A Few Guidelines

  In your table groups you will workshop each other’s pieces. This is the procedure.  Author reads his/ her work to the group.  The group reads it silently and makes written comments on the work for 2-5 minutes.  Then the discussion begins with compliments. Everyone says one thing they liked about the piece. Please be specific.  Then everyone makes suggestions or poses questions to the author. Organic discussion of the work should evolve. Each student gets minutes so that everyone has a turn. Workshop Procedures

  If your work is being discussed. You must be silent and just listen/ take notes on suggestions. You cannot “defend” your piece or clarify anything. Once published, you will not be there to guide every reader. Your work must stand on its own.  When discussing the work of others… All comments have to be constructive. No trash talking allowed. Also, since our focus is content, please do not nit pick grammar and spelling. Ms. Rolfe will take care of that on the next draft. Focus on the content. Does it use concrete images? Is their theme clear? Is there a story/ conflict or tension? Do you understand the piece?  That being said, please be helpful. Do not simply say, “This is perfect.” Ask questions, make suggestions, point out areas of concern. A few rules...

  Before we start, I want to model good workshop etiquette, so let’s “workshop” something I wrote. Let’s Practice Quick…

She knew greetings in almost every language. And a few more words in a few more languages. For example, she knew that in Korean, “Gamsahabnida,” meant thank you and in French, baleine, meant whale. She loved the sound of words that weren’t her native tongue. There was something about them that made her feel more eloquent, more mysterious, more spectacular. Sometimes, when she had a particularly difficult day, where she was bludgeoned with the repetitiveness of her job, she would sit alone in her cubicle after everyone had gone home just saying words to herself. “Milagros,” she would repeat over and over again. The sound was beautiful and reassuring. It felt lavish on her tongue. It felt anything but mundane. She said it when she needed to relax. It was a simple exercise, but it made her happy. Once, she sat in her car at a traffic light repeating the German word for book, vogel, over and over again, forgetting that her friend was in the car. When she finally realized she was doing it, she turned and quickly said, “Oh, I am sorry, don’t mind me.” Here’s Something I Wrote