Fall 2024 workshop session info
This workshop method was laid out in an article I encountered years ago but cannot find now! If/when I do, I’ll make sure to give credit where credit is due.
This method is different from the Iowa method. If you’re lucky enough not to have experienced that, it goes like this: Workshoppers bring in “polished” pieces for workshopping. During the workshop process, the creator stays silent, so as not to “influence” their readers. Unfortunately, workshop can become traumatic due to a preponderance of criticism and pile-ons, as workshoppers attempt to win favor with the instructor by providing critiques of the piece.
The method we will use does not require pieces to be “done” to be shared, does not incentivize criticism for criticism’s sake, and allows conversation between creator and audience. It’s based on the belief that anyone can provide feedback on a work in progress that’s useful to the creator.
What to share:
A draft: For each meeting after the first, you can share a piece for workshopping. To make sure we have time to potentially review and respond to every piece, let’s keep submissions at 3 pages max of poetry or prose, if bringing writing. This can be a rough draft, outline, notes, or polished draft.
A share/brainstorm/convo: Alternatively, you can choose to spend “your” time in workshop brainstorming a new project, sharing where you are in your process, or other conversation that will support your creativity.
When to share: Anytime before the workshop meeting you want to workshop at. The earlier you can share, the more time others have to spend.
How to review workshop pieces before we meet: Please take time before workshop to review and prep some feedback for all workshop pieces using this approach:
- How would you describe the piece? (Short story, poem, sketch, etc.)
- What do you like about the piece? What’s powerful, effective, moving, beautiful, other? This could be something as small as a word choice or as big as the project’s ambition. Sharing what you like about a piece lets the creator know what’s working and why for whom.
- What questions do you have about the piece? Questions can be tiny or big: “Why does the character do that?” “That word choice seems very intentional but I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel about it.” “This seemed to end abruptly to me. Did it seem that way to anyone else?” “This is ambiguous to me, but I think it’s supposed to be ambiguous. Is it supposed to be ambiguous?” Sharing your questions about a piece can give the creator lots of information: about what’s unclear or unfinished, about facets of the piece they may not even have noticed are there, about simple quick fixes, etc. etc. Asking questions can lead to making suggestions, which is fine, but is a more open-ended, inquisitive, and gentle approach to “constructive criticism.”
In the actual workshop
In workshop, the creator can “introduce” their piece if they like and can ask for specific forms of feedback as well. Basically, we’ll ask: “Is there anything you want to say about the piece before we discuss it, and is there any specific feedback you’re looking for?”
Then we’ll share what we like about the piece,
Then we’ll share our questions.
If this is useful, we can discuss what the piece is and any traditions we see it being a part of.
If the creator asked for feedback not covered, we’ll take time for that.
At the end, the creator is welcome to give feedback on our feedback.
The workshop coordinator will make sure that we stay on track timewise so everyone can get feedback.
As time allows and opportunities present themselves, everyone is welcome to bring enlightening pieces into workshop. For example, let’s say we workshop a piece that works with line breaks. Everyone is welcome to email around either examples of work that play prominently with line breaks, or a craft essay or chapter on line breaks from instructional material, and we can discuss those in workshop. But this is not required!