I think it was Stephen King who said that a bad
writing workshop does more harm than good.
That’s totally true. I’ve been in writing workshops
at several different schools, at a nonprofit adult-education organization, and
online. I’ve been in good workshops and bad workshops. This blog post is just
about my experience. Yours might be different. I’ll talk about online workshops
next week. This week’s post is about in-person workshops.
The Format
At an in-person workshop, the members’ written
pieces are distributed a few days or weeks before the workshop. Before the
workshop, every person writes a critique of the piece being workshopped that
day and puts notes in the piece’s margins. Most workshops have rules about the
length of the critique: I’ve written critiques that were anywhere from a
paragraph long to several pages long.
On the day of the workshop, bring your critique and
your copy of the piece with the margin notes. Usually, everybody sits in a circle
or at a long table so that you can all see each other. The author is then asked
to read part of the piece out loud. After that, the author isn’t allowed to
speak anymore. The author sits silently and takes notes during the workshop.
The author isn’t allowed to explain or defend their work. The workshop itself
is just a conversation about the author’s work. What’s good about it? What isn’t
working? What’s confusing? There is often disagreement in workshops, so the
author has to decide which comments to listen to and which to ignore. Usually, if
more than one person brings up the same issue, then the author should listen to
them.
At the end of the workshop, the author is sometimes
given a few minutes to ask for clarification about anything that was brought up
during the workshop. All of the workshop members give their critiques and notes
to the author. And that’s the end.
The Critique
A lot of workshops have strict rules about how
critiques need to be written. Be nice. Always explain why you like or don’t like something about a piece. Some workshops
allow you to point out problems in a piece but not make suggestions about how
to fix the problem. Critiques are written in “compliment sandwich” form. Start
and end the critique by praising something in the piece. Keep the criticism in
the middle and try to layer praise and criticism.
Your Writing
What type of piece should you submit to the
workshop? Something that fits the guidelines of the workshop (most of them have
page limits and genre requirements). Pick something that you’re open to having
criticized. If you pick a piece that you’re really attached to, you might get
your feelings hurt. The piece is going to be criticized. It’s probably going to
be criticized a lot. It’s usually helpful to pick something that has problems
that you don’t know how to fix. The workshop can help you sort out the
problems.
The Nerves
Will you be nervous on the day that your piece is
workshopped? Yes. Is there anything that you can do to be less nervous?
Probably not.
The Good Workshop
Good workshops are amazing. They’re probably one of
the most helpful things that you can do for your writing. If you’re stuck on a
piece, a good workshop will get you unstuck. You’ll leave a good workshop
feeling great in an “I can totally handle this” type of way.
In a good workshop, everybody is respectful. They
understand that the pieces are works-in-progress and not finished pieces. A lot
depends on the workshop leader. The leader should keep everything under control
and know when to change the subject so that everybody doesn’t start harping on
the same point. It can get annoying for the author when everybody keeps
pointing out the same problem over and over.
The Mental Hunger Games
Bad workshops are very, very bad. I’ve seen people
cry during workshop. I’ve seen people storm out of the room during workshop. I’ve
seen heated arguments. I’ve seen a workshop leader scream at the workshop participants.
I’ve heard stories of walls being punched, objects being thrown, desks being
tipped over.
I quit writing for almost a year after a bad workshop.
I was discouraged and no longer interested in anything that had to do with
writing. The workshop was so stressful that I felt physically sick on workshop
days. I couldn’t get out of the workshop because I needed the college credits.
The biggest problem with this particular workshop
was the competitiveness. I’m not competitive at all. Being “the best” is nice,
but I’m at a writing workshop to learn and get help. Writing workshops can
breed competitiveness because you get to see everybody’s work. Sometimes you
can’t help comparing it to your own. At this workshop, some people were tearing
down other people to make themselves feel better. Someone called a story “Stupid
shit” in front of the author and everyone else. Someone tried to spread a rumor
that one of the women in the workshop was a prostitute. There was a lot of
trash-talking in the hallway before and after workshop. There was a lot of
crying. People were terrified to submit work to the workshop because it was all
criticism and very little praise. Some workshop members would praise your story
to your face before workshop and then say horrible things about it during
workshop. It was all very childish and exhausting. The workshop leader yelled
at us but didn’t do much to stop it.
The strangest thing that happened to me during that
workshop? I was on Yahoo! in the middle of the night, and an IM popped up. It
was from one of my male classmates. It said, “You’re a horrible writer, but at
least you have a damn fine ass.”
So, that’s writing workshops for you.
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