Chuck's Workshop

[cypher_lee]

Are any of the writers on this board members of the Chuck Palahniuk official site? On the site he has a writer's workshop in which he posts essays each month on various aspects of writing technique. He then asks people to submit work that uses the technique of that month.

I'm not personally a member so i haven't seen these essays, but some of the work submitted by the public seems to be pretty damn good writing.

I was wondering if anyone here is a member, and if so, are the collection of (20?) essays worth the fee?

[WriterInChains]

Hi cypher,

I was a member of that site when all the content was free, so I read 6 or 7 of the essays. They're wonderful, but not for $60/year. (That may not be what it costs now, but that's what The Cult was charging when it first started charging for the essays.) I think Chucky P said something about publishing them in book form at the Haunted reading, so I'd just wait & see. He does a book a year at least, & this one's probably already written; $25 is a much better deal than $60.

If you ever have the chance, I'd definitely recommend you go see him on a book tour. Besides being a really great guy & entertaining as hell, he answers any questions posed to him about writing. He's truly happy to do it. I've had a couple of cool conversations with him, and he's helped both my daughter & I with a few specific writing questions over the past 5 years. Also, he refers a lot to Stephen King's "On Writing" -- says it's an important book to him -- so you may want to check that one out while you're waiting for the dangerous writing guide. :)

Have a great day!
Caren

[indiriverflow]

So I'm bumping this thread to find out if anyone has found the premium membership at the Chuck cult site worthwhile. Ordinarily, the $40 would stay in my pocket. But it's Chuck...

So I guess I want to know how active he actually is with this site. The FAQ seems to be dedicated to ducking the fact that he no longer actively works with the writers. While understandable, I'm wondering if the central perk--the opportunity to be critiqued by Palahniuk himself--remains valid.

Anybody a Cult member here? How hard is it to get in the top 5? Does Chuck really still read workshop submissions from premium members?