what we believe in
Experimentation
At the heart of all creative endeavors is a drive to experiment. At FuenteCo, we want to take you beyond the traditional writing workshop by offering experiences, often day-long, that are meant to encourage you to stray from the paths of your usual forms, genres, and routines. We want writers to play outside their comfort zone and discover the value of trying something that they've never tried before. We want to be a catalyst for your creative experiments. Our goal isn't just to help you become a better writer. Our goal is to help you better understand yourself as a creative artist.
Collaboration
Writing, like all creative work, doesn't happen in a vacuum. We've been conditioned to believe that in order to achieve originality, we need to work alone in a metaphorical locked room, lest our ideas be stolen. At FuenteCo, we want to show writers and other artists that working collaboratively doesn't diminish creativity—it increases it. We want to put you on paths you might not have gone down alone but that you'll find exciting now that you've found them.
Hybridity
Collaborations are not the only way to create work that encompasses more than one art form or genre. Even when working by yourself, seek out moments of hybridity. Write in between genres or forms: do you really have to choose whether your piece is flash fiction or a poem? The fact that it's a mixture of both might be at the heart of what makes your piece exciting. Blend writing with other art forms: music, visual art, sculpture. Not sure how? We'd love to explore possibilities with you.
Playfulness
Don't allow yourself to be dragged down by routines and word goals, by plotting your way through a complicated story, by having to force yourself to sit in the damn chair already. Allow yourself to (re)discover a sense of play in your process. Playfulness, whether in style, medium, subject matter, and even in your creative process can elevate your work, re-energize it, empower you to drop inhibitions and write the way you've always wanted to: joyfully.
Being playful and taking your work seriously are not mutually exclusive. Call yourself a writer and own it. Recognize why you write and what you want to accomplish. Work towards your goals with conviction and purpose.
Rule-Bending
You know the old wisdom about having to learn how to play by the rules before you get to break them? We don't quite believe that, at least not in a universal sense. Rules can be helpful starting points for some writers, but even then, remember that many rules are nothing but tools and that you are in control of which of them you want to keep and use, and which of them will only clutter up your toolbox.
Think about who made the rules, and to whose benefit. Think about whether a rule empowers you, helps you find and grow your voice, or whether it tames your work and tries to fit it into a preexisting system you might not want to be a part of. Sometimes it's worth bending the rules. Sometimes it's a necessity to break them.