Uncovering Your Voice: Discovering What Makes Your Writing Yours—A Six-Week Workshop

$395.00 – $790.00

The fees from ABC’s adult writing workshops subsidize our free writing programs for kids, whose work is collected in a yearly anthology, and pay our adult workshop instructors. A limited number of seats in each class are reserved for scholarships, which cover 100% of tuition-fees and are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. All are welcome, and we especially encourage BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ writers to apply.

Toni Morrison once said that when she writes, she’s “free from pain. It’s where nobody tells me what to do; it’s where my imagination is fecund and I am really at my best. Nothing matters more in the world or in my body or anywhere when I’m writing.” Morrison’s words may describe an ideal writing experience for many of us—a sacred space where we are able to pour our hearts and minds onto the page. But just how do we access this place? And how do we navigate the barriers standing in our ways?

In this six-week workshop, you’ll discover techniques to find your voice—the unique perspective that makes your writing yours. Through exercises and prompts, we’ll dig into the rich material of our own stories, both imagined and real. We’ll closely read contemporary works of fiction and non-fiction to discover how elements of craft, including point of view, dialogue, and structure, can sharpen and polish our perspectives as writers. Along the way, we’ll use craft essays by Alice Walker, Anne Lamott, and, of course, Morrison, to motivate and inspire us.

During the second-to-last week of class, you’ll have the opportunity for one-on-one feedback with the instructor, which will take place during the regularly scheduled class time. Throughout the class, participants will have the ability to share writing with fellow students.

This Austin Bat Cave adult writing workshop is open to writers of all levels and is limited to 15 students.