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a ready-to-run workshopTeaching Creative Writing
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Teaching Creative Writing (Workshop)

Creative writing develops voice, craft, risk-taking, and joy in writing that formal assignments rarely reach. Teaching it well means treating students as writers, with real craft instruction, a supportive workshop culture, and room to find their own voice.

Key takeaway

Creative writing develops voice, craft, and joy that formal writing rarely reaches; teaching it well means treating students as writers, with craft instruction, a supportive workshop culture, and room to find their own voice.

Format
PLC / team meeting
Length
45 minutes
Group size
Any (works 4-40)
Who can run it
Any teacher-leader
You will need
Slides (5)Printed handoutA creative writing focusA timer
Aligned to
Learning Forward: Rigorous ContentInTASC 4: Content KnowledgeWriting education standards
Share / assign

Why it works

Creative writing (poetry, fiction, and more) develops students' writing craft, voice, imagination, risk-taking, and engagement in ways that formal, functional writing often does not. Research and practice point to teaching it as real craft (showing technique, using mentor texts, drafting and revising) within a supportive writing-workshop culture where students share, give and receive feedback, and take creative risks safely, with the teacher as a fellow writer and coach. The balance is between explicit craft instruction and the freedom for students to find and develop their own voice.

The research: Writing education research; the writing-workshop tradition.

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

    The core activity: teach creative writing as craft

    Teachers leave with craft instruction and a workshop culture planned.

    Craft plus a safe workshopCreative writing is teachable: explicit craft and mentor texts, within a supportive workshop culture where students take creative risks and find their voice.

    Facilitator notes

    Just assigning creative writing is not teaching itTelling students to be creative with no craft instruction or safe culture does not develop writers. Teach craft, build a workshop, and nurture voice.

    Adapt it

    Participant handout

    One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

    K12 Academics · Professional Learning

    Creative Writing: craft plus workshop

    <b>Treat students as writers:</b> explicit craft and mentor texts, a supportive workshop, and room for voice.

    1. The creative writing focus:
    2. The craft and mentor texts I teach with:
    3. How I build a supportive workshop culture:
    4. How I leave room for voice and risk:
    5. A technique to teach first:

    Make it stick

    Craft and workshop:

    Common questions

    Can creative writing really be taught?
    Yes. Voice and imagination can be nurtured, and craft, technique, revision, using mentor texts, can be taught explicitly. A supportive workshop culture plus craft instruction develops real writers.
    How do I run a writing workshop?
    Students draft, share, and give and receive feedback in a safe, supportive culture, with the teacher modeling, teaching craft, and coaching. Build the culture so students take creative risks.
    How much structure vs freedom?
    Both. Teach craft explicitly and provide structure, and leave room for students to find their own voice and take risks. The balance develops writers.

    Go deeper

    Build it into a bigger day

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