Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Workshop Directions

Workshopping a written piece is an important step in getting feedback about your writing. If a workshop group is knowledgeable, they can help a writer grow immensely in a short period of time.

Follow these steps to complete your workshop:
1. Get into your workshop group
2. Each contributing writer should take turns reading their work out loud to the rest of the group.
3. The group should listen and read silently while the writer reads his/her story
4. As the writer reads his/her story, the workshop members should highlight or mark specific words or phrases or lines that he/she liked.
5. Consider the basic questions and techniques of fiction. (plot, character, POV, setting, theme, mood, voice, poetry, imagery, dialogue, characterization, conflict, suspense, etc.) Give the writer a WRITTEN critique of their story based on these questions. Write your comments on the story copy.
6. When everyone is finished writing, open the discussion to the writer’s specific questions. Writers should help this along by asking questions that they want to know about their stories. For example: Did you understand the point of my story? Are the characters clear and well defined or developed? Does the setting of my story distract you as a reader? Etc.
7. After you have discussed the writer’s work, please return your copies to the writer.
8. After the group has finished helping the writer, please continue around the group to help critique the other writers who submitted material as well.
9. Continue this until the entire group has had a chance to participate in the workshop.
10. When everyone has had a chance, writers may talk to each other about new ideas and share other writing they have written (in their journal, portfolio, or etc.)

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About this course!

This course stresses understanding the characteristics & techniques in the literary genres of fiction, poetry, and dramatic writing. This course will continue to build on students’ reading and writing skills begun in previous creative writing classes. Readings and discussions of works by major writers in the field will be examined as inspiration and models of fine writing. This educational blog is designed for the use of the students at the School of the Arts in Rochester, NY.