Workshop leader Nancy White instructs participants on the concept of the 10-Minute Play, using Playwright August Wilson’s “The Janitor” as an example. White offered several works for participants to read and use as examples during the workshop.
White asked participants to take charge of their story and write about what they want — not what the audience does
In Nancy White’s Write On! Workshop, writers find their truths and put them to paper.
The recently retired creative writing teacher at Hickman High School has led writing workshops as a part of the Unbound Book Festival Write On! Workshop for two years. She began in 2022 and returned this year.
This year’s workshop was held on Sunday, April 21 at the Helis Communication Center, on the Stephens College campus.
White, a published poet and playwright herself, led two classes in those genres: Truth-Telling Through Poetry and Play On: Introduction to 10-Minute Playwriting.
At the start of each workshop, White set the stage with an analogy.
“If prose is this room, then poetry and plays are the singular objects—this shade of light, that corner of the room. It’s about honing that story down and condensing it into a single moment of time that we can capture,” White said.
Capturing those small moments on paper is White’s favorite part about writing. Yet, before participants can begin writing, White asks them a question.
“What is your truth?”
According to White, your truth can be anything. White said she imagines the audience at the end of a play, packing up and leaving to go home.
“What are they talking about? What are they thinking about? What do you want them to take away from your story? That is your truth,” White said.
White said she asks these questions because she believes writing should be personal.
“We think our writing has to be for somebody else, or we have to make something fluffy or entertaining, but that doesn’t ever get to the heart of us,” White said. “Your writing should be about the truth you want to say because that’s art.”
Although White never forces participants to express their truths, the level of vulnerability and openness White asks of her students has never been an area of difficulty for her.
“We’re hungry for the personal truths in writing,” White said. “There’s just so much emptiness and turmoil in our culture that we need those moments that matter to us and show us what life is about.”
After participants select a truth to focus on, White tells them to expand their story to include setting and characters. However, she insists that you just write.
“The worst thing we can do as writers is second guess ourselves. Don’t think. Just write,” White said.
At the end of the workshop, sharing your work is optional, but White encourages it. Sometimes, she will share her work, too.
“I try to be human and not have that distance between my students and I,” White said. “I share my own struggles as a writer and write with them. I think that it’s a great learning experience for them.”
Both of White’s workshops followed that same format — as did her high school creative writing classes. She feels like this structure of asking a question and allowing writers to brainstorm freely on their own volition translates well to writers of all ages.
“People are people, regardless of their age, and they’re still wanting to say something, have fun, play with their imaginations and get out of the routine of life,” White said.
She drew inspiration from a fellow teacher at the Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts who taught fourth-grade creative writing.
“She created such a safe environment where she and the students could be vulnerable,” White said. “She was like the teacher I never had, and she really inspired me to develop a similar environment.”
The environment that White creates is the reason why her workshop is offered year after year, Brooke Collier. Collier has been on the Unbound Book Festival Executive Committee since 2020 and the Write On! Committee since 2022, when the workshop began.
Collier was a participant of White’s first poetry workshop at Write On! in 2022.
“She was really thoughtful about how she was instructing and workshopping with our group,” Collier said. “Whenever people were afraid to share, she made it a comfortable space to share and talk about our work. Write On! is blessed to have such a lovely and talented person.”
The Write On! Workshop is not the end for Nancy White. Since retiring, White has found herself with an abundance of free time — which she is now devoting to reviving her workshop group called Women’s Writes.
“Women need each other to listen to one another and find things that matter to us,” White said. “There’s a nurturing quality in this workshop that I love, and I am looking forward to pursuing it more.”
At the end of the workshop, White reminded writers of the importance of honesty and truthfulness in their work.
“It’s powerful when someone is sincere and authentic,” White said. “It’s a risk, but one we have to take—if not us, then who else?”
Edited by Alyssa Royston | aroyston@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com
Edited by Sophie Rentschler | srentschler@themaneater.com