Need more convincing? Here are five reasons why registering for a workshop is the best plan for you:

1. You learn to appreciate constructive criticism. Sharing your work can often be intimidating. You’ve put your heart, soul, and imagination into it and you’re hesitant to endure any form of rejection. Well, here’s the thing: there is no such thing as rejection in our writing workshops. Everything you bring to the group will only be discussed in a way that aims to strengthen your writing.
2. Like your peers, you help others improve their work. In our workshops, you not only get the chance to receive feedback on your work, but you also get the chance to give it! This gives you the opportunity to interact with your peers as well as learn from their strengths and/or weaknesses. The harder you strive to help bring out the best in others, the stronger you become in turn.
3. You get to meet others who share your passion. Imperative qualities of a prosperous arts community are support, self-expression, and most of all, inspiration. The more that you interact with others who share your interests, the more you learn about the world around you. Your ability to write only goes as far as your understanding of the world stands, so by expanding your horizons and interacting with other unique and talented individuals, the more expansive your writing will become.
4. You discover your strengths. Sometimes it takes another person telling you something about yourself for you to believe it. In the writing workshops, you will not only learn new ways to strengthen your writing, but you also hear from your peers that qualities that make you a great writer. Confidence is the key to fully embracing your creative abilities and producing your best work.
5. You keep motivated. Sometimes motivation is all you need to make your best piece of work. The idea may be there, but that idea cannot come to fruition without the inspiration to continue plugging away at it. Our workshops don’t require that you come with completed pieces of work; you could bring your newest, unfinished idea, or perhaps the poem or passage that has been a creative roadblock for you.

The overarching goal of the TLCPL writing workshops is to provide you with the proper feedback, materials, and inspiration to keep pushing forward and producing wonderful creative pieces!

CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOPS

Sep. 1 | 6:00 p.m. | via Zoom

Sep. 15 | 6:00 p.m. | via Zoom

Sep. 29 | 6:00 p.m. | via Zoom

Oct. 13 | 6:00 p.m. | via Zoom

Oct. 27 | 6:00 p.m. | via Zoom

In these workshops, we will focus on the work of your latest creative writing endeavors. It is advised that you bring only 1-2 paragraphs of your work to ensure that everyone’s time is utilized fairly and efficiently.** In addition to sharing passages and receiving/providing feedback, the group will also take part in a short writing exercise to keep their creativity flowing.

**Given the length limitations, be sure to choose a passage that you feel proper feedback will benefit most!

POETRY WORKSHOPS

Sep. 8 | 6:00 p.m. | via Zoom

Sep. 22 | 6:00 p.m. | via Zoom

Oct. 6 | 6:00 p.m. | via Zoom

Oct. 20 | 6:00 p.m. | via Zoom

These select writing workshops will be centered around poetry and poetry writing. The workshop will give you the opportunity to share your poetry with your peers and the discussion will be built on constructive feedback that you can take with you and implement into your work. The workshop will also include exercises that focus on helping you think differently about diction and form. Come hopeful and leave motivated.

NOVEMBER ONLY – NaNoWriMo WORKSHOPS

Nov. 3 | 6:00 p.m. | via Zoom

Nov. 17 | 6:00 p.m. | via Zoom

Nov. 24 | 6:00 p.m. | via Zoom

The month of November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! In its purest form, NaNoWriMo is a challenge for writers (both seasoned and rookie) to write 50,000 words in only 30 days. The challenge has been proven to motivate writers toward becoming novelists, inspiring them to complete most (or all!) of the novel idea that they couldn’t bring themselves to complete before.

In our workshops, our plan is to help you achieve your goals, and even if we can’t be there to help you every step of the way in those 30 days, the workshop will serve as your sounding board to either help you get past a roadblock or provide feedback on your latest passage. We will spend the month setting goals, doing exercises, and providing you with the support to complete the novel that you always desired.** The same request stands here as it does for the above creative writing workshops: please bring 1-2 passages to read to your peers in order to make sure the workshop is used fairly.

**In order to properly set goals and keep your motivation strong, it is suggested that you register for the entire month of NaNoWriMo workshops!

Image courtesy of NaNoWriMo.

For more information on the programs offered at TLCPL, please visit the Toledo Library’s event calendar.