About the Christian Writers Workshop...

What We Do

The Christian Writer's Workshop brings together writers of all genres and experience who have one thing in common: they are all Christians!

Workshop Schedule

On AOL...

As the Writer's Club, owned by iUnoverse.com, has not renewed its contract with AOL, the Christian Wrtiter's Workshop will no longer meet on AOL.

On the Internet...

The Christian Writer's Workshop meets each Tuesday at 10 PM ET / 7 PM PT in the #workshop chat room of the Writers Club at http://chat.iuniverse.com. Follow the instructions and you're there!
Or, to use Internet Relay chat, use mIRC (Windows) or Ircle (Macintosh). You'll need to select/set the connection to http://chat.iuniverse.com.

History and Philosophy

What is the Christian Writer's Workshop? Who are we? What is our purpose?

The Christian Writer's Workshop came about through an evolutionary process. Way back in the early stages, we were just a Bulletin Board on AOL. Then, three of us, WTYates, KZee, and I (FoxyGram), decided we had generated enough interest to create a regular workshop. The bulletin boards were no longer satisfactory. We felt we needed to do something more for the Christian writer. So, we began the Christian Writer's Workshop. We went through some pretty painful growth stages. Our first workshops were on Saturday nights. Wow, talk about a bad time-slot! I don't think I need to explain. It was bad enough for us to ask the Writer's Club to give us another night. Tracey (THopeB) and Bradley (Phylwriter) came through for us, and we found our home on Thursday nights.

We've come a long, long ways since those early days. KZee left us to pursue a family and a writing career, but WTYates (Bill) and I stayed and the workshop has evolved into what it is now. And recently, with the expansion of the Writers Club to the Internet, we have begun an Internet workshop on Tuesday nights. We have some 340+ names on our newsletter mailing list, and more are seeking us out than ever before. Too bad our attendance doesn't always reflect this :-)

We are, simply stated, a group of Christians who write. We don't all write just for the Christian market, however. Many of our number write for secular publications. Does this compromise our Christianity? No! Not at all. The secular market is ripe for the truths of Christianity and the reality of Christ and His purpose in their lives. Much good is being done in the secular market in Jesus' name!

What are we? Well, first let me explain what we are not! We are not 'The Christian Writer's Debate'. We are not 'The Christian Writer's Political Platform'. We are not 'The Christian Writer's Theological Forum'. We are not 'The Christian Writer's Doctrinal Society'. No, I'm not being sarcastic. Occasionally it becomes necessary to reinforce what we are and who we are.

I repeat, we are a group of Christians who write. That's it! Our guests are chosen for their expertise in a certain area of writing; from established authors right up to the editors and publishers themselves. We've had them all. Our purpose is to learn the process of writing and getting published. The content of our material is of no importance. We have no interest in the espoused doctrine; we don't care if the political or theological theories agree with our own. Again, that's not our purpose or reason for being here. We mean to be a support group for writers in every stage of their career. We hope we can present something, at some time or another, that will help a writer solve a particular problem they're struggling with, in their writing.
--FoxyGram (Peggy Phifer)

When any of us become embroiled in a discussion or debate about certain principles or issues in other areas, please make it understood that you are not representing the Christian Writer's Workshop or Christian Critique Partners. Failure to do so can cause irreparable harm to our work and hurt the group as a whole.

Thank you all for your faithfulness and dedication to this workshop. And, thank you for letting 'Mother' take the podium one more time :-)

God Bless you, every one!
Peg (FoxyGram) Co-Founder
Christian Writer's Workshop

Operation

Our normal workshops consist of a one-hour session with a Guest Speaker who answers questions from the participants about his or her area of expertise in some field of writing. The session is called to order by the Moderator who announces the Guest Speaker and topic and then calls on the Chaplain to offer an opening prayer. After the prayer and chorus of "Amen!", the Moderator explains Protocol.

Protocol is a method of conducting the workshop so as to minimize confusion and maximize the effectiveness of the limited time we have available. It works as follows:
Type a "?" if you want to ask a question.
Type a "!" is you want to make a comment on something which does not require a response.
Type a "/" or "ga" when you are done with your question or statement.
The Moderator keeps track of whose turn it is and will call on you when it is your turn.
If you absolutely must make a side remark, put it between angle brackets <thus>.

At the end of the session, the Moderator will call on the Chaplain to offer a closing prayer and then close the session. The entire workshop is saved by the Logger who will then upload the transcript to the CWW web site (click on "workshops").

The newsletter of the Christian Writer's Workshop is now named the Wordsmith Shoppe News and is edited by Peg Phifer. It comes out every Monday and contains the PegBoard column, workshop schedule, members news, prayer requests, conference information, writing opportunities, and a funny or two. To subscribe or to submit items for the newsletter, e-mail Peggy Phifer.