characters. How to structure scenes. |
| suggests that if a number of cautions are borne | | | | How to add steel and fibre to avoid a sagging |
| in mind, writers can derive real, practical value - | | | | middle. |
| and have one hell of a lot of fun as they go - | | | | - Workshops should be structured around a series |
| from writing seminars. Whether you're a writing | | | | of challenging writing exercises. This enables |
| instructor - or a writer contemplating the | | | | wannabe writers to apply their new skills to the |
| mountain of your first major writing project - | | | | sort of problems they'll face as they drive their |
| these pointers could help. | | | | projects forward. (And they love it!) |
| Here are the cautions: | | | | - Participants should work in an atmosphere of |
| - Get the size of your group right. We've found | | | | creative freedom, where they are encouraged to |
| that less than six is too small, more than twelve | | | | share their problems and their achievements. |
| unmanageable. | | | | Finally, what we've learned is that a relaxed but |
| - Make sure the individual members of the group | | | | focused approach yields the greatest results. And |
| are more or less on the same rung of the skills | | | | nothing helps that as much as a bottle of soft red |
| level. | | | | wine to wind up the evening. Of course, this isn't |
| - Get the composition of the group right. A good | | | | necessarily a universal truth, but it's worked for |
| mix makes for the best and most productive | | | | us. And perhaps that's why Stephen King's a little |
| discussions. One recent group we guided featured | | | | jaundiced. He's on the wagon, poor sod. |
| a talk show host, a dedicated environmentalist, an | | | | |