Learn How To Write and Sell Your Work Professionally!

PLEASE NOTE: There is now a nominal $8 monthly charge that covers all of the workshop sessions. The purpose of this fee is not to make a profit, but to promote more active participation in the group, and by extension, the writing being done by the workshop members.

In short, people tend to give more value to something they pay for, even if that amount is minimal.

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Welcome to the L.A. Writers Workshop for Fiction, Screenplays, and Comic Book Scripts--all genres, all skill levels! We meet every other Sunday from 6pm until late in the evening. The workshops take place in the San Fernando Valley, near the intersection of Sherman Way and the 405 freeway. We are within a two-minute drive of the 405 and a seven-minute drive of the 101 freeway.

It cannot be stressed enough that these meetings are for serious writers only, whose sole goal is to become published and sell their work.

THE LA WRITERS WORKSHOP IN THE VALLEY IS L.A.'S MOST INTENSIVE BI-MONTHLY WORKSHOP.

We are focused exclusively on prose fiction, screenplays, and comic book scripts; please, no non-fiction, memoirs, or poetry. For example, screenwriters can bring up to 7 pages of their script to be read and critiqued; Prose fiction authors can bring complete short stories under 3,000 words or novel excerpts up to 7 pages.

Complete short stories or novel chapters up to 5,000 words MAY be critiqued in their entirety at the sole discretion of the instructor/moderator.

If you are a fiction writer, comics writer or screenwriter, this is the meeting for you!

PLEASE NOTE: All genres are welcome. There is NO particular focus, i.e. science fiction or horror. For example, I am frequently identified as a science fiction/fantasy/horror author. In fact, I actually write suspense and mystery with cross-genre elements. My Hellboy story is a good example, a serial murder tale set around a Korean war-era military base. My forthcoming novel THE HURRICANE KEY is mainstream suspense with cross-genre elements. So don't think your romance, mystery, suspense, horror, western, or fantasy story won't receive valid critiques at this workshop--we welcome ALL genres of fiction and screenplays.

IMPORTANT: WE ARE LIMITED TO FIVE MANUSCRIPT CRITIQUES PER SESSION! Critiques are comprehensive and conducted by up to 12 active members at any workshop session. Therefore, time constraints require us to limit how many people can present their work at a meeting in order to stay on schedule. Please see the Message Board for more on this policy and the rest of the rules and policies for the group. My thanks to the inaugural group for helping to clarify them and for making the first meeting a success!

WARNING: If you agree to attend and do not show up without a valid excuse, you will be removed from the group without further explanation and your fees up to that month will not be refunded. The moderator’s time is valuable and so is the time of the attending members. Also, if attendance is poor or too sporadic, the group may not continue. So if you derive value from the workshop, show it by demonstrating your commitment to the group and to your own writing talent.

Thank you for your understanding...and we look forward to having you!

** PLEASE do not send the moderator or any members of this group your ideas for novels, stories, scripts, or anything else. Do not request a collaboration, especially with the moderator. I think the reasons for this should be obvious, but unfortunately they appear not to be. Such requests, when received, are deleted unread for professional and legal reasons.

Last but not least, please do not spam our workshop with advertising disguised as helpful "group posts" that promote your paid programs. Those will be deleted quickly, and if it ever becomes physically possible, set on fire. I'd print them out and do just that, but doing so would contribute to the senseless death of a tree. Please don't kill the greenery, waste pixels, or force me to do either. Thank you.