Prose workshop

Guidelines

The Prose Workshop was intended for writers who want to develop their short fiction or non-fiction. The emphasis of the workshop was shaping and revising short prose pieces for magazine publication. Two discussion groups - five writers and one mentor - ran simultaneously, allowing writers to participate in parallel discussions on writing and revising the short story. Participants were able to see both groups in the Discussion Boards area. These workshop groups continued for five weeks, with a sixth week of writing and reflection followed by a seventh week of general discussion. The two mentors and ten participants who took part are listed below, along with the workshop coordinators.

One piece of writing was submitted and discussed each week. Stories were 2,000-2,500 words in length and accompanied by a 100 words of notes or bullet-points explaining the writer’s long-term intentions for the piece and problematic areas they would like to have addressed in the workshop. The four writers who had not submitted during a given week were responsible for writing a critique of 400-600 words. The moderator did not critique extensively, but commented briefly, read the piece and the critiques and guided the discussion. There was a lot of cross-talk between participants and the moderator was responsible for provoking debate and broadening the themes of the developing conversation.

Schedule

Weeks 1-5 Each writer took it in turn each week to post a story. The remaining four writers critique and discuss.

Week 6 No Posts. All writers revised their work.

Week 7 Writers posted their revised stories and a general discussion of the work ensued.

There was no discussion during the sixth week. Instead, the writers focused on using the critique and discussion to re-work their writing. At the end of the week, the revised pieces were posted up in the workshop once more, where they were more generally discussed and commented on. This in-site 'publication' was accompanied by 250-300 words of reflection on how the online workshop process helped them develop their writing and discussion skills.

Please click here to download these notes.