The Silver Current Writing Workshop

A complete twelve-week creative writing curriculum — the version I would hand to a colleague who asked, on a Friday afternoon, what to do with twelve weeks of students who arrived expecting transformation. Built across many years of teaching writing in high schools, universities, and community workshops. Every reading is public domain (no permission anxiety). Every exercise has been tested in real rooms. Every workshop protocol has been used with real writers. Who this is for: High school and college creative writing teachers. MFA teaching assistants and adjuncts. Community workshop leaders. Self-taught writers working alone or with one trusted reader. Curriculum coordinators building a writing program. What's inside — a 21-page handbook PDF. Weeks 1–4 build the foundation: Attention (Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown"), writing what you see, beginning a piece, ending one. Weeks 5–8 work the four moves of fiction: character, scene, dialogue, voice. Weeks 9–12 build a single piece from first full draft through structural and line-by-line revision to a publishable manuscript. Each week includes a short reading, a craft principle, two exercises (one in-class, one between sessions), a workshop protocol, and a closing reflection. Three appendices close the handbook. A workshop charter for the first session. A manuscript-evaluation rubric for the teacher who wants to grade. An extended reading list of additional public-domain texts. About the author. James F. Mulhern has taught English and creative writing for many years across high schools, universities, and colleges. He has served as Chair of English and Social Studies departments and worked with the College Board on the Advanced Placement program. He is a Kirkus-starred novelist; his novel Give Them Unquiet Dreams was named a Kirkus Best Book. He is a creative writing fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. Format: 21-page PDF, US Letter, print-ready. License: Classroom-use license included. Teachers may print and distribute the pages for use in their own classroom. Not for resale or redistribution. Delivery: instant download after purchase. Published by Silver Current Press, Philadelphia. All literary example texts are in the United States public domain.