Writing Workshops
The Writer’s Center offers hundreds of writing workshops and classes every year. Workshops cover all genres and all experience levels. Join us in person and online.
Events
Even a well-crafted story can fail to resonate with readers if it lacks emotional impact. The key is…
This workshop will help you understand the process of writing a novel so you can get started putting pen to paper. The workshop will focus on everything from generating ideas […]
One of the most challenging fiction techniques is perspective. A wandering Point of View confuses re…
As writers, it’s vital that we nurture our creativity through self-care so we can work with our natu…
Bethesda, MD 20815 United States
Jumpstart your fiction or literary nonfiction with a focus on important parts and objects of your li…
Make the rhythm of your poetry run, skip, and dance! We’ll learn the fundamentals of repeating rhyth…
Inspired by Jehanne Dubrow’s craft book, The Wounded Line: A Guide to Writing Poems of Trauma, this …
Meet Lacey N. Dunham, instructor for our Novel Overhauler workshop, and have all your questions about the program answered! The Writer’s Center staff will be on hand, too, to address any […]
In this workshop you’ll discover over 30 practical, budget-friendly book marketing strategies, from …
This workshop invites poets to excavate the foundations of English-language poetry — from Old Englis…
Discover how a single moment can hold an entire world: write bold, luminous flash fiction in this fl…
Whether you are an organized planner or a writer who flies by the seat of their pants, a novel still…
You may think you don’t have the time, energy, or inspiration to write because of your hectic lifest…
Find your creativity with fun exercises in poetry, memoir, and fiction. You’ll take home two origina…
In this multi-week writing workshop, writers will be immersed in a safe space to experiment, fail, a…
In this generative workshop, we’ll explore very short prose forms, focusing on flash fiction, prose …
Learn how to pack a powerful punch when writing persuasively! This four-week workshop covers the pro…
Bethesda, MD 20815 United States
This course is designed to help young adult writers shape those pages into an unputdownable introduc…
Memory is rarely objective truth, but it tells an important story that affects our identities and th…
Write your life story as you lived it, one moment at a time. This interactive workshop teaches write…
Every character in your story has a past. The events that occurred in a character’s life before they…
Bethesda, MD 20815 United States
This generative poetry workshop begins with a grounding exercise that prepares participants to begin…
Take your dialogue to the next level with this online three-week intensive course. Good dialogue doe…
Bethesda, MD 20815 United States
Spend an evening learning about and practicing the art of public speaking. This in-person coaching s…
Personal essays are perhaps the genre that has the largest array of publication possibilities—litera…
Bethesda, MD 20815 United States
This workshop introduces the writing salon as both a format and a practice, offering writers the liv…
This workshop will offer a practical plan that takes you from the mere germ of an idea all the way t…
Ready to write that novel or memoir? Or have you started a large writing project and need some sound…
Write about mental health with intention. Along with general guidelines, examples from popular media…
In this generative poetry course, we will immerse ourselves in the landscape of contemporary poetry …
Even the most disciplined writers encounter creative stalls, moments when the page feels resistant a…
These days, writers increasingly are expected to be their own best publicists, which can be a challe…
Stuck on where to take your short story or novel? Bored of the typical workshop critique format? In …
Learn how to recognize a premise, extract the humor, and hone it into a stand-up act or funny story….
An introduction to narrative writing and experimentation through historical research. Learn how to w…
Through focused discussion and practical examples, participants will learn how to assess readiness, …
Bethesda, MD 20815 United States
This generative workshop invites writers to explore what becomes visible when we write toward the li…
Writing a novel takes commitment, but it doesn’t need to be daunting. Learn how to generate a handfu…
Some of your favorite poems may be villanelles, whether or not you know the form. Guided by an inter…
Whether you are crafting an essay or writing a memoir, the tools of fiction can bring depth and susp…
Writing poems is discovery on paper, and good poems surprise and delight the poet as much as anyone….
This six-week interactive class is designed to give you the skills to write rich descriptive sentenc…
Bethesda, MD 20815 United States
This workshop studies how poems can respond to paintings, photographs, monuments, advertisements, fi…
In this 10-week intermediate to advanced workshop, writers will complete a feature-length screenplay…
Are you serious about writing a novel but struggling? This intermediate course will examine the eigh…
Where do you begin your life story and how do you guarantee it is interesting to others? With ten cr…
Strengthening the conflict in any type of fiction will bump up the tension and turn limp, ordinary f…
This workshop will cover how to research prospective funders, the elements of a good proposal, and h…
We will read and then write poems and stories starting from close observation of our day, from wakin…
Bethesda, MD 20815 United States
Prompts will spark memories, characters, and places, turning them into poems, scenes, dialogues, and…
In this workshop, you’ll learn how to craft a winning podcast pitch, get booked on the right shows, …
What if the most powerful story you ever write is also the shortest? In this workshop, we’ll explore…
Revise your novel in 6 months! Have you written a novel but don’t know where to begin revising? Or maybe you’re feeling stuck in the middle of drafting your novel […]
Writing can be both a creative act and a path toward healing. In this workshop, we’ll explore the pr…
Become the next David Lynch — apply dream logic to your fiction, poetry, and hybrid work. Participa…
Deep reading and insightful questions are the hallmarks of this course. If you have previous worksho…
You have a great idea for a story. Do you dive in and just begin writing, or start by drafting an ou…
Discover the core steps of self-publishing from a 40-time bestselling author. Explore editing, writi…
Bethesda, MD 20815 United States
When Mary Oliver tells us to let the soft animal of love what love, we know exac…
Do you ever think to yourself: “Why is it so hard to get my ideas out of my head and onto the page?”…
This class offers the key concepts of plotting and pacing while delving into different genres. Begin…
This one-day, generative workshop will help you brainstorm a heist story, explore how heists immerse…
Build your literary muscles by practicing a mix of five contemporary and traditional forms: sonnets,…
Do you have a finished draft of a novel but don’t know what to do next? This workshop will take you …
In the Persona Poem, or Dramatic Monologue, the poet writes in the voice of another real or imagined…
Writers will explore how honesty and vulnerability can strengthen personal narrative. Through guided…
When the first draft is complete, the real work begins. You should not be your only editor, but you …
What does it mean to write from a wound? What does it mean to write from a scar? There are readers o…
Lead with the future — not background — for lead-ership, especially in a crisis. That’s the most imp…
Bethesda, MD 20815 United States
Our poetic inspirations are a kind of chosen family. In this workshop, we will explore the ways we c…
Your query letter is your first introduction to a potential agent–which is to say, your first intro…
To explore some of the fine points of meter, we will examine how metrical patterns can vary between …
This craft talk and generative workshop examines how absence, memory, and longing operate in fiction…