Yes, it’s that time of year again. It’s June, so it must be time for Tinker Mountain Writers Workshop.

Every year since 2012, I’ve driven 80 miles to spend a week in a 1950s era dormitory on the gorgeous campus of Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Why?

Tinker Mountain Writers Workshop.

Early in 2012, I received a postcard ad from TMWW, but as with those types of ads, you don’t really get much information, only a copywriter’s hype. So, I went to the web site printed on the postcard, and the information piqued my interest further.

I’d been retired for three years, writing constantly, sending MSS to journals, agents, and contests with mixed results: journals, some acceptances; agents, all rejections; and contests, some wins, some honorable mentions.

Yet, the concept of submitting a manuscript, rather, a portion thereof, and having an instructor and other people, strangers no less, read it and critique it in front of you was terrifying. But it was exactly what I needed to do. That first experience whetted my appetite for more, and I’ve been back every year since.

For me, the “why” of writing workshops is easy to grasp.

First, you get knowledgeable feedback from your instructor on how to improve your writing. I know that as I now listen to my earliest work as I convert my eBooks to audiobooks, I get a definite contrast between my early works and my recent ones. My early stories are good, really good, but my later work is better because of TMWW.

Second, TMWW is a residential workshop, so you get to leave home, stay in that outdated dorm (worth it), and have someone else do the cooking. Few things are better for writing than a change of venue, especially if your writing office is in your home, where some chore or errand constantly interrupts. Five days in a completely different place where you don’t have to cook or do dishes, where your only job is to write is blissfully creative.

Third, you are surrounded by other writers. Novelists, short story writers, essayists, memoirists, poets. You sit together at breakfast, lunch, and dinner then later in the dorm lounges, and you talk writing. Nothing except writing, and you discover that amid all the doubts and fears you let hold you back, you aren’t alone. You make writer friends, deep and true friendships, even if you only see them once a year at TMWW. Also, every year is a mix of regulars and newbies, so your perspective on writing keeps getting refreshed. Writers are known for their introversion, but you wouldn’t know that when you see them at TMWW.

Finally, because most writers are introverts, writing workshops help to bring you out of that safe shell of introversion. You may write alone, but you need other writers for reinforcement, encouragement, constructive criticism, and, best of all, friendship.

Why writing workshops?

Because you can have fun while becoming a better writer.

Okay, now I’m off to pack the car–three days early!

By the way, I am not affiliated with TMWW in any way other than as a participant. No one is paying me to praise this.