Black Friday Sale! Use code BlackFriday to get 25% off any workshop
(11/25-11/29)
Writespace Fantasy Book Ball: December 14th, 7:00pm, Sabine Street Studios
Step into a realm where the stories leap off the pages, and the magic of books fills the air. We invite you to join us for an evening of spellbinding enchantment at the Writespace Fantasy Book Ball, a gala designed for readers, dreamers, and lovers of the fantastical. This is your chance to mingle with fellow bibliophiles dressed as characters from beloved fantasy novels or adorned in your most magical attire.
CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOPS
READ ME:
- Writespace has in person and online workshops available. See individual workshop listings for details.
- Join as a member for just $60/year for discounts, free events, and other perks.
- Tickets must be purchased online via Eventbrite.
- Please read our workshop policies before registering.
- Can't attend without a scholarship? Apply here.
- Need tech support for your class? Check out our Tech Support page. If your question isn't answered, contact us.
December Workshops
Writing About Nature
|
INSTRUCTOR: Kendra Preston Leonard TIME: Saturday, December 7, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CST PRICE: Early bird price: $45 for members, $60 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Sunday, December 1. After Sunday, December 1: $55 for members, $70 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here LOCATION: Online via Zoom LEVEL: All levels
CAP: 15 Do you love reading and writing about the natural world? Did you read Vesper Flights or Braiding Sweetgrass and think, I want to do writing like that? In this workshop we’ll explore writing about nature, from insects to supernovas and koalas to oak trees. We’ll discuss how nature writing works in a wide range of genres, from non-fiction to romance to mysteries and speculative fiction and poetry. Our writing exercises will focus on observation and detail, making connections between nature and personal experiences, what it means to be honest in writing about the natural world, and how to develop a unique voice in writing about nature. Open to writers of all genres and experience levels, this Gentle Generative workshop offers a welcoming and supportive space in which to practice writing and share writing thoughts. |
|
Getting Short Fiction and Poetry Published
|
INSTRUCTOR: Sean Morrissey Carroll
TIME: Saturday, December 7, 1-4 p.m. CST PRICE: Early bird price: $45 for members, $60 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Sunday, December 1. After Sunday, December 1: $55 for members, $70 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here LOCATION: Writespace 1907 Sabine Street #125 Houston, TX 77007 LEVEL: All levels CAP: 15 Workshop will include twelve lessons on popular sites for submissions, strategies for getting yourself noticed, uncommon avenues for publication, and alternatives to traditional submissions. Lessons will include Optimizing Submittable, Moksha secrets, Chills Subs and expanding your search, Indie Publications and writing a cover letter, Local Publications and Opportunities, Why Try International Publications, Repubbing Your Fiction, Submissions outside your Genre, Why Personal Essays and Creative Non-fiction are for Everyone, Becoming a Regular Contributor, Slush Pile Volunteering to build your Craft, and Creating your own Publication. Led by Sean Morrissey Carroll, author, editor, and Programmig Coordinator for Writespace! |
|
I have a First Draft, Now What?
|
INSTRUCTOR: Jessica Raney
TIME: Sunday, December 8, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CST PRICE: Early bird price: $45 for members, $60 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Monday December 2. After Monday, December 2: $55 for members, $70 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here. LOCATION: Writespace, 1907 Sabine Street, #125, Houston, TX 77007 (map) LEVEL: All levels CAP: 15 You written a draft or won NaNoWrimo! Great! Now what? Taking your novel from 50,000 words to First Draft can be challenging. This class will give you tips and strategies to turn your manuscript into a working draft and beyond. Participants will learn how to shape-up their project, do a basic outline and match it to story beats, and make an action plan for the project. We'll hear from working editors and agents in interviews, and learn what piques their interest and we'll even have a go at the first page of your draft, workshopping together. At the end of the session, each writer will have an action plan to move forward with their work. Jessica Raney is the author of ten books, including seven novels and three short story collections. She is both self-published and small-press published and she works across the fantasy and horror genres. |
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
|
Zinemaking with Ganzeer
|
INSTRUCTOR: Ganzeer
TIME: Sunday, December 15, 1-4 p.m. CST PRICE: Early bird price: $45 for members, $60 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Monday, December 9. After Monday, December 9: $55 for members, $70 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here. LOCATION: Writespace, 1907 Sabine Street, #125, Houston, TX 77007 (map) LEVEL: All levels CAP: 15 Join us for a one day workshop with Zinefest Houston's featured artist for 2024! Ganzeer is an internationally renown artist who will lead students through a generative workshop meant to give you the tools to conceptualize and create your own artistic and literary zine. Bring your words and art materials--and your whimsy! With over 40 exhibitions to his name, Ganzeer’s visual art has been seen in a wide variety of galleries, impromptu spaces, alleyways, and major museums around the world such as The Brooklyn Museum in New York, The Palace of the Arts in Cairo, and the V&A in London. His fiction has been published by Temple University Press, Vintage, and MIT Press, and his design work has been utilized by clients from a wide range of fields, such as music, enertainment, and publishing. He is also a regular speaker at universities and college campuses, often lecturing about the use of art as a tool of dissent and resisting oppression. Ganzeer’s current major project is a serialized graphic novel titled THE SOLAR GRID, an epic work-in-progress that won the Society of Illustrators’ MoCCA Award of Excellence in 2023 and awarded Ganzeer the Global Thinker Award from Foreign Policy in 2016. He has been an artist-in-residence in Germany, Poland, Jordan, Holland, Hawaii, and Finland, and has lived extensively in Cairo, New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and finally Houston—where he is currently based. |
Photo via Ganzeer
|
January Workshops
February Workshops
Workshop Bundles
Pace Yourself (Independent Study Online)
READ ME:
- Please note that Pace Yourself workshops are entirely independent. The instructor will not be reviewing work or giving feedback.
- A Discord community will be available for those who have taken the workshop and wish to interact with other writers.
- Please contact us with any questions at [email protected]
Haven't had the time or the right schedule to take a Writespace workshop but still want to delve into the craft of writing?
We've got you covered!
Writespace is building a library of independent study workshops through Wet Ink, an online learning platform designed for writers and writing classes. Whether you have a few hours on a weeknight or only an hour at lunch, these workshops are designed for those of us who just can't get to a three-hour class on Saturday or attend the six-week workshop on Tuesday nights but still want to hone their writing craft. Pace Yourself classes will give writers instruction while also providing an opportunity to interact with guided prompts in order to help build a solid body of work.
When you purchase a Pace Yourself workshop, you will receive an invitation to Wet Ink to access the workshop. You are free to complete the content and exercises entirely at your own pace. There's no class time and no deadlines. It's only you and the work of writing!
We've got you covered!
Writespace is building a library of independent study workshops through Wet Ink, an online learning platform designed for writers and writing classes. Whether you have a few hours on a weeknight or only an hour at lunch, these workshops are designed for those of us who just can't get to a three-hour class on Saturday or attend the six-week workshop on Tuesday nights but still want to hone their writing craft. Pace Yourself classes will give writers instruction while also providing an opportunity to interact with guided prompts in order to help build a solid body of work.
When you purchase a Pace Yourself workshop, you will receive an invitation to Wet Ink to access the workshop. You are free to complete the content and exercises entirely at your own pace. There's no class time and no deadlines. It's only you and the work of writing!
Introduction to Creative Writing
|
INSTRUCTOR: Cassandra Rose Clarke
PRICE: Members $115; Nonmembers $140 LOCATION: Online via Wet Ink LEVEL: Beginners This workshop will take writers through a crash course in the three main genres of creative writing. In Fiction, you'll cover the basics of fiction (setting, character, and plot) as well the process of actually writing a story. In Creative Nonfiction, you'll look at journaling as inspiration and discuss the ins and outs of telling (mostly) true stories. And finally, in Poetry, you'll look at poetry as play, as well as spend a bit of time talking about rhyme, meter, and other poetic devices. Each genre is divided into lessons which include fundamentals, readings, and exercises to give you a solid foundation of creative writing essentials. |
|
Fiction
|
INSTRUCTOR: Cassandra Rose Clarke
PRICE: Members $115; Nonmembers $140 LOCATION: Online via Wet Ink LEVEL: Beginners Ready to dive into fiction? This workshop will take you through the elements of writing fiction from character to setting to structure to the ins and outs of publishing your masterpiece. Each element of fiction is divided into lessons which include fundamentals, readings, and exercises to give you a solid foundation in writing fiction. |
Photo by Stephen Phillips - Hostreviews.co.uk on Unsplash
|
Write Practice Subscriptions
READ ME:
- Write Practice subscriptions are not a workshop and not a class!
- A Write Practice subscription is a commitment to show up for your writing.
- A Write Practice subscription is a weekly date with an instructor and your community to cultivate your creative practice
- Please contact us with any questions at [email protected]
Want to make good habits and make progress? Want to find your writing community and find your guide? Look no further than a Write Practice subscription. These monthly subscriptions will keep you writing and help you troubleshoot your work in progress as you're writing!
Happy Hour with Angélique Jamail
|
INSTRUCTOR: Angélique Jamail
PRICE: $60 per month TIME: Mondays, 6:30-7:30 p.m. LOCATION: Online via Zoom LEVEL: All levels You’re already a writer. You’ve got a manuscript of some kind you’re trying to get down on paper, but finding the time to do it in this modern life is a challenge. Or maybe you know you want to write something, but you keep getting stuck. False starts, mushy middles, and fade-outs dominate your manuscript, preventing you from making the progress you want. Do these dilemmas sound familiar? Most of us go through them at some point or another, but maybe we don’t have to. Join master teacher Angélique Jamail for a Creative Writing Happy Hour once a week to trouble-shoot whatever you’re working on and get some writing in. This is not a workshop. It’s not a class. There’s no specific homework. You won’t be given prompts (unless you ask for one) and won’t have to produce anything for formal critique. Just show up with your writing, your questions, and whatever snack or beverage you want for a one-hour Zoom session to start your week off with a creative, nurturing vibe. Each session will adhere to a basic structure:
You’ll be amazed by how much writing you can accomplish in 20 focused minutes! |
Photo by Elise Coates on Unsplash
|
The Amherst Way with Jessica Cole
|
INSTRUCTOR: Jessica Cole
TIME: Tuesdays, 6:30–8:00 p.m. CST PRICE: $100 per month LOCATION: Online via Zoom LEVEL: All levels Whether you’ve never taken a writing class before and want a safe and engaging space to begin, or you want to jumpstart a stalled project, troubleshoot with a trusted group working toward similar goals, be a part of a writing community, and/or co-create a writing practice with baked-in accountability, this class is for you. Too often, we try to make 180-degree changes. But even the smallest change in direction results in an entirely new destination. That is why this class—bedrocked by the Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) method—is so effective: it supports us showing up for ourselves in small, sustainable ways as habits that result in big payoffs. For those of you who have taken the class before, we’ve incorporated your feedback and upgraded it! Like a gym membership, we’ve expanded to a subscription designed to keep us accountable to our goals and consistently part of a supportive community. Inspired by a yearlong AWA course in which instructor Jessica Cole drafted a memoir, subscriptions can be used to begin chipping away at a book-length project by adding written pieces to it every week. We will share insights and troubleshoot issues that arise. You will get help sequencing and making connections in longer pieces from an instructor and group who are growing together. At any point in your writing journey, you’ll be privy to publishing advice and answers to questions about the literary ecosystem from your instructor, the co-founder of a local indie press. Once a week, we'll gather over Zoom. Short craft lessons will be woven in, but the bulk of the class revolves around timed writing prompts as kick-starts. We only offer feedback to each other about what's working in each piece. The point here is to get out of our own ways, sidestep our perfectionist tendencies, get a quick shot of positive feedback, and keep going. The doing is the thing, and the doing of things is easier together. |
Photo by Håkon Grimstad on Unsplash
|
