Cary Tennis Writing Workshops

A very unusual writing workshop.

I loved working with Cary and highly recommend his workshops.

I’ve taken three of Cary Tennis’ workshops… they really keep you in good writing form, a great way to exercise the creativity muscle. I cured myself of all kinds of bad habits. It’s a great, supportive environment to write in. Everyone’s writing always improves with Cary’s guidance. Catch some of his writing on Salon, where he writes a great advice column.

Ten stars.
I still don’t understand exactly how it works, but every Wednesday evening, when I’m tired from the day, not feeling particular creative or even enthusiastic, I sit down to write with Cary and the group and somehow — I don’t know how — within 2 hours we have all created the most unique, incredible, original work. Cary structures an environment where writers feel safe to just write, and it’s marvelous to see what emerges. My writing and my creativity in general have developed in new and unexpected directions since beginning these workshops. Highly recommend to any kind of artist (not just writers), or for that matter, any human looking to ignite creativity and self-​expression.

In winter 2013, I googled Poetry Class, San Francisco & Cary Tennis’s class came up, a mere six blocks from my home.
On a Saturday afternoon, I showed up at 3 pm with two poems & a pen. I starkly & almost immediately came to realize this was NOT a poetry class, per say. I imagined very carefully getting up from my chair, & parting the velvet curtains to get to the front door. I imagined hearing the front door click very quietly behind me. But Cary had read Pat Schneider’s
The Five Essential Affirmations &
The Five Essential Practices —
they were way too provocative upon which to turn my back.
The Five Essential Affirmations
.Everyone has a strong, unique voice.
.Every one is born with creative genius.
.Writing as an art form belongs to all people, regardless of economic class or educational level.
.The teaching of craft can be done without damage to a writer’s original voice & artistic self-​esteem.
.A writer is someone who writes.
The Five Essential Practices
.A non hierarchical spirit (how we treat writing) in the workshop is maintained while at the same time an appropriate discipline (how we interact as a group) keep writers safe.
.Confidentiality about what is written in the workshop is maintained, and the privacy of the writer is protected. All writing is treated as fiction unless the writer requests that it be treated as autobiography. At all times writers are free to refrain from reading their work aloud.
.Absolutely no criticism, suggestion, or question is directed toward the writer in response to first-​draft, just-​written work. A thorough critique is offered only when the writer asks for it and distributes work in manuscript form. Critique is balanced; there is as much affirmation as suggestion for change.
.The teaching of craft is taken seriously and is conducted through exercises that invite experimentation and growth as well as through response to manuscripts and in private conferences.
.The leader writes along with the participants and reads that work aloud at least once in each writing session. This practice is risk-​taking and mutuality of trust.
So if you are a writer & you quietly isolate & anguish over your writing, yourself as a writer & impossibly transporting you & your writing to a higher plain, join us. As trapeze artists, we keep reaching for the next rung, our fellow writers on the ground beneath us with their necks craned, knowing what it takes to swing breathless above the rest of the world.

«It was an ordinary beating, as beatings go…»
I’ve tried to write alone but I get beaten. The ever-​present critic, editor, that nasty judge and all those masters of distraction. Cary Tennis keeps me on track with great humor and compassionate criticism.
People who seek something different and unique are drawn to his home and online workshops, which makes the experience interesting. It can be a quirky group, an Island of Misfit Toys with powerful potential. To see this potential harnessed is an experience that is unforgettable. You don’t realize what you are capable of until you spend time writing with the delightful Cary Tennis.
Also, if he asked I might give him a kidney. The man is a brilliant muse.

«‘What if one by one, everyone just got up and left?’ he asked. Perhaps we’d never see each other again. I would be sad about that. I would miss the laughter.»
Direct quote from something written in one of Cary’s workshops, about the workshop itself.
I found Cary’s workshop on
, after reading his columns regularly. What others have said about these workshops being a «gift» is absolutely correct.
Cary’s writing workshops are a safe place to explore your writing skills. Everyone who comes through the door is treated as a writer, and all voices, levels of experience and styles are welcomed.
One of the most valuable things that comes from the workshop is knowing what other readers find memorable in my work. The other people in the workshop have made me a better writer (and a better reader). Cary’s easy leadership style and method make it fun. The idea that everything is a first draft and thereby only praise and memorable moments are discussed creates safety and allows vulnerability.
And Norma is truly the unheralded heroine in creating the environment for the workshops. Her light floods the space.
I highly encourage budding writers to participate, but only if there is still a chair left for me!

If I were a poodle, nothing would make me prouder than to take care of Cary and Norma.
As it happened, of all the writers and journalists I read daily on the internet, Cary’s voice came through poetically, honestly, passionately, persistently, and I developed a relationship with him that he knew nothing about, save for a Tweet here and there which I doubt he ever saw. I’m egotistically fussy about who I let stake a claim in my brain. I started quoting him here and there, little snippets that rang true on a universal scale, little snippets that continue to breathe new life, new imagination, new humanity, into places that have a tendency to become dusty and neglected over time. It was really something, that after many, many years, I had found someone who accidentally touched my soul. It had been a long time. Way too long.
I don’t quite remember the circumstances, but the day came when I had the opportunity to join an online ‘writing class’ with Cary, and I jumped. I took action. WHOA, NELLY!
I was a kid again, but there were no scolding voices. We got together, the students and Cary and I, and we wrote, we shared this magically eery digital time and space, and we let our raggedy brains calm down, forget about everything else, and breathe. And write. Cary has an all-​encompassing technique that he uses — I guess it’s a technique — and it works. Stuff happens. Stuff I couldn’t otherwise have began to dream up. I remembered, for the first time in many decades, what it felt like to be a kid with a blank piece of paper as my bff in the whole world. I remembered how I got to create and re-​create the world as I wanted it with every new piece of paper. I remembered something happy about being a kid.
But let us not get all weird.
As a *direct* result of spending time with Cary and the other students, I started acting as a background performer. It just happened. That’s all I can tell you. I made a point of making room in my life for art, whatever that might be, and I stumbled onto a set somewhere, because someone else had come along and pushed me ever so slightly. Four weeks ago, I joined SAG-​AFTRA. I am incredibly proud to call myself an actor. I don’t blend too well, so they’re actually making room for me here and there. Go figure. Cary showed me absolutely, without doubt, without hesitation, to let his pixie dust rain down on me.
The ONLY way I can express my gratitude is by pushing forward with the torch he helped me how light.
Oh, and any typos herein are by design.
And Oh! again, Norma and I became a lot like sisters. She’s another delight that isn’t advertised so much. She’s a beacon, too.

Participating in Cary’s workshop is one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. There’s nothing stuffy or intimidating about Cary or the Amherst Writers and Artists method he follows. Everyone’s an equal, and Cary sets a tone of supportive fellowship and good humor that allows me to write and share work unselfconsciously. Participants are both experienced writers and novices, but you’d be hard pressed to identify which was which. And did I mention it’s really fun? I can’t recommend it highly enough!

Cary’s workshops are a gift. Often I feel tired or preoccupied or stubbornly practical when I enter his home, but always by the end of the hours I am transformed, having been carried to places in my imagination that I didn’t know existed. Each time I am surprised and delighted by what the workshops allow me to discover.
Oh, and Cary helped me get my very first story published in a real magazine! He’s the best.