Writers’ Workshop

The Course

Caitrin co-created Writers' Workshop in 2018, with Lauren Taaffe, Vice President and Chief of Staff at Olin. The class explores what it means to be human through the lens of literature and creative writing. We explore the craft of fiction (by reading and writing) in order to make sense of the world around us and to develop ourselves as writers. We consider how writing fits into our lives, identities, and aspirations. Strong writing is a skill that can be developed through ongoing experimentation, regular practice, helpful feedback, and revision. And, to understand writing and get better at it, you have to do it. In the class we set personal writing goals and strategies for achieving them, we support each other in achieving personal goals, and we celebrate our work at the end of the semester. Our goal is to create a supportive community of writers at Olin, people for whom writing is something to be approached with an open mind and sense of possibility. The wider context for the class is the notion of understanding people in order to do engineering “for the good of the world” (which is in Olin’s founding precepts!).

For the fall 2019 version of the class we used the challenge of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) to become better writers. We explored what novels are, and how to develop characters, plot, dialogue, and sense of place. Each student wrote a (short) novel! We spent September and October getting ready, and then during the 30 days of November, students wrote their novels.

Additional Links

See an Olin College Facebook post about NaNoWriMo in this class.