Are you looking to “level up” on your writing? Maybe you’re looking for a workshop of like-minded writers who want to be the best they can be and you want to join them? Maybe you want just enough instruction and guidance on a particular piece of writing to prepare it for the submittal process. If any of that is true, a Larksong Bootcamp workshop is for you. The Bootcamps are taught by various teachers and in various genres at various times, so if you can't make one, keep coming back to see if the next one fits your needs. 

Don’t be intimidated by the word “bootcamp” – we are MUCH kinder than drill sergeants and exercise class leaders.

This Larksong Bootcamp for Prose Writers will be led by Lucy Adkins. It is a limited-enrollment workshop open to a maximum of 6 writers who are committed to improving their own writing and are willing to read and respond to the work of the other writers in the workshop.

Led by an experienced writer and teacher, Lucy Adkins, this workshop will include discussions of craft and the writing process in ways that matter to each specific writer and go beyond the limits of one particular piece of writing. You will have the opportunity to learn from all the writers in the workshop both in their responses to your work and in the discussions of their work. The goal is not to “fix” anyone’s writing, but to provide illumination about where you are in the process and the direction you may want to go to improve your work. You will leave the workshop with a clearer understanding of the elements of craft and how they apply to your own work.  

The class will meet 4 times, with a week-long break between the second and third week. The first meeting will be an introductory class where each writer will bring four copies of between 10 and 15 pages of writing to share with the other writers. We will discuss and agree on the ground rules for responding helpfully and kindly and set the reading schedule for the next three weeks. During each of the next three meetings we will focus on two writers’ work (one hour per writer). Each week class members are required to read and write comments on the work of the scheduled writer and be prepared to discuss it. 

Lucy Adkins is a writer of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Her poetry collections include One Life Shining: Addie Finch Farmwife from Pudding House Press; Two-Toned Dress, which was the winner of a Blue Light Press Poetry Prize and the 2021 Nebraska Book Award for Poetry; and most recently, A Crazy Little Thing from Wayne State College Press. Her fiction has been published in South Dakota Review and the Voices from thePlains anthology. One of her novels is in search of a publisher and she is currently at work on another. Lucy has also co-authored two books of non-fiction, Writing in Community and The Fire Inside: A Companion for the Creative Life.  For many years, she has led writing groups and workshops, and was named co-winner of the Lincoln 2020 Mayors Arts Award for Excellence in the Literary Arts. Her MFA in Creative Writing (specializing in fiction) is from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.