Writing Classes with The Writer’s Workshop

It was 20 years ago you urged me to submit a story I’d written in your Seattle writing class to the Seattle Weekly. They published it in February 1993. Best money I ever made. I’ve been a journalist/ reporter ever since then all over the country, including the Hartford Courant. Thank you.

Nick, I am so grateful for the opportunity to take your summer nonfiction seminar through The Writer’s Workshop.  It was the summer of 2008, and I was in the midst of making big changes in my professional life.  The writing class proved to be the kick-off to my new path as a food and wine writer on the east coast.  Now as wine columnist and a restaurant reviewer for the Boston Globe, I regularly use the techniques of narrative writing to bring readers into the action of a story and to create engaging scenes out of everyday moments.  Thank you for fostering a supportive learning environment in your writing classes that played a key role in my development as a professional writer.

I really appreciate all of your great feedback in the online writing class, particularly the fact that you went through my writing very carefully. Although I learned a lot in the Writers Digest Fiction course it was mostly through my efforts – instructor feedback was usually limited to two or three sentences of general comments that were not particularly helpful.  I will stick with you, Jessica Murphy and Scott Driscoll in the future.

Thanks to your guidance in the Seattle writing class, my head is spinning with oodles of ways to express myself using the personal essay style. I attended a conference for text and academic authoring in Minnesota a few weeks ago, where three of us actually composed a personal essay on napkins at a reception with a well-stocked bar. I credited you as my inspiration.

The online travel writing class was my first experience with a course geared specifically towards writing, and Nick gave me a great experience to set me on my way in pursuing a career in writing. All of the basics of the writing and editing process are covered expertly and the focus on strategies for marketing the finished product was a huge help. I fully recommend this course if you’re looking into an online class!

Just last week I received call from an editor at Tate Publishing who told me that a book I’ve written about caring for my mother has been accepted for publication. What a surprise! One of the reasons I took your online writing class was to gain more skills to complete this book, so my dream has finally come true.

Thank you so much for the wonderful Follow The Story Seattle writing class. In eight weeks you’ve taken my writing skills farther than the four years I spent on my Bachelor’s degree in English.

Nick O’Connell’s Seattle writing classes really opened up my eyes to using fictional techniques (dialogue, telling detail, characterization) in my nonfiction writing. Writing assignments I produced for Creative Nonfiction were later incorporated into Inside the Pike Place Market (1999). I highly recommend Nick’s classes to other writers looking for direction and inspiration.