Workshopping Writing is Awesome

      While reading Elbow and Belanoff I kept thinking to myself, "Wow. Have they been spying on the creative writing classes I've been in?" because most of the techniques listed were things that various professors had incorporated into their feedback structure. I know that sharing writing isn't easy for anybody because you're really putting yourself out there. You have to be vulnerable and open to criticism if you plan on getting something out of these critiques. Sometimes it can be really difficult when the writer feels that the piece is unfinished or not all it could be because their insecurities about the state of the writing can tend to make them defensive and they won't be able to take anything constructive from the points that others are making.

     An important thing to do is make sure that the level of engagement is high and that the activities are varied and fun and the reading illustrates a lot of different ways that a writer can work through flaws in their argument, or the feelings the reader experiences, or figuring out how to change an ending so that it will have more impact and closure. I really like the metaphorical description method because I think it's a really fun way of capturing the mood of a work without having to come right out and say it. It also requires the responder to think very rapidly and creatively about what they're seeing in the work. I think that this could be a great barometer for whether or not everyone agrees on what the tone of the piece is.

If there's no clarity to exactly what the author is trying to convey, that could indicate that the writer needs to make adjustments to their word choice in order to make their stance stronger. I thought that the whole, "An owl swallows a mouse whole and trusts her innards to sort out what is useful and what's not," (36). Owls are symbols of wisdom and they are very powerful little birds. They also have a lot of common with writers because they prefer to be active at night and they can turn their necks 270 degrees. This of course means that the writer is free to spit out any bones and hair that are not going to be useful. The author still has the ultimate say in what they're going to change or not change and they're under no obligation to take every piece of advice. If they even attempted to, this would mean their writing would not fare so well because it would be a basket of contradictions.

       Another strategy that I think is very valuable is the Pointing/Center of Gravity approach where on the first reading the most standout parts are pointed out and then on the second attempt picking out the parts that have the most potential for further growth. As they say, these are the "generative centers or sources of energy in the text," (19) and the purpose of drawing out the most effective moments is to point out what was done well but also more importantly to probe the areas that are strongest and see if further exploration is needed. If the writer has briefly made a digression that is funny or interesting but could benefit from more explanation, then this type of exercise would help them to decide whether or not that moment or concept deserves to have a bigger role or can even be excised entirely from the writing and shifted over to another piece of writing so that it can become an independent creation.

       The type of feedback that I'm most familiar with and find the most helpful is the reply strategy. This is because when the reader has time to write a letter and give a complete response in advance of the active discussion, they can include far more details than when people are going back and forth and there are time constraints at work. Another benefit of doing this is that there's a record of exactly what each person's opinion is on the work that the writer can refer back to as they work on drafting. Sometimes it can be challenging to remember what everyone said particularly if the feedback is in a whole-class context and everybody is speaking. The one drawback is that this requires a lot of outside time on the part of the readers. It's not likely that as a teacher you could spring a reply response on a group of students and have a bunch of robust responses to give to the writer. This is best as a planned activity, but many of the other strategies can be done with little notice. This I think can be helpful if the writer has a particular problem that they're trying to solve and they need to absorb all the advice and opinions they can handle.

      If you don't want to listen to me, I'd suggest checking out what this guy has to say. He REALLY knows what he's talking about. His On Writing is the best writing advice I've ever read and I think the best part about it is that he's not preachy. There's a lot of quotable moments and King really integrates his personal experiences into his conception of what it means to be a writer, but here's a couple that stand out to me. "If you expect to succeed as a writer, rudeness should be the second-to-least of your concerns. The least of all should be polite society and what it expects. If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered anyway." This is very practical advice about not being afraid of what other people will think because as a writer your responsibility is to throw politeness out the window and make sharp assessments of the world around you. He also says to, "Just remember that Dumbo didn't need the feather; the magic was in him."