FICTION APPLICATION

We are looking for serious, reliable, and disciplined short story or novel writers with a body of work. We are seeking writers with a firm foundation of The Elements of Fiction Writing, versed in in-person and online workshop dynamics, and able to give and receive constructive feedback.

Please do not submit an application if you are not serious about improving your writing and are unable to commit the time to an intensive twelve-week writing workshop. Please check your availability prior to submitting an application. If interested in applying for a virtual seat in our workshop, please read the following information before contacting us.

In applying to this genre workshop, applicants understand that it is not an instructor-led writing class for learning craft. Our workshops are designed for a final or next to final polish of advanced-drafts of creative writing prior to submitting to contests, magazines, anthologies, and small and large publishers.

The two-part application consists of a fiction writing sample (fifteen page minimum, twenty-five page maximum) in our group's format (Courier New, 12pt, double-spaced, 1" margins on all four sides, continuous line numbers, headers with page name/title/page number). (To see what this looks like, click here.)

Interested fiction writers must have completed at least (1) full-length, advanced-draft unpublished novel manuscript , and short story writers must have at least (5) advanced-draft, unpublished short stories to qualify for the yearly fall or winter workshop.

The second component is answers to the following short essay questions:

1. Who are you? Please provide a personal and/or professional biography, including age, and tell us about your educational background.
2. What are your personal and professional goals as a writer?
3. Have you been a member of a writing group before? If so, list elements that worked and which areas that could have been improved?
4. What are your realistic expectations in applying to a writers' workshop?
5. How would you handle a harsh critique?
6. Does your current schedule include time to commit to a weekly workshop for a period of nine or twelve weeks?
7. Please list several writers (women and men from diverse cultures) whose work has been important to you as a reader and your growth as a writer.

Attach as an RTF or PDF, and e-mail completed application to fiction@morningsidewriters.com.

We appreciate your interest and application. Potential membership happens in three stages: application/writing sample, a two-way virtual personal interview with moderator, and an audit session with current workshop members. We apologize in advance for not being able to respond to all applicants.

*Morningside Writers Workshops are $300 per nine-week session, discounted until the end of the pandemic. The regular workshop session is twelve weeks and $400. The Summer I 2024 workshop session is May 2nd - June 27th, 2024 (application deadline is midnight on 04/24/24). We use a non-disclosure agreement and membership bylaws.

Workshops for Publishing Success!