Every year, you’ll see thousands of writers attending workshops and seminars on the craft.  If they’re enrolling in such activities, then these folks are obviously serious about getting better, right?  Well, not quite, according to many people who run such classes.

In truth, a lot of people attend such courses merely looking for validation.  They want to be around other writers, especially ones more successful than them, who can tell they’re doing good work.  If they hear anything different, like actual critiques or, worse, that they’re terrible writers, they’ll just shut down and refuse to take anything in.

Most writers, of course, are not that delusional.  In fact, most who attend such courses do so expecting to get their writing fine-tuned.  Problem is, a fine-tuning may not always be what they need.  And when the instructor gets honest and suggests an overhaul, many of them usually react in the same negative manner.

If you are a writer attending any type of course to improve your abilities, always try to do so with an open mind.  Put any negative emotions criticism draws out of you and use it as an opportunity to get better.  For the duration of the classes, give the instructors the benefit of the doubt and suspend judgment until later.  That’s when you’ll know if they’re right after all — if you really do improve after the workshop or seminar is over.

A workshop is popular format of instruction, where an expert shares their ideas on a topic over a brief period of time. Most writing workshops I’ve seen last anywhere from a day to three days, with a few extensive ones going much longer. Each one varies in what they bring: some are purely instructional with a speaker in front, while some are geared towards hands-on activities. If you’re looking to improve your writing abilities, then you should definitely consider enrolling in one.

Writing workshops tend to differ in their subjects and scopes, depending on their target audience. In your case, you should look for workshop geared towards your specific industry. For instance, I’ve scene technical writing workshops geared specifically for engineers and computer scientists. Whatever field you’re in, there’s likely to be one for you too.

Do you need to attend one? It depends. While you can always count on a powerful writing software to assist you, attending a workshop environment does bring many benefits a software-based tool may not be able to deliver. For the most part, writing workshops can:

• Introduce you to the community. There are many people who do the same work you do and workshops are an excellent way to network with them.
• Pick up a new thing or two. If you’re experienced writing in your field, you may have seen many of the things taught at workshops. Regardless, there will always be one or two gems that will surprise you.
• Take your skills to the next level. While using a software can help you turn out better pieces of writing, they won’t necessarily turn you into better writer. Workshops, on the other hand, are designed to do just that.