Overview
Group coaching and accountability takes the daunting task of setting goals for ourselves and makes it a group activity—with deadlines! Because we are all in this together, it becomes a community effort to hold each other up. We meet eight times, giving writers seven (discounting that first intro meeting) opportunities to set goals with hard deadlines.

What happens during a meeting?
Each meeting will start with us going around and discussing our writing progress. Did we meet our goals? If not, what stopped us? If possible, the group can offer resources to help a writer to get over a block. We’ll finish each session by committing to personal writing/publishing goals for the next two weeks (the time between meetings).

Do I need to have a completed short story or novel to participate?
Nope. Your goals are your own. Some writers may participate because they want to start a new story or novel. Others may be in the middle and struggling to wrap up. Some may be revising, while others may be taking the steps toward publishing. We’re all here for different reasons, with one common one: to support one another and old each other accountable to ourselves.

What if I miss a session?
Accountability groups are all about committing to your writing goals, so it’s important that you do your best to hold this time for yourself and your fellow writers. If you find yourself unable to attend, you are still expected to set and work toward your goals.

Overview
A writers’ workshop places your work and the work of the other writers at the center of our learning and discussion.

Each participant submits a piece of their writing for others to read and respond to. We then come together as a group to discuss each piece, focusing on what is working and what could be improved upon.

Through these discussions, we come to better understand what our readers expect from our works, how to consider and take feedback, and how we might revise future drafts or move forward in our longer project.

What happens during a meeting?
Each meeting will start with a writing prompt or brief craft chat. Then we’ll have two workshopping sessions of about 45-minutes each. Each participant will be able to have one or two pieces workshopped per 4-week course. (Number depends on how many writers sign up.)

Do I need to have a completed short story or novel to participate?
Nope, you’ll be workshopping a piece that’s no more than 3,000 words.

What type of writing should I submit?
You’ll be sharing a work-in-progress on which you’re hoping to receive reader perceptions, suggestions, and other feedback. Think second-ish draft (first being the one you revise yourself before anyone else sees it!).

It may be a short story or an excerpt from a longer work of fiction, such as a chapter or two. It doesn’t need to be finished but it should be complete, meaning that your fellow writers will be able to read through a clean piece of writing with no gaps or missing information.

Do I have to share it in advance?
You should be prepared to share your piece 1 to 2 weeks before you’re scheduled to be workshopped. This is to give your fellow writers time to read and respond thoughtfully to your work. Before our first meeting, I’ll email the group to ask for two volunteers who would be willing to submit their work ahead of the workshop start so that we have work to go over in Week 1.

I’m a newbie. Do I belong here?
Writing workshops can be beneficial to new and experienced writers. We all have something new to bring to the table. I do encourage new writers to focus on developing their ability to provide and receive constructive criticism, as this will benefit them moving forward.

What if I miss a session?
Workshops are about giving feedback as much as they are about getting feedback, so it’s important that you do your best to hold this time for yourself and your fellow writers. If you find yourself unable to attend, you are still expected to read and respond to the work of the writers being workshopped during the session you miss.

That depends on the type of event/group you join! In many cases, no—the idea is to generate ideas and inspiration in a calm environment with fellow writers.

In the fiction workshop, however, each participant is expected to submit a short story or excerpt from a longer piece of fiction to be critiqued by the rest of the participants.

Sessions will be held on Google Meet. Users with accessibility needs should be able to access Google add-ons and enjoy a pleasant conversation. If you need closed captioning, please let me know ahead of time so I can ensure it’s toggled on for you.

Read more about Google Meet’s accessibility features.

Writers’ groups, workshops, and events are intended to be safe environments for writers in which to build community, find inspiration, and in the case of workshops, to welcome critiques. It is important that everyone involved be kind, respectful, and helpful.

Please familiarize yourself with the In the Margins Groups & Events Code of Conduct.

All sales are non-refundable except in circumstances as outlined below.

If a group or event is rescheduled, all registration fees will be honored for the next scheduled group or event date. If you cannot attend the rescheduled group or event, you may transfer your registration to another person.

If a group or event is cancelled and will not be offered again, you may apply the registration fee to a group or event of equal or greater value. If there is not another group or event of equal value that you wish to join, you will receive a full refund to the payment method used to register.