Can Taking a Workshop Help You Get Published?

Mary Stewart Hammond, Poet and Teacher

That's a good question, and the answer is:  it depends!  Certainly workshops are a place where the workshop moderator as well as other poets have a chance to critique your work.  But does taking a workshop lead to improvements in your poetry, or not? 

As you might imagine, the skill and style of the instructor are key factors in determining the success of a workshop.  Read the example below of Mary Stewart Hammond's workshop, and how powerful the experience can be under the right circumstances.  
 
Taking a Workshop and Getting Published

Should You Take a Poetry Workshop?

The key benefit of a good poetry workshop is that it can help you write better poetry quicker than if left to your own devices.  But it's important to choose the "right" workshop, one that inspires you.

A good workshop is one that makes you feel safe enough to explore new writing paths and doesn't implicitly or explicitly suggest that you change your unique "voice" to match someone else's -- whether it's the workshop leader or workshop participants.

Once the "right" workshop is found, it can not only help you produce more good poetry more quickly, but also increase your chances of publishing.  Here are some benefits of taking a workshop:

Taking a poetry workshop:  Is it a good idea?