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Writers Workshop

Welcome!

Writers WorkshopWelcome to our Writers’ Workshop page. Here you’ll find some of the resources needed to wade deep into the wondrous waters of our class. We’ll read some works of established writers, we’ll write some of our own writings, we’ll talk about some writings, then re-write some writings. It’s a WORKshop, after all, and one that works with writing. If this language is a bit too obtuse, and you find more familiarity with verbs, then we can verb-a-tize it and say we’ll “workshop it”.

Wherever we end up, it’s an apt course title because there will be work, and it will be centered on writing. And whatever you write will, indeed, require work, but we will ALL be working right beside you.

Mostly, however, I am hopeful that our experience will be enjoyable and enriching and one of growth for us all. I am excited to share this brief experience with you & watch you flourish as emerging writers.

Course Materials

Just click on the links below to find helpful resources.

NOTE: Daily assignments & updates will be served up using our Google Classroom Stream page, so you’ll probably begin there and sometimes end up back here.

INTRO STUFF

LETS START WITH FEEDBACK:

Even though a children’s story is a bit of a quirky animal, we’ll use it to launch our first real round of deep sharing & feedback. So, for this first round, we’ll keep it relatively simple by watching the “Brief” & “Master Chef” videos & we’ll use this formula for feedback:

  • I LIKE… (Provide something SPECIFIC you like about the writer’s piece)
  • I WISH… (Provide something SPECIFIC you wish the writer would have done differently)
  • I WONDER…(Provide something SPECIFIC you wonder about the piece)

We’ll see if we can pull this off digitally, or if we need to resort to good ol’ fashioned paper & pen feedback.

AND…. as we get more sophisticated, I’d like you to read these articles on good feedback in a Writers’ Workshop setting. Feel free to get started whenever it works for you, but please find time before our NEXT round of sharing.

(NOTE: The last link provides context for the SFWC link handout, so you can just peruse it for enriching nuggets if you find it helpful.)

NOTE: Our feedback/critique approach should not be one of “What’s wrong with this piece?” but rather “What can I contribute to help make this piece better?” A good strategy would be to begin with the structure of the piece, how it’s put together, what follows what & in what form, rather than beginning with “This didn’t work for me….”

 

SOME GENERAL WRITING EXERCISES & RESOURCES:

 

AREAS OF EXPLORATION & RESOURCES FOR OUR COURSE

 

AND SOME GENERALLY HELPFUL ARTICLES/RESOURCES (I HOPE):