You are required to send your work to your fellow creative writing
students.
You must send a sampling of your poetry, script and prose fiction. Other
students, in turn, will be sending you their work.
You are to read, edit and comment on the writing of any two of your fellow
students whose work appeals to you. In that regard, the ground
rules are fairly simple:
Rule #1: Do no harm!
Rule #2: Try to help your fellow
writer!
NOTE: I realize that there is a
chance you may not receive any comments from your fellow students. Don't feel
bad. I think, to begin with, your fellow students will probably be responding
to those who send their work out relatively early in terms of due-dates and
deadlines. You'll have a better chance of getting comments if you are one of
the first to send out your work! Also, I'd encourage you all to
wait a bit to get a better selection of student works to select from for your
workshop comments. Finally, you can, of course, write to more than any two
students telling them how to improve the writing. You'll get extra credit for
any extra comments you make which should help make a case for your own higher
grade at term's end!
WHAT TO SAY AND WRITE
Procedure for the writer: In a workshop, your fellow students provide a test to see if your
writing gets the desired effect. Prepare by considering every detail, every
word to be sure you "mean it." Prepare
your work as professionally as you can, with no typos or grammatical errors.
Take care, take pride in your work.
Please don't introduce your work or talk about what it
means when you email it. The idea is to let other students react to the
material entirely on their own so you can see if your words mean the same
thing to them as to you. Don't tell them what it means or try to influence
them.
You will, of course, be emailing your work to three of us--two fellow students
and your professor.
Procedure for the reader/recipient: Participants are asked to write and email their comments on each work to
both your fellow student and your professor.
There is a link for you to read how to "explicate" a poem: http://www.poetrydoctor.org/explication.htm
FOR A SAMPLE OF HOW TO WORKSHOP POEMS CLICK HERE:
SAMPLE POETRY WORKSHOP COMMENTS
Basically, comments should be directed not at what some
might call "taste," but to what is best or what can be made better.
It is not important, for instance, that you agree or disagree with a piece of
writing. The craft--the style and structure--are what you are critiquing.
For instance you may wish to comment on the following:
1. What is your favorite passage, line, phrase or even
word? Saying "I liked it,"
isn't enough. Say why.
2. What is your least favorite thing or least favorite
line in the poem? Clearly you
don't want to be insulting but a good critic can encourage a change. State
why you feel the work needs revision or change.
3. Are there any grammatical errors or questions? Any
typos? Any spots that need a discussion or question of technique?
4. Can you summarize in clear, factual statements, what
the poem or story or script is about? In a poem, explication allows you to
write a summary, line by line, in your own words. For a work of prose fiction
or a script, Is it clear:
A. Who are the characters?
B. What is the setting?
C. What is the central
action?
D. How much time passes?
5. Can you say what style or tradition the writing
follows? For instance:
A. Is it an imagistic poem (one which
you can close your eyes and picture)? Or,
is it a didactic poem, one which seeks to state a point? Does it follow
a form, a pattern of its own or a set, named poetic form?
B. Is it a piece of "formula" fiction (romance, mystery, gothic, historical, scifi)?
C. Is the script
naturalistic, realistic or simply spectacle?
6. Consider the overall effects of the writing. For
poems, of course, the sounds and rhythms, line lengths, even typographical
appearance can matter greatly. In stories and scripts the sound of the
language or rhythm of conversation is also significant.
7. How does the writing make you feel? Explain what it
brings to mind. Talk about theme. What does it "teach?" You may
comment on whether it is a likable work or whether you believe it is
provocative, even "distasteful." But remember:
Rule #1: Do no harm!
Rule #2: Try to help your fellow
writer!
PARTICIPATION IS
THE HEART OF A CREATIVE WORKSHOP. NOT ONLY WILL YOU GET CREDIT FOR
PARTICIPATING, IT'S A FUN WAY TO LEARN! BE A SPORT! GIVE IT A TRY!
