Marg McAlister

Attending a writers' workshop can be a tremendous buzz.

Just one day in the company of other writers can give you insights into your craft, new techniques to try, a slew of ideas for your plot, a warm sense of fellowship... and above all, renewed enthusiasm for your writing.

However, it's not always possible to find a workshop that's right for you. The one you'd like to go to might be too far away, or too expensive. It might be for the wrong genre or pitched at the wrong level.

Luckily, there's a way out of this. You may not ever have thought of hosting your own writers' workshop, but it's a great way to touch base with other writers and learn at the same time. As long as you have an internet connection, distance need not be a problem, either. Your workshop can be online or offline. 

To host your own workshop, you need to know at least one other writer who'd like to join you. If you haven't run a workshop before, I'd suggest keeping the numbers to no more than six the first time. That gives you all plenty of time to look at each other's work and offer feedback.

The following suggestions are relevant to both online and offline workshops.

1. Decide on a workable date for your workshop; a time that is convenient to as many people as possible. (If there are only two of you, this is easy. The larger the group, the harder it can be to find a suitable time.) Put aside a whole day if possible, so you can break for lunch and make it a social event too. Make it at least a full morning or afternoon. 
   
   
2. Confirm the attendees. Create a list of names, phone numbers and/or email addresses. 
   
   
3. Decide on the theme for your workshop. If you all write in the same genre (e.g. mystery, romance, junior fiction, non-fiction self-help) then you can make it genre-specific (e.g. creating clues in a mystery novel; writing a scene based on police procedure; writing a non-fiction proposal.) You might decide to base your workshop on a certain element of technique - for example, writing believable dialogue, or writing description. You might decide to make it a fun day with a dozen different short writing exercises. It's entirely up to you.
   
   
4. Decide on the venue. Someone's house? A room in a club or a hall? At your computer desk using Skype, email or chat windows?
   
   
5. Decide on the timetable. Make sure everyone knows when, where, how, and what. If you're meeting at a physical location, arrange to meet half an hour before you want to start your writing activities. If you're meeting online, you might want to all log into a forum or chat room at the same time, or join in a Skype call.
   
   
6. Decide on the structure. If you're doing writing exercises, set a time limit for the completion of each one. Allow time for feedback/discussion before going on to the next. If you're working on technique, circulate relevant articles ahead of time, and allow time for an upfront discussion of what you want to achieve. Then set a period of time to work on a scene before you all read out your work (or circulate them via email), and allow each person time to give feedback.
   
   
7. Decide who is responsible for what. Are you having one group leader? (That might be you, if you've organised the workshop.) Or will you assign a different person to lead each writing activity? If you're meeting in a physical location, is someone providing morning/afternoon tea or lunch? Are you all bringing a plate or are you all contributing to the cost of pizza? Who will be the timekeeper (both online or offline)?
   
   
8. Leave time at the end to discuss the outcomes of the workshop and where you want to go from here. You can put forward suggestions for further workshops based on the work you've done that day, or different activities for another time. Also discuss what worked well and what (if anything) didn't go so smoothly.
   

TOP TIPS FOR WORKSHOPS

• Have a fun warm-up writing activity prepared: this will get your brain into gear and provide a non-threatening start. (Yes, some writers do feel threatened by the idea putting their writing on show!)
  
  
• Keep it casual. (If your workshop is in a private home, and the host has to do too much preparation, it's not fun anymore!)
  
  
• If it's your first workshop, don't cram too much into the session. Focus on making it so much fun and so inspiring that everyone will want to come back for more.
  
  
• If you're all critiquing work, make sure everyone has their own copy of whatever is being critiqued - ahead of time, if it's not a workshop exercise.
  
  
• Keep it inexpensive - UNLESS you've all decided to give yourself a treat of a weekend workshop at a hotel/resort to spoil yourselves!
  
  
• If you plan to hold regular workshops, expand your group gradually. It's best to start with people you know (and presumably people you get along with!) You want everyone concerned to feel happy about who's in the group.
  
  
• If you are interested in organising an online workshop, and you don't yet know how Skype works, spend some time finding out about it. With an inexpensive set of headphones and a broadband internet connection, you can all talk in real time and use a chat screen as well.A good technique for an online workshop is to set up a phone conference at the beginning, then log off to do the exercises or read work, and log back on to discuss it or offer feedback.
  
  
• If you've got a couple of night owls, or writers who find it difficult to get away from family, a midnight workshop might work for you. You can do this online or offline. (Those of you who are keen scrapbookers will know about 'Midnight Crop' Sessions, where participants work through the night. What works for scrapbooking can work for writers!)

copyright Marg McAlister 2009