English 0246, Creative Writing, Workshop Guidelines

Dr. Michael Filas

The logistics of workshopping:

• The writers assigned to workshop bring in stapled copies (one for each class member, one for the prof.) of the work on the due date.
• Every member of class takes the material home and:
• marks the pages with marginal comments.
• writes a response on the backs of the page of the work (or a fresh sheet) and returns the material, with comments, to the writer at the end of the workshop session.
• Two or three designated respondents:
• mark the pages with marginal comments;
• type a one-page, single-spaced, response to be read to the class during workshop.
• In class, we read out-loud from the text so the writer can hear the sounds and rhythms of her or his work in a reader’s voice, and then the discussion leaders (the designated respondents) start us off with comments, followed by open conversation about the work by everyone else. Participation and workshop grading comes largely from your contributions to the open conversation when you are not the designated respondent.
• After the discussion, everyone turns their written comments over to the writer. Designated respondents provide one copy of typed comments to me, and one to the writer. On occasion for surveillance, I will collect all comments for review/credit and provide them to the writer the following class.

The foci of workshopping:

• Workshopping is a constructive process in which you have open conversations about the creative process and product of one individual at a time.
• Save comments and corrections to grammar and minor layout things for the written marginalia.
• Creative writing encompasses many forms. Thus, some workshop discussion of form and format conventions of poetry and fiction may be necessary. But normally, workshop conversations focus on content interpretation.

What to write about—explicit instructions:

• Tell the writer what you see as the main purpose/meaning of their character, dialog, plot, and other aspects of the work. What is the main conflict?
• Provide them, in your own words, a description of what the text is about, what lies at the core. What motivated her or him to write this piece?
• Provide feedback on originality. What texts does the writing remind you of?
• What makes the writing original?
• If it is poetry, discuss the language, rhyme, meter/rhythm; if fiction, discuss character, plot, setting, atmosphere, narrator. . . Adjust your comments to reflect the genre.
• What makes the work engaging?
• What is something successful about the text?
• What is something that does not work for you in the text?
• How did reading the work make you, personally, feel?
• In responding to the above, be diligent about citing and quoting specific examples from the text itself.

The writer being workshopped:

• Don’t defend your work or explain yourself or your work to the group.
• Never argue with a workshop participant.
• Take what is useful to you and disregard the rest.
• Feel free to ask questions and ask for clarification.
• Don’t take it personally, but remember everyone is working to write as well as possible.

Everyone:

• Remember to be honest, respectful, and constructive while maintaining a high standard of careful critique in the class.
• Remember that great writing comes from the depths of someone’s mind and heart, and the more courage a writer shows to access their passions, the more powerful his or her writing will be. We can critique in a sensitive way so as not to discourage the opening of powerful creative channels.