SO YOU WANT TO GIVE A WORKSHOP…
The concept of “pay it forward” is widely known these days, but I first heard it 30 years ago, from writers posting on the earliest online message boards. “There’s no way you can truly pay back the people who helped you out along the way in your career,” they’d say, “so instead you pay it forward and help out the next generation of writers.” Horror, fantasy, science fiction – the genre didn’t matter. The ideal was the same. And it wasn’t just lip service. It was a bedrock principle of the SF/F/H communities, one of their most honored values – and it still is. There are many ways to pay it forward, of course, but presenting writing workshops, whether in person or online, is a great way to do it. As both a writer and writing teacher, I’ve learned a few things about designing and conducting workshops over the years, and I’m here to share them with you.
How does a workshop differ from a class?
A class is part of an ongoing course of study, and it has a large scope. You can teach a semester-long class in novel writing, but you can’t cover the same material in the same depth within the span of a two-hour workshop. A class has regular meetings, a specific long-term agenda, and (often) criteria for evaluation. A workshop is time-limited and usually focused on a specific element of the writing craft or business, and the workshop leader does no evaluation of participants’ finished work. (Which means no papers to grade!)
Why should you present a workshop?
I’ve already mentioned paying it forward, but there are other good reasons for giving workshops – reasons that benefit you directly. You can gain a greater understanding of a subject by presenting a workshop about it. I’ve learned just as much about writing from teaching it as I have from doing it. Each time you teach, you improve as a writer. Workshops can also be an effective means of self-promotion. Attendees can get a sense of who you are, what your personality is like, and they’ll be interested in checking out your books. If the workshop venue allows you to sell books, some attendees will buy and ask you to sign them because they’ll want a memento of the workshop. If you present a workshop at a conference, it can provide networking opportunities and
