Books vs Workshops

      Are all good writers the product of a writing course or workshop? Or can a writer get ahead being self taught?

      Do we as writers, think their are habits or skills one can only learn through doing a workshop or writing class?

      When being taught by a teacher, are their things they always teach? Can those same skills or habits be stumbled upon through practice?

        For me as a writer, I feel that everyone could gain skills from doing a course/class/workshop, but do not think one course or educational plan will suit every writer.
One thing I do think every writer needs to have is a writing group, which will read, assess and critique other members work, in an honest manner.
A writer needs to first get a draft on paper, find out what strengths and weaknesses they have, then set about fixing those weaknesses, which is where a good class or workshop can be the most helpful. Sometimes admitting to yourself that a certain aspect of your writing needs to be improved upon is all that is needed.

     Can you learn from a book, what is learned in a class?  Well yes, if covers what you need to fix in your writing, illustrates what you are doing wrong and how to fix it.
There are many How to_  books on the market, sifting through them all will take some time so chance might be on your side, and you find the book that helps you.
Some general books, like "Reading like a writer" by Francine Prose can be helpful to just about any writer as it gives us skills we can put into place that allows us to see our own weaknesses in writing compared to well acclaimed authors.
 

    What benefits does a class have that a book does not? For the most part, a teacher or mentor that can see your work, suggest things you need to fix and how to fix them. It is a shorter process, to findout what you need to improve on, even the most brutally honest writer can not always seen the holes in a plotline or where a sentence needs to be tightened up. Most writing classes will focus on a certain area of writing or hit all the general problem areas to help writers see the error of their ways.
Being in a group of writers can also give the benefit of creating new friends, finding a group you are comfortable sharing your work with and tools in which to convey fixes that need to be made.

   We here at Kiwiwriters do not run any classes/workshops for people to learn to write but many will happily give advice on which ones they have survived, and can recommend.
So do not hesitate to ask on the forums for advice on self help writing books and courses both online and in person.

We also encourage members to critique each others work, so if you need a writing buddy just hop on the forums and ask.

The only way a writer gets better is to educate themselves, in whatever method suits their writing style, and that starts with a simple question,

" What do I need to do to improve?"