Workshop Format
The workshop is combination of instruction and mutual student critique using the Clarion Method. The emphasis of learning is primarily geared toward hours spent reading, writing and critiquing. Normally, students are expected to write one complete draft of a story per week, to be critiqued the following week. Ideas for these stories are up to the student, but the emphasis is that the writing takes place on premises where fresh lessons and insight can be immediately applied to new story ideas. Work on 'trunk' stories, written before the workshop, is discouraged.
The class lecture and critique runs weekdays from morning to early afternoon. The remainder of the day is typically divided between writing for the next week's story deadline, reading, and preparing critiques. The workload is intense, but breaks and socializing are typical at all hours. Weekends are free time to socialize, explore the local sights, and catch up on unfinished writing and reading.
Each student typically gets a weekly private conference with each instructor to ask questions and gain insight from that professional writer or editor.
Although the focus of the workshop is on speculative fiction, such as science fiction and fantasy, other genres, including horror, comedy, mystery, and literary writing (and mixtures thereof) regularly grace the workshop stories. The workshop focuses on writing and critiquing short stories, but many aspects of novel writing are also discussed in workshop.
Read more about this topic: Clarion West Writers Workshop
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—Jane Grey Swisshelm (1815–1884)