Teaching Writing —with Bowen Gillings

Published December 17, 2024

An Interview by Deborah L. Brewer

Have you wondered about teaching a writing class or workshop? There are well over 100 recurring writers’ conferences in the United States alone. And that doesn’t include public library programming, or even PPW’s regular Write Brain events. What are the benefits of teaching a class? Do you need some sort of credentials to do it?  Can a typical writer have any hope of success?

Meet Bowen

Bowen Gillings writes to bring fun back to fiction. His latest novel, EXCEPTIONALS was released in 2023 while his short works have been published in anthologies and periodicals. He’s been featured on TV, radio, podcasts, and YouTube channels. His quirky, offbeat tales are lauded as “perfect,” “charming,” and “fun,” with writing that “boggles the genre mind.” He holds a Master of Education, five martial arts black belt certifications, and is an Army veteran. Travel enthusiast, outdoors lover, and RPG nerd, he also enjoys cooking big meals for family and friends.

Q & A

Debby: Welcome, Bowen. We appreciate your contributions to PPW over the years: serving on the board and as PPW President for a full term, writing for this blog, leading Open Critique, and serving as staff and faculty for our conference. As your fight scenes workshop has been standing room only at PPWC, we so appreciate you sharing your well-earned teaching wisdom with Writing from the Peak. 

What are the benefits and drawbacks of teaching an online class like a PPW Write Brain or a few sessions at a conference?

Bowen: First, I LOVE Pikes Peak Writers as both a valuable organization promoting and educating writers, but also as a collection of friends with whom I get to share my writing journey.

Okay, online classes. The benefits of conducting a class online are many: your class size is limitless, you can reach people where they are as no one needs to travel, you only have to prepare what can be shared electronically, and the attendees control their own volume and can turn on voice to text if needs be, so the class is highly accessible. You can record the class and use it as a resource to train from and also send recordings to the attendees (or those who couldn’t attend live). Plus, you can have a cocktail close by and wear pajama pants if that’s your thing.

I think instructors who dislike teaching online are hung up on a perceived lack of connection to the attendees or are intimidated by the technology. It is true that you don’t get the crowd feedback in an online course that you get in person. You don’t get the facial expressions, body language, and spontaneity of meeting in person. And there is a little learning curve in figuring out what Zoom or Teams, etc. can do. However, I encourage everyone who is compelled to share their knowledge with others to try leading a workshop online. The experience is worth the effort.

Debby: What sort of credentials does a writer need to present a class? How does one get on a conference faculty? How does one even decide what to teach?

Bowen: Those are all very different questions that can connect, but don’t necessarily have to. First, the only credentials a facilitator needs are those pertaining to the topic of the course. Bottom line up front: tap into your expertise, your experience, and your drive. They’ll serve you well. I do a workshop on writing fight scenes. People look at my martial arts background, stage combat training, and military experience because that makes them think I should know what I’m talking about. However, the real credentials I bring are my experiences in writing, reading, watching, analyzing, and breaking down fight scenes. For any writer looking to teach on writing, identify what you know, what you’re good at, or where you struggle. That is where the meat is. Example: you’ve done all the work to get a sales tax license so you can hand-sell your books. That is a great workshop to build because you have that experience. If you’ve received twenty-seven rejections and still put your work out there because you’ve developed coping mechanisms, that is a great workshop to create, too. Many writers lack that experience and those tools.

Now, getting on conference faculty? Simple, get involved with the conference organization. Volunteer. Volunteer. Volunteer. Get to know the decision-makers. Demonstrate your worth. In doing this you’ll build a network of friends and teammates. You now have a base to build on so that once your writing is out in the world and you decide you want to lead a workshop or three (trust me, you must develop at least three workshops) you have an organization that knows you and trusts you enough to take a chance on adding your name to their faculty. Once you’ve done one conference you become more attractive as faculty to others. You’ve started building that professional writer resumé.

Deciding what to teach goes back to credentials (what do you know? What are you confident in?) but the decision also has to do with the areas of writing that stimulate you. When designing workshops, the topics need to be things that excite you, or at least interest you. The earliest workshops I ever built had to do with conducting critiques and participating in critique groups (because I’d been in several). I knew the value gained from hearing what others see in my work, good and bad. That motivated me to share. I also like sharing my mistakes or lessons I wished I’d learned earlier. Those make for great workshops.  

Debby: What are the key elements of a great writing workshop or class? Do you have any tips for how to prepare a presentation other writers will love?

Bowen: A key ingredient is instructor enthusiasm. You don’t have to put on an act, but you do need to convey your passion for the topic you’re teaching. There is nothing worse than a workshop presented by someone who’d rather be somewhere else. Another key ingredient is audience engagement. This could be simple Q&A or writing exercises or having them share an excerpt from their WiP, their opinion on a piece, etc.

When preparing the workshop, think about what you would want from a workshop on the topic. If you could attend your workshop, what would you want to experience? Another key is to admit your own limitations and build only the workshop you are qualified or skilled to give. Don’t try an interactive roleplay workshop on young adult dialogue if you don’t write YA or have experience with young adults in your life.

A personal pet peeve is attending a fiction writing workshop where the instructor’s sole references are films, plays, TV shows, or video games. When I go to a writing workshop I expect comparisons from other pieces of writing: novels, novellas, short stories, or books on fiction writing. Now, I admit I use references to films and TV shows in some of my workshops, but they supplement the examples I use from novels. Please, do the work to use written works and stop showing us how perfectly A New Hope demonstrates The Hero’s Journey.

Debby: You have a master’s degree in education and you teach at your day job, so I imagine teaching at a writers’ conference is well within your comfort zone. How can a shy presenter mitigate some of their discomfort?

Bowen: Learn. I don’t mean that sarcastically. If you plan to publish a book, you MUST get comfortable talking to people and talking in front of people. Even if you don’t ever lead a workshop, you will do book signings, book readings, and talk to book clubs. You must pitch your book to agents, booksellers, and librarians to get your book on shelves. Authors must learn to talk. The best way to do that, in my opinion and experience, is to take an improvisational theater class. These teach you to think on your feet, adapt a conversation to support your intent, actively listen, defend your argument, and feel comfortable in front of a crowd. If that seems a bridge too far, joining a speaking organization like Toastmasters is another option.

Find Bowen here: https://storiesbybowen.com/

Deborah L. Brewer joined Pikes Peak Writers a decade ago, seeking help with a cozy mystery. When the novel was completed, she stayed for the camaraderie. Now she’s writing short stories. An editor for the PPW 2022 anthology, Dream, Deborah contributes to Writing from the Peak to help fellow PPW members write better with more enjoyment, and ultimately, achieve their writing dreams.