California

California has one of the richest writing-workshop scenes in the country, anchored by well-known university programs in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, alongside independent writing centers that run everything from weekend intensives to year-long novel workshops. The state's large community of published authors also means many workshops are taught by working writers rather than academics alone.

Online options are especially plentiful among California-based workshops too, since instructors here were early adopters of remote formats, making it easy to join a California workshop from anywhere.

With so many workshops to choose from in California, it helps to narrow your search by format first: decide whether you want a single weekend intensive or an ongoing weekly group before comparing instructors.