Stay connected. Keep writing.
The Yale Writers’ Workshop Online Writing Groups are designed for writers who want to continue growing after the summer session ends. Led by YWW faculty, these small, supportive groups offer a space to share work, exchange feedback, and strengthen your craft—while staying connected to the YWW community.
Over six weeks, participants meet once a week for a two-hour evening session filled with discussion, critique, and creative momentum. Groups are capped at ten writers (with a minimum of six to run), ensuring meaningful participation and personalized attention.
Between meetings, you’ll have the option to engage in short writing prompts and exercises to spark creativity and deepen your practice. The program also includes a special guest author visit, offering additional insight and inspiration from the literary world.
These groups are ideal for Yale Writers’ Workshop alumni and for writers seeking accountability, structure, and community. Whether you’re revising a short story, developing a novel, or returning to a project in need of fresh energy, the Online Writing Groups help you sustain your writing rhythm.
By the end of the six weeks, you’ll have made tangible progress on your work, refined your craft through thoughtful feedback, and strengthened your connections with a dedicated cohort of fellow writers.
Program Details
Schedule
- Dates: Thursday, June 25 – Thursday, July 30
- Meeting Time: Thursdays, 7:00–9:00 PM (Eastern)
Format & Structure
- Six-week online course
- Three fiction workshops
- Workshop size: Maximum 10 writers
- Suggested reading: North Sun: Or, The Voyage of the Whaleship Esther by Ethan Rutherford
Faculty
- Kirstin Bakis
- Molly Gaudry
- Jennifer McCauley
Special Guest
- Author Ethan Rutherford — Tuesday, July 21, 7:00 PM –8:00 PM
Cost
Tuition for the program is $450.
Workshops
The Art and Craft of Fiction
Write with your heart, edit with your mind: In this fiction workshop, we’ll focus on befriending the powerful ideas that live in the wilds of your subconscious and taming them (gently!) with the power of craft and a keen editor’s eye. We'll also talk about identifying and reaching your personal writing goals and create a map for you to get there. Taught by Kirsten Bakis
Honing Your Narrative Voice: A Fiction Workshop
In this fiction workshop, group members will read contemporary short fiction and craft essays that address memory, point of view, character motivation and plot. They’ll also share their work with peers and learn about revision strategies and new approaches to the short story, flash and hybrid fiction. Workshop members will hone their creative voices in a fun, productive and collaborative environment. Taught by Jennifer Maritza McCauley
The Shape of What’s Next: Form, Function, and Revision
For this virtual workshop, you may submit a range of fiction forms—traditional short stories, novel chapters, stories toward a novel-in-stories, interconnected flash fictions, stand-alone flash fictions, even fragmented or braided narratives. You may submit new writing or work started on campus during a previous session, and after our time together you will leave eager to dive into revisions with a clearer understanding of the functional relationship between form and content. Taught by Molly Gaudry