Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Workshop
To be honest, I have never really gotten used to sharing my writing with others. No matter how many times and high school we would have our "peer evaluation sessions" it still made my cheeks light up red and burn. Even then, it was mostly essays, mostly concrete facts that I could defend, that I could reason for, but not this time. I very rarely, if ever, share my creative work with others so this workshop was a very different experience for me. A lot of the comments were concerns that I had already had, but it's hard to put that across when you're not allowed to speak. It was also a little overwhelming, trying to keep track of 11 voices at once, especially when they're all saying different things. I think maybe it would be beneficial to have face to face sessions with more than one peer beforehand, because it seemed like there were a lot of differing opinions which make it a little difficult to come up with revisions that satisfy both viewpoints. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it, looking back, but it was definitely an interesting experience to have.
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2 comments:
I sympathize with your ambivalence re. your workshop. I can't remember ever feeling positive or clear headed after the experience, but as a teacher I do feel the workshop demonstrates the importance of readers. Part of the processing of the workshop involves making peace with two or three or eleven disparate comments. where there is disagreement, you have a decision to make (rather than an unsolvable problem). Your suggestion to set up smaller face to face meetings is a good one that I need to fit in. We did not do as much individual peer review as usual, and I regret this. thanks for the feedback.
Thanks for sharing your work in spite of all that! I did truly enjoy reading what others in the class were writing. I know that the piece cannot be shaped to satisfy all the readers. It shouldn't be. I know many published books that I would alter slightly (in terms of plot and whatnot), but I still read them anyway and enjoy them. And as for us reiterating previous held concerns, it just proves your judgment is valid. Woo-hoo!
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