Writers' Workshop
The Workshop is a private for-members-only area where participants can hone their writing skills, flex their writing muscles, and dabble in writing experiments. Admittance to the Workshop is free to SinC-IC members, but you must be a member of the chapter to join.
The Workshop can serve many purposes depending on your needs, but has the flexibility to focus on whatever members want to focus on -- weekly writing exercises, critiques, discussions of writing issues, Book in a Week challenges, help with problem areas, Question and Answer sessions, and so on. Level of skill does not matter; writers who are published, pre-published, or newbies can all contribute and learn from the experience.
What's at the Workshop?
One of the main functions of the Workshop is to provide a place where members can upload chapters, short stories, partial chapters, query letters, synopses, etc. for critique. It's like having a group of critique partners online. Each member is required to adhere to a ratio of critiques offered to critiques requested, just to keep things fair. Critique experience is not necessary.
Weekly writing exercises will be posted as long as there is an interest. Exercises are aimed to help members try new techniques, and are short, requiring little commitment of time.
Since the Workshop is held in a private section of the SinC-IC Message Board, members can utilize the board to hold discussions about writing topics, such as questions about narrative styles, dialogue, pacing, conflict, point of view, editing and revision, etc.
If there is enough interest, periodic Book in a Week challenges will be held. For those of you new to the concept, Book in a Week (BIAW) is a weeklong writing challenge where participants commit themselves to writing as much as possible in that week. The idea is to turn off your internal editor and just write, write, write. BIAW participants can set goals ahead of time (i.e., finish a first draft, write fifty pages, write until your fingers drop off), or just clear the decks for a week and write like the wind. At the end of each day during the BIAW, participants post their word count or page total, and report any progress or setbacks.
Want to join the Workshop?
The Workshop is open only to members of the SinC Internet Chapter who ask to be a part of it.
If you'd like to participate, please see our How To Join page. After you get your member passwords and have browsed the rest of the message board, send an application to the workshop moderator and she will explain how the workshop works and how to get into it.
Questions about the web site? Write to websister@sinc-ic.org .
Updated February 2, 2004
Unless otherwise specified, all
content is copyright © 2004 Sisters in Crime, Internet Chapter.