Scott Snyder aiming to revive DC's Writers Workshop initiative

Comic book writer Scott Snyder has big plans coming up, and they're not just limited to Dark Nights: Death Metal and his creator-owned work; he's also angling to revive DC's writing workshop initiative to help bring new writers into the publisher's comics.

"My goal is to also try to get the teaching workshop up and running again, not take oxygen from the main line myself, and allow a generation of writers to come up while I'm doing other things," Snyder told Newsarama.

Snyder and DC have not elaborated beyond that, but a revived workshop would be a continuation of a program that brought over 20 new writers into DC. Snyder himself has a long history as a teacher, leading classes on writing for New York University, Columbia University, and Sarah Lawrence College - with several of his former students including James Tynion and Marguerite Bennett going on to work in comics, including at DC.

Snyder's DC writing workshops were part of a larger Talent Development Workshop initiative announced in 2016. The initiative had two tracks - one for writers taught by Snyder (with Geoff Johns), and then one for artists taught by DC publisher/chief creative officer Jim Lee along with fellow artists Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson. The initiative was organized by Bobbie Chase, DC's then-vice president of talent development.

With a stated goal to give "access and a voice to new and prospective talent," the workshop initiative ran for four terms: a 2015 invite-only pilot program unannounced at the time, a spring 2016 class, a fall 2016 class, and a 2017 class.

"I'm so proud and honored to be heading up DC's Writers Workshop," Snyder said in the 2016 announcement. "Teaching has always been a passion of mine, and getting to help welcome and coach new voices at a company that's given me so many creative opportunities is a tremendous thrill."

The three classes ran as 13-week online courses, with some of the students being invited to DC's offices in Burbank, California for an "intensive" writing experience with Snyder and others. Following the completion of the course, DC's Talent Development group worked to get the graduates' writing samples in front of the editors hiring for projects. Several were given assignments on anthologies (including several New Talent Showcase books) and guest-arcs on ongoing books.

"Scott Snyder is, without a doubt, one of the best writers working in comics. But he is also a great teacher," Matthew Rosenberg, a writer in the spring 2016 class, told Newsarama previously. "Getting to listen and discuss story, character, and just about everything comics with him was a really great experience and I am definitely a better writer for it. I think just having the chance to talk in-depth about process and craft is invaluable to creators, and it helps a lot when you get to do it with one of the best."

The 2015 pilot program was invite-only, and a list of participants was not made public.

The first public class (in early 2016) was comprised of Matthew Rosenberg, Andy Smith, Christopher Sebela, Emma Beeby, Erica Schultz, Hena Khan, Joelle Jones, Michael McMillian, Michael Moreci, Veronica Muniz-Soto, and Vita Ayala.

In the fall Snyder taught another round with the following participants: Owl Goingback, Erica Harrell, Desiree Proctor, Al Letson, David Accampo, Aaron Gillespie, Ryan Lindsay, and Tony Patrick.

In 2017, a fourth session ran with writers Magdalene Visaggio, Sanya Anwar, Joey Esposito, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Robert Jeffrey, and Ryan Cady.

DC and Snyder have not disclosed a reason for the workshop's hiatus since then.

Look for more details on Snyder's writing workshops here at Newsarama.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)