Workshop Everyone will submit material for friendly, constructive workshop discussion a minimum of twice in the semester. When you're ready to be workshopped (or when your scheduled time as arrived), you'll email the class a copy of your work by noon of the day prior to class. To guard against email problems, you should also post your work in our Bb Pub. Don't forget to paginate your work, provide your name on the work, and use standard Times 10-12-pt. font. We'll all print it out and read it, or have it ready on laptops, then discuss it in class. The item to be workshopped is entirely your choice, though of course it's a good idea to have your required projects critiqued. Your goal by the end of the term is to produce a chapbook of finished material, revised with the help of your instructor and classmates. Click here for FICTION checklist (You should check this list prior to handing in stories for workshop.) Click here for POETRY checklist (You should check this list prior to handing in poetry for workshop.)
Tips and Guidelines For workshop sessions to be successful, it’s important for everyone to come prepared and participate energetically. Feel free to propose debatable ideas and views, and likewise feel free to courteously contest the ideas and views of your classmates or instructor. Please remember as well that I keep careful records of attendance and participation. To Writers Take notes! You’ll need these for the reflective letter you'll write at the end of the term. You’ll need to:
And remember: just because you didn’t intend for something to be in your poem or story doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Likewise: just because you DID intend for something to be in your poem or story doesn’t mean it works. Kick your ego personal out the door, learn something, and have fun. To Critiquer
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Read workshop pieces thoughtfully and thoroughly ahead of time. Jot some notes as memory aides.
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ALWAYS balance compliments with suggestions for improvement.
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Try to draw on class discussions, exercises, lecturers, etc. I.e., apply what you’ve been learning.
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Reflect and draw on the “art perspectives wheel” which we had up on the board the first week or two of class. à Don’t forget: your turn is next! Kick your personal ego out the door, learn something, and have fun.
10 Most Common Workshop Bloopers Almost all of the following student comments have some validity. They also, however, invite or promote a number of troubles in any discussion of your poems or stories. At the very least, they are each questionable; a drag, a cop-out, an evasion; a discussion-stopper and a refl
Or: “I wanted it to be vague and general on purpose.”
Or: “I didn’t care for this story. The characters are all late-middle-aged lawyers and CEOs in
Or: “This story means whatever you want it to mean."
Keep in mind that workshops are not just editing sessions. It's perfectly ok to tell a writer about some mechanical flaw in their work, or to discuss formal problems such as weak plot, flat characters or whatnot. But we're not there just to "fix" a story or a poem. An unfinished story or poem can go in many directions, and I see our task as helping the writer consider and explore the best possibilities. To a large extent, workshop is about understanding the whole complex world of literary art. That is, we're also there to better understand poetry, fiction, and writing itself. You should expect our workshop discussions to occasionally take some odd and interesting turns, digressions...and to venture out beyond strict attention to what's on a worksheet. These digressions are inevitable, in part because no work exists in a void, separate from social and political considerations. And in part because, well, writers just like to talk. About everything. And one final thought. Workshops (for the most part, or for our purposes) are about student writing, not students as people. Voicing a reservation about someone's work is not an attack, and certainly not an attack on that person as a human being. In some ways your writing is indeed your "identity"—your writing actually constructs, reflects, or otherwise heavily invests your identity—but for the purpose of successful workshopping, it's usually best to keep your writing and your personal identity or ego separate. If someone's work personally offends another class member, there may be genuinely important issues at stake and we may discuss the problem. But just remember that editorial critique is not the same thing as personal attack. This is all about making our writing better. And we're certainly not here to just flatter each other and pat each other on the back. Nothing but positive, flattering comments do nothing to help a person become a better writer. Our aim is balanced, useful, thought-provoking feedback, and discussions about issues near and far that relate to the writing life. If you ever have thoughts or concerns following our workshop sessions, feel free to post them in The Pub (Blackboard)!
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