I’m in the midst of organising the second annual Summer Writing Institute for BQFP, the publishing company where I work. This year we are expanding to five tracks: fiction, personal essay, poetry and for the first time, Arabic language workshops in fiction and essay as well.
It’s our last event before the summer and also the perhaps the one I’m most excited about because of how much my own writing life has benefited from attending similar experiences in the past.
The summer can be a fortuitous time to focus on your writing if you are able to plan ahead. Writers’ retreats and conferences the world over take advantage of the slower pace in most offices to offer workshops, residences, and other opportunities for writers to gather and work on their craft.
We’ve talked about the importance of working on your writing alone – the discipline of showing up regularly to get out the words – and also the value of writing in groups where people can give and receive feedback. This post covers the benefits or participating in a conference, masterclass, or other intensive training, led by an experienced facilitator. While some of these are expensive or quite a distance to travel, investigating what might be offered can be a worthwhile investment.
The first time I went to a summer residency, it was a week-long course that met mostly in the mornings and focused on generating new material. I was getting married three months later, so while the course included voluntary afternoon sessions to write and share material, I spent that time picking out invitations and attending a bridal shower. Needless to say, despite staying onsite with the other participants, we rarely had time for discussions as I was rushing in and out.
One conversation I did manage to have, late at night, and that lasted for about 15 minutes was with the programme organiser. She was really interested in the work I was doing and we agreed to keep in touch. Amazingly, this is the person with whom I would later co-edit three collections of essays and offer four day-long workshops.
The second time I attended a residency, it was to participate in a novel-writing masterclass with an established published author. This time I went with the full intention to take part in all the extras and to focus on my writing for an entire week. Though I never previously had qualms about sharing my work with others, the moment I put my manuscript into the mail to the six strangers who would also be attending, I felt a few moments of panic.
We spent the week with a different day devoted to each manuscript and then also with an individual meeting with the facilitator. From this experience I had three women with whom I exchanged regular notes of encouragement to keep writing, offers to link to one another’s websites, publicise book releases, and read drafts of manuscripts – all online (they were in various states in America and I was in the Middle East).
From last year’s week-long course, such camaraderie developed that for six months afterwards participants met monthly in people’s homes to read out new material and brainstorm ideas. What you can get out of a residency is a bit like life: What you put into the time you are there will directly determine how much your writing may benefit and you as a writer develop.
Best wishes,
(Reading & Writing Development Director)
Just so you can find them easily, Mohana's 4th post in the series is this one:
Rule 4: Quality not Quantity
There are links to the earlier 3 posts in its opening paragraph.
Best wishes, Claire
Mohana,
There are advantages to group writing and writing alone. Since you have experience in both, perhaps you can detail their advantages and disadvantages in a future post. In my opinion, an environment of ideal literary creativity should include both.
Xean
3/8/2010