Every Creative Writing seminar reshapes itself according to the audience it is addressing. A different program is designed for a school (targeting children), a different one for a university course, another for a publishing house or a municipality. The challenge for the seminar I am about to discuss was that it was organized in a tech company—Starttech Ventures!
From the outset, however, we had two clear allies: first, all participants were university-educated, and second, they had already internalized the core requirement of Creative Writing—creativity itself. I attribute this largely to the fact that technology, with its rapid and dizzying pace, is inherently linked to innovation and productivity—in other words, to creation. Beyond that, the participants had nothing to envy from those attending a seminar designed for aspiring professional writers!
The first part of each session, dedicated to a brief and accessible theoretical introduction, sparked engaging discussions, while the second part, focusing on the practice of creative writing—actually writing texts—clearly demonstrated the value of collaborative workshop work. No matter how good your own ideas are on a given topic, you cannot predict or fully align with the ideas of seven or eight other minds. If you attempt to write on the same topic again, you will have been enriched by the perspectives of those seven others!
Throughout these sessions, I encountered interesting writings, intriguing ideas, and, above all, fascinating individuals. May every company—especially in the tech industry—embrace the open-mindedness of Starttech’s people (both leaders and employees) to enable such fruitful gatherings.
I look forward to meeting again!