"Um What was the Question Again?"

In contemplating the best and hardest aspects of a workshop, I was attempting to start things off on a positive note when, after a few minutes, I realized I was having a very hard time with the positives. This perhaps speaks volumes about how I feel about the whole work shopping scene. I will ruminate on those ideas and start off with the bad stuff, usually the more interesting I find. The mock workshop held in class was fascinating to me because it had the usual cast of characters that I had seen in many of my workshops. There was the one who interrupts, who is self absorbed, the person who loves to bring other authors to the discussion, the person who always agrees, the person who always disagrees, and every variation in-between. This made me want to ponder how I would come across in a workshop group. I realized I tend to use the sandwich approach of saying something “I really like” followed by something that could use some work, and ending on what “I loved.” At the heart of it, I understand that the workshop is to make work better, but I am very cautious and careful about stepping on toes.

After thinking about it, I have decided that the least thing I liked about the workshop experience, which I had with poetry, was that the group tended to sway what kind of poems were written and which kinds were not. I cannot speak for every poetry group, but it seems I tend to always fall in with the melancholy kinds who write about a lot about despair, death, and worry in the world. That is completely fine by me, but it seemed those poems dominated because whenever one that was about happiness or comedy came about, it was totally thrashed as not being as creative as the others. It was very interesting to me when someone brought up how there always seems to be that person in the group that just brings everyone down. My last workshop at Cal Poly had one, a fellow red headed female. I wanted to step out of the dark realm of poetry and attempt a comedic poem on my life as a red head. To look back on it, it wasn’t a great poem, but I did get to throw in some lines about “the carpet matching the drapes” which sent my apparently juvenile sense of humor into a moment of giggles while writing it. Anyway, the Debbie-downer fellow red-head raised her hand and we all got that “oh no, what will she say” look on our faces. She said that “this had no point, no soul, no backbone and was confused as to why I had even written it in the first place.” Where was the sandwich I thought to myself? Where was the helpful criticism? All eyes in the group turned to me, anticipating some sort of backyard brawl involving desk chairs and red hair pulling. When it was my turn to speak I got a few little jabs in on her comment, and the professor did publicly reprimand her by asking if she knew what the word “respectful discourse” meant. These events lead me to turn back to my more edgy poems knowing that these were the ones that went over in the group. But that willingness to turn away from potential light-hearted creativity angered me. So I suppose the hardest thing, in my opinion, is not participating in or giving into the groupthink mentality in a workshop.

Now, the best thing with a workshop is the fact that you get the eyes and ears of a vastly different group of people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We were all there to make the best work possible, and when someone asks the group for an opinion on a weakness and constructive ideas are given to advance the piece, that is amazing. For whatever reason, one of my favorite aspects about writing poems or papers is giving the work a title. I love it! Finding clever, condensed eye catching titles is a joy of mine. In groups, that would tend to be the most often “you need to work on” area, because the title can be key. So for me, offering others titles that I thought would better the work was a lot of fun. And when someone get really excited about an idea I or another person had given, it creates an energy in the group which far surpasses all of the negative aspects which I discussed earlier. This energy is why we are all supposedly there. To learn and grow and better our work based on the advice of others.

Okay, let’s see. Other good things… why is this so difficult for me? Well, let’s start simple. I really think a great workshop needs ground rules to keep everything flowing and productive. For instance, I appreciate when the professor says eating is not okay while a poem is being workshopped. It is hard for me to envision someone giving it their all while munching away on a Snickers, which sounds really good at the moment by the way. Though it sounds like a lot of rules may hinder the creative process, I think they can be really important. Again, I am brought back to pondering our mock workshop of chaos. During that event, I pondered how as a teacher I would want to lead the discussion. Do I stay in the background and let the students speak in their own turn, or call on them when they raise their hands to keep order. I do think the calling on creates a more stilted environment that may slow down discussion, but wheat if the group gets quiet or talks over one another. I imagine it really depends on the group. Maybe intro to creative writing classes may need a bit more structure to create a productive environment, I am not quite sure yet. So, I know I like rules… I guess that is a start.

Back to the harder things, I think it is quite hard in many groups because there always seems to be the ones that want to talk a lot and those who rarely have anything to say. In my previous workshop, we each had a copy of the poem and were supposed to write any comments, likes, dislikes, ideas, and then sign our name and give it back to the poet. It was much more frustrating to get the blank papers back than it was to get one full of negatives. Shelly brought this up in class, how it can be really exasperating to feel like you are putting a lot towards workshopping someone’s work when the usually do not reciprocate with anything constructive for you or others. I have seen many group leaders try to draw out discussion from this type by calling on them at the moments they look the most lost in space. This usually leads to the classic “what was the question” then they repeat the question while fumbling for something introspective to say, and then say something along the lines of “I really liked it.” Real helpful there buddy. As the instructor, how will you deal with this kind of student and yet not put too much attention them so that you neglect other students who may talk a lot, but have good things to say?

Thinking about these good and bad aspects keeps raising questions of what I would do as a teacher to highlight my likes and fix my dislikes. It also made me ponder how a workshop for a novel or short story may be different since I have never seen the dynamic for those types of writing. I look forward to hearing from the other writers about those experiences may differ between various genres.