Is there a single best way to learn how to write fiction? To begin or redraft a novel or short story? There is. A significant amount of fiction craft and technique exists that is known only to a relatively small number of people. This craft and technique is often not taught even at the college MFA level. Given that such craft and technique is best learned from the works of those authors who originated and/or utilized it most effectively, an examination of these works in detail will provide participants with the comprehensive knowledge they need to transform their own short stories and novels.

Is there a single best way to approach getting published? There is. Our workshops also focus on genre research, agent needs, editorial services, publication, and more. You learn the hard yet reassuring facts about the market.

Students of our workshops gain an immediate advantage of association due to the fact that our workshops are hosted and supported by the Web del Sol Association, the largest publisher of periodical contemporary literature (short fiction and poetry) in the U.S. Specific information on Web del Sol can be found in this recent article from "Poet's and Writers" magazine.

A summary of advantages as follows:

• Higher faculty-to-student ratio than Gotham or any other online workshop. Algonkian classes of six to eight students are smaller than other online workshops, thus allowing for more quality interaction time with faculty. Also, Algonkian students are served by two or three writing professionals, not just one.

• A Foot In the Publication Door. Short stories workshopped at Algonkian will be read by Web del Sol editors and have the potential to be published in any one of several quality fiction magazines. A collection of literary reviews at Web del Sol can be found here. Web del Sol and its publications receive, in total, an average of 3000 readers per day; and since Web del Sol includes only the finest, a work published in any of these periodicals makes it easier for the writer to continue to be published elsewhere. Also, when it comes to persuading an agent to read a novel manuscript, appearing in one of our magazines will put you over the top.

• An Agent Nexus. Due to Web del Sol's reputation in the literary community, it is a crossroads and nexus for agents, visited regularly by representatives from the best agencies in the U.S. If you are writing short fiction but you also want to signal to an agent that a novel is in the works, Web del Sol is the place to be published. If you are a novel writer, please know that Algonkian Workshops have forged mutually beneficial connections with quality agencies such as Amster Literary, AEI, Trident Media, ICM, Sandra Dijkstra, William Morris, and others, and they have agreed to review promising and unique novel concepts submitted to them by Algonkian. If the agents like your concept (novel title plus two to three sentence capsule summary), they will read an ms excerpt. This significant bridge is made possible due to our growing reputation as a superior novel workshop. Algonkian will assist in getting your first novel published, whether literary or genre.

If you want or need more information on our writer conferences at various locations around the country, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions.

Algonkian Workshops online contain the following features:

• Asynchronous Mode. You do not have to be present at the exact moment your teacher or classmates are interacting online. Your writing exercises, shop critiques, and study material can be accomplished at any time during the week.
• Online Workshop Features. Classroom lectures, assignments, readings, and professional editorial critiques.
• Interactive, Supportive Community. As our students learn craft in the context of their work, they receive tangible feedback, both from fellow students, their instructor, the professional in residence, and a Web del Sol editor as appropriate.
• Solid Workshop Environment. Algonkian online shops are interactive classrooms, and a student does not need to understand any special software or commands. If you can point and click with a mouse, you are home free!
• Perpetual Log-In. For the duration of the workshop, students can log-on anywhere and 24/7.

The Algonkian approach is unique, and unequalled in other workshops. Writers prefer the Algonkian method because of its author study selections, prose and structure exercises, and narrative enhancement guides. Novel writers prefer our core focus on dramatic complication and theme as the primary elements upon which character, plot, and all other elements build. All our students learn technique, style, and structure from the most powerful and original fiction writers and novelists. Click here for samples of our workshop material.

Please note that:

• Algonkian course exercises are foundation designed, that is, each writer or poet works their short story or novel from the ground up, step-by-stepping basics as the workshop progresses.
• Algonkian novel students will begin the novel. Students who have not yet begun the novel will have it started before the end of the workshop. Students who have already begun will restructure and redraft as appropriate based on craft learned during the workshop.
• Algonkian short fiction students will write and work towards developing a masterful story-in-progress through a suitable number of drafts and while applying ever more complex levels of craft technique learned in the workshop.
• Algonkian "Art of Fiction II" students will work towards developing and publishing a short fiction portfolio that includes two short-shorts and one flash fiction and/or longer length short.