Creative Writing

Winter 2022 WRITING WORKSHOPS

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Registration closes 24 hours before start time or when workshop fills. No walk-ins, please.
Please read our workshop policies before registering.
Can't attend without a scholarship? Apply here.

May Workshops

The Power of Writing from the Senses

INSTRUCTOR: Andreana Binder
TIME: Saturday, May 21, 1–4 p.m. CDT
PRICE: Early bird price: $45 for members, $60 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Sunday, May 15. After Sunday, May 15: $55 for members, $70 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here.
LOCATION: Writespace, 1717 Michigan Street, Houston, TX, 77006 (map)
LEVEL: All Levels
CAP: 15

Feeling stuck on an existing project? Feeling writer's block, or that you would love to write more, but you don’t know where to begin? In this workshop, we will explore writing exercises inspired by one or more of the five senses: taste, scent, touch, sight, and sound. We’ll experiment with writing prompts based on fragrance, as well as visual and auditory prompts, to generate ideas for both new and ongoing projects. We’ll also explore how the senses are deeply linked with memory—for example, how scent can bring us back to a specific place, moment, or feeling—and how writing with the five senses helps us create concrete details that engage readers. Writers of all levels are welcome. All you need to bring is a willingness to enjoy your writing experience and your favorite writing tools (paper and pen or laptop).

Photo by Solstice Hannan on Unsplash

June Workshops

Introduction to Personal Essay and Memoir: Turning the Pen on Ourselves

INSTRUCTOR: Mark Dostert
TIME: Saturday, June 4, 1–4 p.m. CDT
PRICE: Early bird price: $45 for members, $60 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Sunday, May 29. After Sunday, May 29: $55 for members, $70 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here.
LOCATION: Writespace, 1717 Michigan Street, Houston, TX, 77006 (map)
LEVEL: All Levels
CAP: 10

Why should strangers care about me—my experiences, my thoughts, my feelings, my joys, my sorrows, my musings, and my confusions? They shouldn’t—unless we give them good reason to!

We engage deeply with memoirs and personal essays when they enable us to see and learn something new about ourselves and the larger human experience. Gifted memoirists and essayists take readers from the concrete details of their particular experiences to revelations of Universal Abstract truths of the human condition.

Accordingly, effective personal essay and memoir writing does not center itself in confession but rather in self-examination during times of trial and/or growth, all presented through engaging narrative arcs.

In this workshop, we will use mentor texts (both memoir and essay) to discover how these great essayists and memoirists employ the elements of point-of-view, imagery, diction, detail, and syntax to create juxtaposition, parallelism, allusion, tone, figurative language, and motif. All of this culminates in aesthetic pleasure and intellectual-emotional enlightenment, which is why we read in the first place, regardless of the essay’s subject matter.

Participants are encouraged to bring the opening one to five pages of a personal essay or book-length memoir for feedback according to the writing craft concepts introduced and discussed.

Photo by annazuc from Pixabay

Write a Winning Book Proposal

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Cynthia Childress
TIME: Sunday, June 5, 3–6 p.m. CDT
PRICE: Early bird price: $45 for members, $60 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Monday, May 30. After Monday, May 30: $55 for members, $70 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here.
LOCATION: Online via Zoom
LEVEL: All Levels
CAP: 15
Ever dip your toe into the publishing process? You find out pretty quickly that most traditional publishing deals start with a literary agent. Sometimes you can start that process with a query letter, but often they request a book proposal as well.

And every agent wants something slightly different, from chapter summaries to marketing plans, but they rarely tell you how long these documents should be or what to include exactly.

Maybe you have a proposal you're sending and just getting form rejections instead of invitations for meetings. What gives?

In this class, Cindy Childress, Ph. D. will share the client-proven book proposal writing strategy that will help you attract literary agents for your book and, ultimately, a book deal with a publisher who shares your vision. She'll share how to construct each section of your book proposal and even keep your submissions organized in the process. You'll learn how to think like a literary agent and reverse-engineer the publishing process to position your manuscript as a leading title.

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

Creating a Zine

INSTRUCTOR: Angélique Jamail
TIME: Thursdays, June 9, 16, 23, 30, 6:30–8:30 p.m. CDT
PRICE: Early bird price: $150 for members, $180 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Friday, June 3. After Friday, June 3: $180 for members, $210 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here.
LOCATION: Writespace, 1717 Michigan Street, Houston, TX, 77006 (map)
LEVEL: All Levels
CAP: 15

This class is appropriate for all skill levels. Attendees will have an opportunity to participate in Zine Fest Houston, a welcoming mainstay of the zine community, in November.

Have you been looking for a way to share your short writings, including ones you’ve created in other Writespace workshops? The subversive, underground art form of the “zine” (short for fanzine) has been the literary world’s best-kept secret for nearly a century. From its roots in science-fiction and fantasy to its established presence in the modern world as a place for art, poetry, and politics, these informal magazines are the ultimate adventure in self-publishing. And best of all, zines are for everyone, every interest, every ability level, and every subject! You don’t have to be a great or experienced artist.

Come explore the wide and diverse world of zines through creative writing, art, and craft with award-winning published author Angélique Jamail, the creator of the popular zine Sonic Chihuahua. In this course, you will create your own zine filled with whatever your imagination will allow!

Photo by Aeryk Pierson on Glass

The Mythical Muse: All Genre Generative

INSTRUCTOR: Kendra Preston Leonard
TIME: Saturday, June 11, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CDT
PRICE: Early bird price: $45 for members, $55 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Sunday, June 5. After Sunday, June 5: $60 for members, $70 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here.
LOCATION: Online via Zoom
LEVEL: All Levels
CAP: 15

Have you ever wanted to write about Loki, the trickster of the Norse gods? Are you enthralled with the story of Persephone and her experience of living in two worlds? Do you want to take a peek inside Baba Yaga’s chicken-leg house?

In this course, we will explore ways of writing with ancient and modern myths, creating and developing mythical characters, settings, and plots for our writing, and respectfully using myths from cultures that are not our own. Led by poet Kendra Leonard, whose work often draws on the myths of ancient Greece and other mythic materials, participants will learn how to research myths for inspiration, relocate mythic figures to different times and places, and develop frameworks for thinking about how myth resonates with or is in opposition to our own outlooks and values.

We will have ample time for in-class writing, ranging from free-writing and brainstorming exercises, to writing about characters from myth, to incorporating myth into poetry, stories, and other genres.

Feel free to bring a work in progress or start a brand new piece of writing as part of this seminar.

Photo by aisvri on Unsplash

Mini Master’s in Kid Lit

INSTRUCTOR: Kate Pentacost
TIME: Saturday, June 11, 1–4 p.m. CDT
PRICE: Early bird price: $45 for members, $55 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Sunday, June 5. After Sunday, June 5: $60 for members, $70 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here.
LOCATION: Online via Zoom
LEVEL: All Levels
CAP: 15

Good for both pantsers and plotters, this flexible workshop is a crash course in everything kid lit. We will focus on craft issues like how to tell what age group you're writing for, how to distinguish what your character's true motivations (quiet yearning vs. loud yearning), how to deepen characterization, and industry issues, like how to write a query letter or synopsis, tips for submissions, what to expect in your journey to publication, and how to work with sensitivity readers. Let young adult author and VCFA Writing for Children and Young Adults Program Assistant Kate Pentecost (Elysium Girls, That Dark Infinity) award you your Mini MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Photo by Tumisu on Pixabay

Reading Like a Writer

INSTRUCTOR: Patrick Stockwell
TIME: Saturday, June 25, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CDT
PRICE: Early bird price: $45 for members, $60 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Sunday, June 19. After Sunday, June 19: $55 for members, $70 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here.
LOCATION: Online via Zoom
LEVEL: All Levels
CAP: 15

In this one day examination of short fiction, we’ll perform close readings of two classic stories, one maximalist from Tim O’Brien, and one minimalist by Raymond Carver. Our conversation will focus on the strategies each author employs to reveal character and to develop the shape of a story by making every sentence count. Students will conduct their own readings of the work before class meets so that we can get right to our analysis.

Photo by Jaredd Craig on Unsplash

Midyear Writer Check Up and Check In

INSTRUCTOR: Joyce Boatright
TIME: Saturday, June 25, 1–4 p.m. CDT
PRICE: Early bird price: $45 for members, $60 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Sunday, June 19. After Sunday, June 19: $55 for members, $70 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here.
LOCATION: Writespace, 1717 Michigan Street, Houston, TX, 77006 (map)
LEVEL: All Levels
CAP: 15

We’re halfway through the year. How are you feeling? Is it getting harder to prioritize your writing? How is your motivation? If you’re like most, your resolutions have flagged, if they haven’t already fallen down. We have more than just writing to deal with in our lives, but how do we keep our writing a priority while trying to have a good work/life balance and practicing healthy self-care and . . . ?

The good news is you don’t have to do this alone! Let’s take stock of our writing lives after six months of resolution keeping (or not) and plan some strategies for the remainder of 2022. We will examine our internal stories to see how they affect our motivation and plan for self-care and community. Hint: If you’re in this class, you’re halfway there!

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Poetry: Members-Only First Page Feedback Session

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Cynthia Childress
TIME: Sunday, June 26, 3–6 p.m. CDT
PRICE: Early bird price: $45 for members. The deadline for early bird pricing is Monday, June 20. After Sunday, June 20: $55 for members. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here.
LOCATION: Online via Zoom
LEVEL: All Levels
CAP: 8

Are you a poet who has wondered what a critique from a professional editor is like? Do you wish you could have an editor’s support and feedback, but you don’t feel ready to incur the cost? Or are you just starting out and would like to know what’s important to keep in mind as you begin to write poetry?

In this three-hour workshop we will embark upon a fast, fun, and in-depth adventure in which we explore the fundamentals and subtleties of dozens of craft elements essential to composing great poetry. By the end of our session, attending poets will have attained greater clarity about what questions good writers ask as they work, as well as a clearer sense of what editors and agents look for when they receive a submission.

Also, each poet will be assigned an exercise or prompt customized to the page we critiqued and designed to vitalize both the specific work and the writer’s development.

Please have one page of a poem ready to share electronically with the group and the instructor for review.

Photo by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay