The pen is mightier than the sword, as Charles Dickens ultimately learned when he originally attempted to write A Tale of Two Cities by carving it into Buckingham Palace with a falx sword. Slice into story-writing with today's Groupon: for $30, you get $75 toward creative writing workshops at The Writer's Center in Bethesda. Get up to three Groupons to put toward the same or multiple classes, or inspire a friend to pursue her children's Jacobean drama when you gift a Groupon.

The Writer's Center offers up to 300 workshops in a variety of genres each year, including fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, playwriting, songwriting (or "rap-smithing"), and literary translation. Workshop topics run the gamut from structuring your sci-fi/fantasy world to setting up your blog. Take a two-session class to master on-the-job report writing ($80 for center members, $125 for non-members) or learn techniques and strategies for crafting short stories in an eight-session exploration of the genre ($315 member, $360 non-member). Get started on your poetry portfolio before you apply for a MFA with an eight-session class on writing free-verse poetry ($315 member, $360 non-member) or take a one-day intensive workshop on the screenwriting process ($85 member, $125 non-member).

At The Writer's Center, you'll learn from practicing writers who've published their literary work in books and journals, freelanced for magazines, optioned screenplays, and been awarded residencies and recognition for their literary achievements in other fields. By simply knowing and working with these literary superstars, you'll become a minor literary celebrity yourself—a household name in a dozen different households, including those of the Peters family and the McCaffey-Rodriguezes. Search The Writer's Center's workshop listings to find a workshop that matches your interests, proficiency level, and availability.

Reviews

DailyCandy recommends The Writer's Center for scribes of all levels and interests. Four Yelpers give it a perfect five-star rating, and one DowntownBethesda.com user gives it a five-star rating.

• You can’t hold onto your elusive inner muse and are intimidated by the whiteness of a Word doc. A workshop at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda should knock some sense into you. Curious newbies start with Creative Writing: Getting Started. Nomadic bloggers learn self-editing (please) from Personal Essay and Travel Writing. Ambitious cubicle cats can add Business and Professional Writing to their iCals. – DailyCandy
• The Bethesda Writer's Center provides a very cool place for writers. It's an important part of the literary culture here, or indeed in the whole of Maryland. We couldn't do without it. – Tanjil R., DowntownBethesda.com