Workshops
Our popular workshops give members and nonmembers a chance to develop their craft. We offer workshops in a variety of genres (poetry, prose, memoir, plays, etc.) and on a variety of topics — all with experienced, published workshop instructors.
We offer our popular Three-in-a-Row online workshops for three consecutive for three consecutive Saturdays in January, plus additional workshops in the Spring
and Fall.
Upcoming:
January Four In A Row Workshops
The January Four-in-a-Row Workshops offer a jumpstart into the new year. Renew your existing membership now OR join in 2026, to participate in these exciting sessions for FREE!
Members: FREE
Nonmembers: $25 per event
Registration is now OPEN
Generative Workshop
Recurring Monthly, 2nd Wednesday
Forsyth County Central Library Reading Room
660 W. 5th Street, Winston-Salem, NC
Generative Workshop is Free and Open to All.
No Registration Required.
Generative Writing Workshops (Recurring)
Monthly, 2nd Wednesday | 6:30pm-8:00pm EST
by Barbara Greenbaum
These new workshops meet on the second Wednesday of every month and are meant to give writers of any genre and experience level a time to generate new writing together. Bring a piece you are working on or start something new. This isn’t a critique session.
Our hope is you’ll come away with a piece you can develop, but if nothing else, this is a time for us to practice and to share ideas and our passions for the work we do. Please bring your preferred method of writing. All writers welcome, including non-members of WSW. This workshop can be attended in person at Forsyth County Central Library Reading Room.
For Generative Workshop questions, email Barbara Greenbaum at barbarapgreenbaum@gmail.com.
Barbara P. Greenbaum has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Southern Maine, Stonecoast and a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Hartford. She taught creative writing at a public magnet arts high school in Willimantic, Connecticut for twelve years and served as an adjunct professor at Eastern CT State University. In 2011, she was awarded a Teaching Arts Fellowship from Surdna. Her fiction, poetry, and essays have been published in American Writer’s Review, Eclectica, Forge, Hog River Review, and others. She is the author of The Last Thing, a book of poetry published by Main Street Rag Publications in November 2022. A long time Connecticut resident, she now lives in Winston Salem, North Carolina with her husband. More information and links to her work can be found on her website, barbaragreenbaum.com.
Upcoming Workshops
January 2026 Four In A Row Workshops
“Dialogue” with Nick O’Connell of The Writer’s Workshop
Saturday, January 10 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
WSW Members: FREE
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: Thursday, January 8, Midnight
Limited to 40 Participants
CONVERSATIONS THAT REVEAL CHARACTER – HOW TO WRITE DIALOGUE - Dialogue is one the quickest and most effective ways of characterizing someone. Good dialogue provides information as it illuminates character. Many writers, however, find writing dialogue difficult. This class will explain how to set up a dialogue, individuate the speakers, add gestures and body language, and conclude it in such a way so that it advances the story, whether in fiction or nonfiction or poetry. Class includes lecture, discussion, in-class writing of dialogue scene.
Nicholas O’Connell, M.F.A, Ph.D., is the author of Crush: My Year as an Apprentice Winemaker, (Potomac Books, 2025), The Storms of Denali (University of Alaska and Chicago presses, 2012), On Sacred Ground: The Spirit of Place in Pacific Northwest Literature (U.W. Press, 2003), At the Field’s End: Interviews with 22 Pacific Northwest Writers (U.W. Press, 1998), Contemporary Ecofiction (Charles Scribner’s, 1996) and Beyond Risk: Conversations with Climbers (Mountaineers, 1993). He contributes to Newsweek, Gourmet, Saveur, Outside, GO, National Geographic Adventure, Condé Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Sierra, The Wine Spectator, Commonweal, Image and many other places. He’s the founder of the online journal www.thewritersworkshopreview.net and founder of www.thewritersworkshop.net.
Member discounts apply to 2026 memberships
“Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself” with Joe Mills
Saturday, January 17 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
WSW Members: Free
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: Thursday, January 15, Midnight
Limited to 40 Participants
The working title for Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was “First Impressions.” How we meet characters can tell us about them, but it can also mislead us, depending on the framing of our perspectives. Are we seeing them through someone else’s eyes? Through theirs? In this workshop, we’ll consider ways characters can be introduced and how the context shapes our reactions.
A professor at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Joseph Mills holds an endowed chair, the Susan Burress Wall Distinguished Professorship in the Humanities, and has been honored with a UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. In April 2025, he published his ninth volume of poetry – The Holiday Cycle – with Press 53. His collection This Miraculous Turning was awarded the North Carolina Roanoke-Chowan Award for Poetry for its exploration of race and family. His other work includes the collection Bleachers: Fifty-Four Linked Fictions and numerous pieces of non-fiction and drama.
BONUS: “Benefits of Critique Groups & How to Begin” with John Wimbish
Saturday, January 24 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
WSW Members: Free
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: Thursday, January 22, Midnight
Limited to 40 Participants
Winston-Salem Writers offers critique groups in poetry, script writing, creative non-fiction (e.g., memoirs), and fiction (both short stories and novels). One of the biggest benefits of critique groups is the accountability. We all have some project we've labeled as Someday. A critique group will help you make Someday a reality, with measurable and consistent progress. We create new groups frequently as people express interest. No prior experience is required. Nor is there any expectation of competence. Winston-Salem Writers encourages everyone, from novices to published authors, to feel welcome. This session will cover the perks of a critique group, how to get started, and what it feels like to give and receive feedback.
John Wimbish is the Critique Group Coordinator for Winston-Salem Writers. He has degrees in Chemical Engineering (Go Wolfpack!) and Linguistics. He worked in software development with an emphasis in natural language processing, applied to hundreds of minority languages spoken around the world. He credits his plotting methodology to his engineering mindset; and his understanding of what makes a good story to too many hours of reading on those long international flights. He is currently subjecting his critique group to his second thriller novel. More at JSWimbish.com.
“Ready to Self-Publish?” Session 1 of 3 with Bridget Elam
Saturday, January 31 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
WSW Members: Free
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: Thursday, January 29, Midnight
Limited to 40 Participants
Are you ready to self-publish your first book? In this three-part series you'll learn the ins and outs of the process. This comprehensive series will give you the confidence to design the book you've always dreamed of publishing. All three sessions will be FREE to members. Sessions two and three will require separate registration in the future and each session will cost $25 for non-members. The first session will cover the different avenues of self-publishing, the pros and cons of each, and a cost breakdown for holding that first book in your hand. Included in this session, we'll walk through formatting the interior of a book in real time. Session two (May 16th) will cover detailed book and cover formatting and explore how to promote and market your book. Session three (August 1st) will be in person. Bring your laptop, with your book ready to go. You’ll delve more into marketing your book. And Bridget will support you as you courageously hit the PUBLISH button and deal with last stage error messages. Then sign up with WSW to sell your brand-new book at WSW’s table at The Bookmarks Festival of Books on September 26, 2026.
Bridget Elam is a communications professional with a strong background in editorial strategy, engagement, and publishing. Recently, Bridget was the managing editor of the Winston-Salem Chronicle. She is also a self-published author who writes Christian fiction and is passionate about helping other authors and writers see their works in print.
Past Workshops
“Members Helping Members: Plotting”
with John Wimbish
Saturday, November 1 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
WSW Members: Free
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: Thursday, April 3, Midnight
Limited to 40 Participants
The distinction between Plotters (those who design their plot prior to writing) and Pantsers (those who let the plot unfold as they write) is not entirely black and white. Most plotters find themselves adjusting their structure as they write, and most pantsers begin with at least a general idea of where the story is going. There are many valid ways to skin the novel cat, and I present what is working well for me. I take a top-down approach, where I start with my "big idea", and develop a high-level structure around it. I use a structural framework that fits the story I want to tell, choosing from the many options out there that have a proven track record in both print and cinema. Once this high-level design checks all the boxes, I move down to the next level of detail. This is done via a grid, inspired by J. K. Rowling's method in her Harry Potter novels. And yes, I actually write some before I have all the details worked out. Strengths of my system include being able to tie together multiple, complicated threads; track character arcs throughout; and perhaps most important, having the agility to make changes as I get new ideas. If you are a plotter, I hope you can pick up some fresh ideas. If you are a pantser, you should find value in the exercise of thinking through your top-level structure, even if you do not wish to proceed down to the gory detail level. And if you are new to all this, I believe you'll find inspiration to help you get started.
John Wimbish is the Critique Group Coordinator for Winston-Salem Writers. He has degrees in Chemical Engineering (Go Wolfpack!) and Linguistics. He worked in software development with an emphasis in natural language processing, applied to hundreds of minority languages spoken around the world. He credits his plotting methodology to his engineering mindset; and his understanding of what makes a good story to too many hours of reading on those long international flights. He is currently subjecting his critique group to his second thriller novel. More at JSWimbish.com.
“A Writing Journey”
with A.G. Riddle
Saturday, March 22, 2025 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
WSW Members: Free
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: Thursday, March 20, Midnight
Limited to 40 Participants
This will be a conversational event, with time for lots of Q&A, with the author of three series (13 science-fiction/thriller novels). His debut novel, The Atlantis Gene, is the first book in a trilogy (The Origin Mystery) that has sold over three million copies worldwide, has been translated into twenty-four languages, and is in development to be a major motion picture. His fourth novel, Departure, follows the survivors of a flight that takes off in 2015 and crash-lands in a changed world. HarperCollins published the novel in hardcover in the fall of 2015, and 20th Century Fox is developing it for a feature film. Gerry began his writing career as a self-published author. He will talk about how he made the leap to the larger publishing world, relying on the path he traveled self-marketing his works. He likes supporting writing groups and will offer this chat gratis to WSW members.
A.G. Riddle grew up in Boiling Springs, North Carolina and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill.
During his sophomore year in college, he started his first company with a childhood friend.
He currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife, daughter, and an eccentric dog.
April Poetry Workshop: “Landscape of an Image”
with Sarah Ann Winn
Saturday, April 5, 2025 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
WSW Members: $15
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: Thursday, April 3, Midnight
Limited to 40 Participants
How much does our physical location shape us? Are our identities tied to the land of our fathers? How can we deepen our images by exploring them on the page more fully? Sarah Ann Winn will share her work, rooted in Ohio, in the rust belt, the hills and the shadows, and other place-based readings which uncover truths about identity. In this workshop, we will write poems rooted in place, and dive deeper into the genius loci of our personal geographies to write poems which immerse the reader more fully in the land that informs and shapes our work.
Sarah Ann Winn’s first book, Alma Almanac (Barrow Street, 2017) won the Barrow Street
Book Prize, judged by Elaine Equi. She is also the author of five chapbooks, most recently,
Ever After the End Matter (Porkbelly Press, 2019). Her writing has appeared in Five
Points, Massachusetts Review, Nashville Review, Quarterly West, Smartish Pace, and
elsewhere. Sarah has taught for the Writer's Center in Bethesda, Loft Literary Center and
the Poetry Foundation. In 2022, she was awarded the MISA Excellence in Teaching
Fellowship. She is the founder of Poet Camp, a creative community where she leads online
classes, jumpstarts and cozy writing retreats.
“A Writing Journey”
with Rioghnach Robinson
Saturday, April 26, 2025 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
WSW Members: $15
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: April 23, Midnight
Limited to 40 Participants
This will be a conversational event, with time for lots of Q&A, with the author of seven YA novels. Outside the YA fiction world, she recently signed with an agent for her first novel for adult audiences. She is also the writer of the WEBTOON Originals series Angel of Death, and she's written for The Onion, America's Finest News Source.
Rioghnach Robinson was raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. During her senior year at R.J. Reynolds High School, she began writing what would become her debut YA novel, Seven Ways We Lie. Since then, six of her books have been published, most under the pen name Riley Redgate.
“Critiquing and Revision”
with Kat Bodrie
Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
Registration Closed
WSW Members: FREE
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: Jan 8. Midnight
Limited to 40 Participants
Critiquing and revising are complementary skills: the better we are at critiquing others’ work, the better we are at critiquing — and revising — our own. If writing a first draft is writer-centered, critiquing and revising are reader-centered, the stages when we consider how our work lands with an audience. But how often do we spin our wheels? How often do we struggle to determine what changes to make, or disregard good feedback? And how many of us obsess with getting our first drafts “perfect”? In this workshop, we’ll discuss techniques for critiquing, whether in a group, with a partner, or solo, and we’ll approach revision as a time for play, invention, and discernment — a way to stretch ourselves as writers, disregard our pride and insecurities, and use others’ feedback to hone our craft and better accomplish our intentions for our work.
Kat Bodrie is a writer and editor in Winston-Salem. She is a past President of Winston-Salem Writers, Book Editor for BleakHouse Publishing, and Host City Coordinator for Poetry in Plain Sight. Her poetry has appeared in North Meridian Review, Poetry South, Rat’s Ass Review, and elsewhere. She has also written for Winston-Salem Monthly and Triad City Beat. Her poem “Injections” was a finalist for the NC Poetry Society’s Poet Laureate Award, and her chapbook When the River Takes Us was a finalist in Black Mountain Press’s quarterly chapbook contest. Kat also works with incarcerated individuals on their creative pieces and often collaborates with George T. Wilkerson, who lives on Death Row. More at katbodrie.com.
“Dialog” with Spencer KM Brown is postponed due to family events.
"Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Agents"
with Zach Honey
Saturday, January 18, 2025 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
Registration Opens Dec. 1
WSW Members: FREE
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: Jan. 15, Midnight
Limited to 40 Participants
Zach Honey will talk about his journey to the literary world and into agenting. We will get into the nuts and bolts of the agenting process, learn what an agent does for a writer, and talk querying. Bring your questions.
Zach Honey is the founder and director of the Gate City Writers Workshop. He is an associate literary agent at FinePrint Literary Management representing thrillers and other adult fiction.
Zach was born in Greensboro and grew up in Montana. He studied film production and philosophy at Montana State University and received a master’s degree from the University of Nottingham in England.
“Writing Short Plays”
with Emily Emerson
Saturday, January 25, 2025 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
Registration Opens Dec. 1
WSW Members: FREE
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: Jan. 22, Midnight
Limited to 40 Participants
This workshop is sponsored by
Winston-Salem Writers' 10-Minute Play Festival.
This is a generative workshop for anyone wanting to learn techniques on writing 10-Minute plays. While only a short amount of time, these plays challenge writers to compress the traditional play structure. We will learn how to distill plot, character, and dialogue down to the essential points, and look at some plays that do exactly this. This workshop is for any and all writers, not just playwrights.
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Emily Emerson (she/her) is a writer and actress originally from St. Paul, Minnesota. Her plays include The Field (off-Broadway premiere with the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival, 2018; Barter Theatre's Appalachian Festivals of Plays & Playwrights 2020), Patient Endeavor (Ruby Slipper Fringe Festival participant, 2015), and Blue Whale. Awards include being chosen as a Kennedy Center-American College Theatre Festival 10-Minute Play Finalist with her play, Secrets Don't Make Friends, as well as the recipient of the Region V Ken Ludwig Playwriting Award in 2024. She served as a producer with Paper Lantern Theatre Company from 2012-2015 and coordinated the 10-minute play festival for the company. Emily is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis, London Playwrights, and she has studied with Jessica Dickey, Brooke Berman, Alice Eve Cohen, and Carson Kreitzer. MFA (Playwriting), Augsburg University.
“555 Story Challenge Mini-Lessons”
with Nicole Breit
Saturday, October 5, 2024 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
Registration Open NOW through October 2nd
WSW Members: $15
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: Oct. 2, 11:55 p/m
Limited to 40 Participants
This workshop is for creative writers of all levels and genres who want to ignite their creativity and develop essential craft skills as they shape their memories into 100-word stories. Topics will include: Origin Stories * why 100 word stories are the perfect form for exploring memoir * prompts to explore early memories, family + ancestry, beginnings + firsts * how to write a powerful ending * “listing” pre-writing exercise + techniques for revision The Emergent Self * prompts to explore discoveries about our identities, the individuation process, setting out to find our path * how to create mood and tone – and the importance of varying sentence length * story-mapping as a pre-writing technique * the “solve for x” revision challenge Nature + The Spirit * prompts to explore experiences of mystery, awe and wonder; encounters with the natural world; supernatural + unexplained phenomena * how to write an irresistible first line and Lynda Barry’s “X page” exercise And, depending on time, perhaps another one or two topics…
Nicole Breit (she/her) is a queer, award-winning essayist + the creator of The Spark Your Story Lab. Her writing has been widely published in journals + anthologies including Brevity, The Fiddlehead, Room, Hippocampus, Event, Swelling with Pride: Queer Conception and Adoption Stories + Getting to the Truth: The Craft and Practice of Creative Nonfiction. Nicole’s essay about first love and loss, “An Atmospheric Pressure”, was selected as a Notable by the editors of Best American Essays 2017. Learn more at nicolebreit.com.
“Publishing Biz ABCs”
with Leslie Pietrzyk
Saturday, October 19, 2024 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
Registration Open NOW through October 15th
WSW Members: $15
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: Oct. 15, 11:55 p/m
Limited to 40 Participants
Yay! You’re ready to send your work out into the wide world of publishing…but where? Out of the zillions of journals, contests, presses & agents, how do you find the right place for your words? This session will offer resources to help you sort through your options, tips for evaluating opportunities & guidance about the whole process, including query letters. Plenty of time for your questions!
Leslie Pietrzyk’s collection of linked stories set in DC, Admit This to No One, was published in 2021 by Unnamed Press. Her first collection of stories, This Angel on My Chest, won the 2015 Drue Heinz Literature Prize. Her other works include: Silver Girl, Unnamed Press; A Year and a Day, William Morrow/Perennial; and Pears on a Willow Tree, Avon/Perennial. Short fiction and essays have appeared in, among others, Ploughshares, Story Magazine, Hudson Review, Southern Review, Gettysburg Review, Iowa Review, The Sun, Cincinnati Review, and Washington Post Magazine. Awards include a Pushcart Prize in 2020.
““How to Craft a Compelling Pitch”
with Dr. Rowena Kirby-Straker, WFU Department of Communication
Saturday, October 26, 2024 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
WSW Members: $15
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: Oct. 22, 11:55 p/m
Limited to 40 Participants
This workshop will include: • Brief description of different types of pitches • What research says about the what, why, who, and how regarding the effectiveness of pitches • How writers can apply outcomes from pitch research to their own pitches • Crafting and debriefing 3-sentence pitches. • Q & A
Dr. Kirby-Straker joined the Department of Communication at Wake in 2016 after serving as the Director of the Oral Communication Center (OCC) at the University of Maryland College Park for four years. From 2017 to 2024, she served as the founding faculty supervisor of the Wake Speaks Speaking Center, which hosts community speech events each semester. Dr. Kirby-Straker teaches Persuasion, Environmental Risk and Crisis Communication, and Community Narratives of Environmental Justice. She has also taught Public Speaking, Listening, and other courses.
“Attention & Astonishment: Poems Inspired by Mary Oliver” with Sarah Ann Winn
Saturday, April 6, 2024 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon EST
On Zoom
WSW Members: $15
Nonmembers: $25
Deadline to Register: 5pm, Thursday, April 4th
Limited to 40 Participants
“Pay attention, be astonished & tell about it.” Writes Mary Oliver in her beautiful poem, “Sometimes.” In this interactive and generative workshop, we’ll use Mary Oliver’s work for inspiration, instruction, and as a starting point to “tell about it” in our own poems. We’ll consider brief readings by Mary Oliver, placed in conversation with equally brief works from a variety of other writers and artists. Expect to draft poems inspired by and in a state of interbeing with the natural world.
Sarah Ann Winn’s first book, Alma Almanac (Barrow Street, 2017) won the Barrow Street Book Prize, judged by Elaine Equi. She is also the author of five chapbooks, most recently, Ever After the End Matter (Porkbelly Press, 2019). Her writing has appeared in Five Points, Massachusetts Review, Nashville Review, Quarterly West, Smartish Pace, and elsewhere. Sarah has led workshops at the Poetry Foundation, the Writer's Center in Bethesda, and the Loft Literary Center. In 2022, she was awarded the MISA Excellence in Teaching Fellowship. In 2015 she founded Poet Camp, a creative community where she leads online classes, jumpstarts and cozy writing retreats. Join her at http://PoetCamp.com.
Memoir: Bringing Past Worlds to Life
Julia Ridley Smith is the author of a memoir, The Sum of Trifles (University of Georgia Press, 2021), and a story collection, Sex Romp Gone Wrong (Blair, forthcoming). Her short stories and essays have appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, The Cincinnati Review, Ecotone, Electric Literature, the New England Review, and The Southern Review, among other places. Her work has been recognized as notable in Best American Essays and supported by the Sewanee Writers Conference, the United Arts Council of Greater Greensboro, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, and other arts
organizations. She teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Find her at juliaridleysmith.com and @JuliaTrifles.
When writing a memoir or personal essay, how do we bring our past worlds—and selves—to life on the page? For this class, we’ll read a couple of short, memoir-based essays that illuminate how to give readers a rich sense of places that have played important roles in our lives. Together, we’ll do several writing exercises designed to help us see those places with fresh eyes and describe them in vivid language.
Participation limited to first 40 registrants.
Saturday, April 29, 2023 | 10am-12noon EST
by Julia Ridley Smith
organizations. She teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Find her at
juliaridleysmith.com and @JuliaTrifles.