“What happens in a WCC workshop? Magic is the word we often hear. Words from those who are surprised by the depth of their creativity seem to spring from an unknown source. Poets are discovered. Buried voices, long without vitality, return to life. Dreams are conceived. Lost individuals often connect deeply.” – Susan Turk-Mozer, Founder, WCC

What exactly happens in a Workshop?

Workshops are safe, encouraging, creative places that begin with the leader offering a writing prompt – the suggested starting point for a new piece of writing (by hand in a notebook or on your device). All leaders - called facilitators - are trained by WCC and write along with participants.

• From Memory or Imagination: A prompt could be a sentence, an object, a photo or even a piece of music. But if the prompt doesn’t speak to you, you can write anything you want.
• Everyone Writes: Groups are usually no larger than a dozen people, writing together in silence for short bursts (15 minutes or so).
• Invited but not Mandatory: Everyone is invited to share their just written “first draft” writing. You are free to decline and just listen to other people’s writing.
• Deeply Listen: We share our thoughts by telling each other what we liked, what remained with us and what was strong about each piece of writing. There are no questions, no critiques and no challenges to what you write. And everything is treated as fiction.

Writers Collective of Canada about workshops page