Writing Workshops: Instructor Opportunities
At Writing Workshops, we offer something different: niche classes with unexpected angles, taught by working writers who deliver craft-focused instruction and actionable feedback.
Our students come to Writing Workshops for inspiration, fresh perspectives on their work, and concrete tools to advance their writing careers and forge paths to publication.
Each month, over 50% of our course enrollments are returning students—proof that our approach works. We're looking for instructors who share our commitment to helping writers push their work forward with meaningful, practical guidance.
What We're Looking For
Niche, Craft-Focused Classes: We want classes that zero in on specific elements of craft—or the business of writing—with fun, unexpected, and surprising titles. Writers come to us for classes they can't find anywhere else. Our classes have a clear hook—a specific technique, form, theme, or approach that gives students something concrete to explore. Your voice should inform your class pitch, as that will likely be the course you are most passionate about teaching. Put another way: what do you love to nerd-out about?
Actionable Feedback: Our students want to improve their craft and move toward publication. We're looking for instructors who provide meaningful, practical feedback that helps writers identify what's working, understand what isn't, and know exactly what to do next.
Publication-Minded Instruction: Whether it's understanding market trends, crafting submissions, navigating the publishing landscape, or simply writing stronger sentences, our instructors help students connect their creative work to real-world publishing goals.
Professionalism and Excellence: Teaching with us is as much an extension of your author brand as it is a representation of our organization. We strive for excellence above all else, a shared value that unites our instructors and staff alike. Our students are adult writers—many are working professionals balancing job stressors, family life, and other obligations while prioritizing their writing lives. They've made a real investment in themselves by taking a class with us. They're investing their time and hard-earned income, and they expect your class to be worth it. We're looking for instructors who take that responsibility seriously.
Commitment to Alumni Success: We're looking for instructors who champion their students beyond the classroom—those who provide connections, mentorship, and guidance that extends past the final session. We believe in pulling the next person up behind you. Our best instructors pour into their students, and those students go on to be featured in our Alumni Publication News. We want instructors who see student success as part of their own legacy.
What We Value
Engaged Instruction: We look for passionate educators skilled in the craft of writing who will foster a supportive, inspiring environment.
Cultural Awareness: Our instructors should be ready to explore how personal identity, background, and tradition shape writing, encouraging honest conversations within their groups.
Inclusivity and Accessibility: We prioritize creating a welcoming space for every participant.
Qualifications
Our instructors tend to have one or more of the following: an MFA, substantial publication history, and/or extensive teaching experience. Publishing and industry professionals are also welcome to apply for classes in their areas of expertise.
Application Process
We review applications on an ongoing basis in line with our current programming needs. If there's no immediate opening, you may not hear from us right away. We keep all applications on file unless you ask us to remove yours.
Before you pitch: Please spend time exploring our current catalog to understand the kinds of classes we offer. Your pitch should feel like it belongs on our site—specific, unexpected, and genuinely useful to writers looking to level up their work.
Sure thing! Here it is — just copy everything below:
Current Programming Needs: Mid-Summer & Early Fall 2026
WritingWorkshops.com Instructor Application Wish List
We're actively seeking new class pitches for mid-summer and early fall 2026 (classes starting July through October). Proposals approved now will be scheduled during this window. We're looking for specific, craft-focused classes that give writers something they can't get anywhere else—not broad "Intro to Fiction" surveys, but the kind of class that makes a writer say, "That's exactly what I need right now."
Below is our current wish list, organized by category and themed to the season. This list is a starting point, not an exhaustive menu. If you have a class idea that isn't listed but fits our ethos of craft-driven, community-centered writing education—pitch it anyway. We're always excited to discover classes we didn't know we needed.
Late Summer Writing Energy
Summer is for momentum—messy first drafts, bold experiments, and the generative energy that comes from longer days. These are the classes that channel that heat.
The 48-Hour Story – A weekend sprint intensive. Writers arrive Friday evening with nothing and leave Sunday night with a complete draft. High energy, high accountability, zero preciousness.
Draft Zero: Write the Terrible First Version – A generative workshop built on the idea that the fastest way to a great draft is through a bad one. Permission to be messy, with craft scaffolding underneath.
Writing in the Margins: A Workshop for Busy People – For writers squeezing creativity into full lives. Techniques for writing in stolen moments—10-minute exercises, phone-first drafting, and building a sustainable practice around a demanding schedule.
Summer Reading, Summer Writing: The Beach Read and Beyond – What makes commercial fiction work? A generative workshop that studies pacing, hooks, and readability through the lens of the books dominating summer reading lists.
The Binge-Worthy Novel: Writing Books Readers Can't Put Down – Pacing, chapter endings, tension management, and the architecture of compulsive readability—whether you're writing literary fiction or genre.
Back-to-School Craft Intensives
September brings that back-to-school sharpness—the urge to study, improve, and get serious. These are deep-craft classes for writers ready to level up.
Kill Your Darlings: Advanced Cutting and Revision – A revision-only workshop focused on the ruthless art of making good work great. What to cut, how to restructure, and when to let go.
Second Book Syndrome: Writing After Your First Publication – For writers who've published and feel stuck. Addresses the pressure, the sophomore slump, and the craft challenges of following up a debut.
Writing the Ensemble Cast – How to juggle multiple POVs, balance storylines, and create distinct voices when your story has more than one protagonist.
Pacing: When to Speed Up and When to Slow Down – A craft-intensive on narrative velocity—scene vs. summary, white space, sentence rhythm, and the architecture of momentum.
The Art of the Twist – Structuring reveals, misdirection, and surprise. How to plant and pay off—in literary fiction, genre, and everything in between.
Writing Endings That Haunt – How to stick the landing. Open endings, closed endings, ambiguous endings, and why some final pages stay with readers for years.
Harvest Season Nonfiction
Late summer and early fall are natural seasons for reflection, gathering, and making sense of experience. These nonfiction classes channel that energy.
Writing Cultural Criticism – The smart-take essay. How to write about culture, art, and ideas with authority and style—think Hanif Abdurraqib, Hilton Als, Rachel Syme.
The Braided Essay – Weaving multiple threads, timelines, and modes of inquiry into a single piece. Structure, juxtaposition, and the art of the white space break.
Reported Narrative Nonfiction – For writers who want to blend research and interviews with storytelling. The craft behind the work of writers like David Grann, Susan Orlean, and Rachel Aviv.
Writing About Money – Personal finance essays, class narratives, economic anxiety on the page. One of the last taboo subjects in personal writing—and rich territory for essays.
Writing About Work – The workplace memoir, the labor essay, the career-change narrative. How to write about the thing that takes up most of our waking hours.
The Lyric Essay – At the intersection of poetry and prose. Fragmentation, collage, associative logic—for writers who want to push the boundaries of the essay form.
Poetry
Our poetry catalog has strong foundations. We're looking for classes that expand into territory we haven't covered yet.
Erasure and Found Poetry – Experimental techniques for making new poems from existing texts. Collage, blackout, remix, and the ethics of appropriation.
The Political Poem – Writing about public life, injustice, and the world without being preachy. How the best political poems stay rooted in the personal and the particular.
Poetry of Place: Writing Where You Are – A late-summer generative workshop rooted in landscape, geography, and the specificity of location. Write about where you live, where you're from, and where you want to be.
Poems That Tell Stories: Narrative Poetry – For poets who want to move beyond the lyric moment and into sustained storytelling—ballads, dramatic monologues, verse narratives.
Screenwriting & TV (Priority Gap)
This remains our thinnest category and a major growth priority. We're especially eager for pitches here.
Writing the Feature Film – A dedicated multi-week course on feature screenplay structure, character, and visual storytelling—beyond the introductory level.
Adaptation: Book to Screen – How to translate prose into screenwriting. What to keep, what to cut, how to think visually. For writers working across forms.
Writing for Streaming: The Limited Series – Limited series structure, binge-worthy storytelling, and the specific demands of prestige TV. A class for the streaming era.
Comedy Writing for TV and Film – The mechanics of funny on screen—joke structure, comedic timing in dialogue, visual comedy on the page.
Writing the Short Film – Perfect for emerging screenwriters building a portfolio. Compressed storytelling, visual economy, and the festival submission pipeline.
The Writers' Room Simulation – A collaborative TV writing experience. Writers work together to break a season, build a story bible, and write episodes as a team.
Writing for Children & YA (Priority Gap)
Another thin category with big opportunity. We're looking to build out meaningful offerings here.
Picture Book Bootcamp – Writing and submitting picture books—from concept to manuscript to understanding the illustration partnership.
Middle Grade Magic – The specific craft of middle grade voice, story structure, and age-appropriate complexity. A growing and vibrant market.
Writing YA That Doesn't Talk Down – Voice, authenticity, and emotional honesty in young adult fiction. How to write for teens without condescending.
Querying Agents for Children's Books – A different market with different rules. How to research, pitch, and navigate the children's publishing landscape.
Back-to-School Stories: Writing Young Characters in Transition – A seasonal generative workshop focused on the universal experience of new beginnings, friendships, and growing pains.
Publishing & the Business of Writing
Fall is prime submission season. These classes help writers turn summer drafts into polished, publishable work—and get it out the door.
Fall Submissions Push: Getting Your Work Out Before Year's End – A structured accountability workshop focused on identifying target journals and agents, polishing submissions, and building a submission calendar for the fall season.
Writing the Synopsis – A dedicated class on this notoriously difficult skill. How to distill a 300-page novel into a compelling 2-page summary that doesn't lose your book's soul.
Self-Publishing Done Right – Beyond the indie publishing toolkit—a comprehensive class on quality self-publishing. Editing, design, distribution, and marketing for the independent author.
Ghostwriting and Collaborative Writing – A practical path for writers who want to make a living with words. How to find clients, manage projects, and write in someone else's voice.
Substack and Newsletter Strategy for Writers – Building a readership through direct publishing. How to grow a subscriber base, monetize your writing, and use a newsletter as a creative laboratory.
Cross-Genre & Fresh Angles
These are the classes that don't fit neatly into a single category—and that's what makes them exciting. Unexpected, specific, and very WritingWorkshops.com.
Writing the Obsession – Deep dives into singular subjects—the John McPhee, Mary Roach, Ed Yong approach. How to take one thing you love and make a reader love it too.
The Literature of Heat: Writing Summer – Stories, essays, and poems set in the swelter. How temperature, light, and landscape shape narrative—from Flannery O'Connor to Jesmyn Ward.
Writing Through Resistance – For stuck writers. A generative, craft-focused workshop (not therapy-adjacent) that addresses the practical obstacles to getting words on the page.
Science Fiction Craft: Building Believable Futures – World-building, speculative logic, and the science in science fiction. We have speculative fiction and horror—now let's give sci-fi its own home.
Historical Fiction Deep Dive: Research to Page – How to build authentic historical worlds without letting research drown the story. For writers turning history into narrative.
Writing AI, Writing Now – A timely craft class on writing about technology, artificial intelligence, and the rapidly shifting present. Fiction and nonfiction approaches to our strangest cultural moment.
The Autumn Reset: A Generative Writing Retreat (Online) – A multi-day virtual retreat designed to help writers set intentions, generate new work, and build community heading into the fall. Think destination retreat energy, no plane ticket required.
IndieMFA Programs
We're always looking for instructors who can lead long-form, sustained programs—our 6-month and 12-month IndieMFA tracks in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenwriting. If you have the track record and the commitment to walk alongside a small cohort for an extended period, we want to hear from you.
A note on this list: We update our programming wish list seasonally. What you see here reflects our current needs for mid-summer and early fall 2026. We're always accepting applications and keeping them on file for future scheduling.
Don't see your idea on this list? Pitch it anyway. The best classes we've ever offered are ones we didn't know we needed until the right instructor proposed them.