Writers Workshops

A great deal of our class time will be spent in "writers workshops." A writers workshop is a very specific and unique model of pedagogy used in most writing programs around the United States (and often abroad). In a workshop, a group of writers gathers to read one of their members work -- usually aloud -- and then the group responds to the work. During the process, the writer usually remains silent, trying to understand as fully as possible the responses of this audience to the work.

In our writing workshops, the writer will be allowed to ask two or three questions of the respondents. These questions should *not* be explanatory or argumentative; these moments are a great opportunity to find out the answers to puzzling story problems or tricky writing conundrums. The great respect for each other's work and its possibilities will guide all of our responses and questions during this time. The writer is strongly encouraged to take copious notes during this time.

Before each writing workshop, a Lead Respondent will be assigned to the workshopped material. The Lead Respondent is responsible to read the treatment and proposal and all of the script that has currently been written. The Lead Respondent will write their own summary of the work no longer than one page, and read it aloud before the response to the pages begins. The summary of the work should not include evaluation, but work to provide context to the scene being workshopped. The Lead Respondent will, however, write a paragraph of evaluative material, suggesting the greatest strengths and weaknesses of the material. Unexplored possibilities and confusing points should be identified in this paragraph. The Lead Respondent will receive a grade for their summary and feedback. All members of the class will be responsible to be a Lead Respondent two times. Lead Respondents will be paired with writers randomly and no respondent / writer will be repeated.

Writers will be scheduled to workshop during the second week of class. Writers will be responsible to select a 6-8 page section of their script to be read during the workshop. Writers must deliver their proposal, their script (as much as is finished) and their workshop selection to the Lead Respondent one week prior to their workshop.

You are expected to attend all workshops of other writers, come prepared and give helpful feedback to one another. You can read more about helpful feedback here.