Message from Refinery Writing Studio Founder Amy Paige Condon: Many of you have written inquiring about upcoming classes. Because of a heavy workload and a number of deadline-oriented projects, I have not been able to teach for a while. I am planning on returning to teaching creative writing courses in Spring 2024 and hope you’ll bear with me as I revamp the course schedules and descriptions. Thank you for your inquiries and patience. I promise to return soon.
Write Here. Write Now.
Your story begins at the Refinery Writing Studio, a creative writing space based in Savannah, Georgia. Here, you’ll discover an encouraging environment of both emerging and established writers who come together to study craft and sharpen their skills in fellowship with other storytellers. As you’re constructing your story, you’re helping to build the city’s literary community. If you’ve always wanted to write a novel, memoir, screenplay, or children’s stories, the Refinery offers workshop-style instruction that grounds you in reality and encourages you to dive into the sea of your imagination.
“I consider Amy the best writing teacher I’ve ever had—hands-down! Though I hold an MFA from NYU and have published myriad short stories, essays and articles, I learned a ton in Amy’s creative writing and short story classes. Her breakdown of plot and narrative structure, in particular, was so vivid and instructive, the scales fell from my eyes! Now I read more critically and revise with the hero’s journey in mind. Any writer—at any stage in her or his literary career—can benefit from Amy’s astute and compassionate critiques.”
The Refinery Catalogue
The Refinery’s community writing classes are designed for writers at all stages of development, from emerging authors who are just putting pen to paper for the first time to advanced authors who need to polish their work for publication. Classes will remain intentionally small, up to 8 students each, so that each student receives tailored instruction while also building trust and camaraderie with fellow writers. Each class meets for two hours once a week for up to 12 weeks, depending upon complexity, and involves in-class lecture, writing, out-of-class reading and writing assignments, and workshop feedback.
A note about workshops: The best way to learn about and to improve your own writing is to read—voraciously—not only the works of masters but also of your fellow writers. But, you have to learn to read like a writer, which is one of the most important goals of all Refinery classes. To develop that skill, students will submit samples of their out-of-class writing assignments to their classmates for workshop. The purpose of the workshop is for an author to receive honest, fair critique on his or her writing to understand what is working, what is not and why. The comments are always about the writing, never about the author, and it gives the readers an opportunity to ask clarifying questions of authors. By the end of the workshops, student writers will have a path forward for revision, and the readers will have learned how to read critically.
“I’ve taken all of Amy’s writing classes. Because Amy is such an inspiration and a wonderful teacher, I’ve taken most of her classes more than once. I learn something new each time. She makes the classes interesting, fun, and challenging. Her expert writing and editing skills, as well as her abundant literary knowledge, are invaluable gifts to her students, whether they are aspiring writers, struggling writers, blocked writers, or seasoned writers. I plan to sign up for more of Amy’s classes this year!”