From hands-on workshops to online courses, there’s no excuse to let that short story or screenplay go unwritten this year. Read on, and write on.
Classes
Gale Courses
Busy writers who can’t set aside classroom time can benefit from this online program from the Houston Public Library system, which offers classes in creative writing, business writing, grant writing and publishing.
houstonlibrary.org
Leisure Learning Unlimited
Classes range from beginner-level overviews in fiction, screenwriting and grammar to more intensive courses on creating three-dimensional characters or, you know, writing a book in three weeks or less.
2990 Richmond Ave., 713-529-4414
School of Literacy & Culture at Rice
Rice’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies offers dynamic courses for writers from virtually any background. The program’s classes include journal writing, story shaping and even a course in children’s and young adult writing.
5615 Kirby Dr., 713-348-5333
Spectrum Center
The Galleria-area holistic center, known for its workshops on psychotherapy and natural healing, also has an in-house writers guild. Along with classes and writing retreats, the center provides private tutoring.
4100 Westheimer Rd., 713-840-8957
Workshops
Inprint
In addition to hosting high-profile authors each year, this literary institution offers fiction, poetry, memoir and nonfiction workshops. Personal essay courses teach would-be authors how to build a narrative and write persuasively.
1520 Main St., 713-521-2026
The Women’s Institute of Houston
The institute offers both an eight-week creative writing course focusing on fiction, poetry, memoir and journaling and a 10-week memoir course.
2202 Avalon Pl., 713-529-7123
Writers in the Schools
WITS has teamed up with Houston Public Library to offer a weekly Young Writers Workshop at the HPL Express Library at Discovery Green, which is free and open to Houston kids in grades 2–8.
witshouston.org
Writespace
Founded in 2014, this organization hosts weekly workshops led by local writers, who review members’ work and guide them through revisions. Hate writing alone? Attend a three-hour intensive session, where members meet in a group setting to work on their manuscripts.
Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards St., 713-516-5679
