Creative Writers' Workshop

Join an intensive writing community where getting words on the page is at the heart of every day. The Creative Writers’ Workshop program will take your craft to the next level. Each day you’ll dive into lessons addressing technique and process, such as Avoiding Sentimentality, Persona Poems, and Scalpel, Please: Aspects of Revision. You’ll offer and receive critiques in roundtable workshops modeled after college-level writing courses, and by program’s end, you’ll have completed a collection of poems, a short story, a one-act play, or another creative project of your choosing. If you’ve been craving time, space, and gentle pressure to put words on the page, Creative Writers’ Workshop will provide them in abundance. Step out of your “real life,” open your notebook, and be amazed at how quickly you can grow as a writer. Program Highlights: Improve your skills in a community of advanced writers Individual consultation with instructors Select an instructor who best matches your genre and learning style Share your work with your peers for support and feedback Daily time for reflection, recreation, and socializing The Writing Life A typical day at CWW begins in a meeting with your Primary Group, led by your instructor. You might discuss a poem or story excerpt (by a peer or a published author), or write briefly to a prompt. You will participate in a roundtable workshop on some days. And you will have a great deal of time allotted to write on your own. After the lunch hour, there might be a “mini-lesson” -- a seminar focused on an aspect of technique or process, such as “Avoiding Sentimentality,” “Persona Poems” or “Scalpel, Please: Aspects of Revision.” Frequently you will meet one-on-one with your instructor for an in-depth critique. Afternoons and evenings are filled with supervised free time and recreational programming – and more time to write, of course. Throughout the session there are special events and guests—private viewings of plays, workshops with spoken word artists, or discussions with celebrated local writers like Daniel Wallace or Michael Chitwood. The heart of the day is writing. Participants who gain the most out of CWW come ready to write, and each instructional day includes time to do just that, free from the distractions of “real life.” If you have been craving time, space – and gentle pressure-- to put words to page, CWW provides them in abundance. CWW and Young Writers’ Camp How is Creative Writers’ Workshop different from Duke Young Writers? The Creative Writers' Workshop is a program designed for older writers (you must be rising to 11th or 12th grade) who want to develop and refine their writing in a particular genre. CWW writers are expected to have significant experience writing creatively and to arrive at Duke with works-in-progress or ideas for new projects. Although CWW focuses on the life and language of the mind, it is not an academic program. We don’t teach grammar or academic essays, and we have relatively few formal classes. Creative Writers’ Workshop is about tapping the muse and sharpening the tools to see what she inspires. Duke Young Writers offers classes in different genres for beginners to advanced writers who are in middle or high school. It provides an opportunity for students to sample various kinds of writing or enhance their skills in more than one area. Criteria CWW writers should be mature, committed to working hard, eager to share and revise their work. You must be comfortable working on your own to accomplish the writing goals that you set for yourself. CWW writers bring to the program a high level of self-direction, a natural joy in the act of writing, and enthusiasm for belonging to a community of writers. Applicants will be asked to submit a writing sample once receipt of the application has been confirmed. The sample can be of any genre and should reflect the student's current interests and writing style. Please make sure that the submission comes from the realm of creative writing, for example, short fiction, poetry, or play writing.