Writing Workshop Open To Veterans

By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN The Tampa Tribune

Published: Dec 1, 2007

CARROLLWOOD - Military veterans yearning to turn their combat experiences into literary works can learn the craft of writing at a new workshop.

Freelance writer and Navy veteran Jeff Hess is starting a writers group specifically for those who have served in the military.

The free class, called DD-214 Writer's Workshop, will meet once a week in Carrollwood Village for six-week blocks and include lectures and peer review, where writers will critique one another's works in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. The first class will start Tuesday.

The name of the course refers to the U.S. Department of Defense's military service discharge form.

Hess, 42, said he has wanted to offer the free workshops since graduating in 2005 with a master's degree in fine arts and creative writing from a college in North Carolina.

Hess served in the Navy from 1983 to 1989 and was an interior communications electrician. He said he hopes to share the therapeutic aspects of writing.

"It's a tremendous opportunity for me to give back to a group that I care about," he said. "My whole purpose was to get veterans of all generations an opportunity to express themselves. I find that writing is something that many want to do, but they don't know how."

Hess said veterans have many stories to tell but need help putting words on paper.

Although a military background is required for participation, students don't have to write about their military experiences, he said.

Still, Hess said that bits of his personal military experiences have found their way into his fiction writing.

"I look at writing as sort of a relief valve. It lets people blow up steam. There's a tremendous pressure relief when you put things on paper. It gives you more objectivity," he said.

Hess plans to hold the writers workshop each week at his office in Carrollwood Village. The group will be capped at 10 students at a time, but Hess hopes to expand the number of classes offered by adding instructors.

The weekly workshop may move to a room in the Carrollwood Cultural Center once it opens, he said.

To join the writing group, call Hess at (813) 964-0519.

Reporter Elizabeth Lee Brown can be reached at (813) 865-1502 or ebrown@tampatrib.com.