An Introduction to Writing Workshops

If you want to study creative writing–whether in high school, college, or outside of a typical school setting–you’ll undoubtedly find yourself in a workshop. 

Writing workshops can vary wildly, but the basic premise is this: one writer shares their work and silently listens as a room full of other writers judge it. 

Depending on the instructions the people in that room are given, their experiences with work-shopping, and their own writing know-how, workshops can either be be scary, unhelpful, humiliating, and downright depressing, or amazing experiences that fundamentally improve your ability to write. 

I’ve been work-shopping for ten years– in high school, undergraduate, and graduate classes, and in informal workshops among friends.

Today, I want to share what I’ve learned over those ten years, because I believe that there’s no reason for a workshop to ever be a bad experience.

HOW TO WORKSHOP SOMEONE ELSE’S STORY

Reading A Piece for Workshop 

When reading a story for workshop, the first thing you should do is look for the story the author is attempting to tell. This is extremely important. That story may or may not be the same as what you would like the piece to be, but convincing the author to write the story you want is not the task at hand. 

While reading, pay attention to your personal reaction to the story. What paragraphs are you skimming? Where are you bored? Where is your interest piqued? Where are you confused? What do you find funny/sad/anger inspiring? 

Once you’ve identified your feelings, look for the writing elements that are causing them. These are the things you should be pointing out to the author. 

• Characterization:

  • What makes the characters feel real or relatable? Where is characterization inconsistent? What is interesting about the character? Can you identify what about the character is driving the plot?

• Plot and pacing

  • Do you have any trouble following the story? Do the events occur in such a way where there is a defined beginning, middle, and end? Do the events build to a satisfying conclusion? 

• Setting

  • Does this place feel real to you? Does the setting add anything to the story? Inform the characters/plot in any way?

• Description

  • Do the sentences flow? Do they invite you into the scene? Do they feel relevant? What do they reveal? Is the author choosing the right words? Are there words they’re overusing? Are they writing in passive voice? Does the writing tell where it should show? 

• Dialog

  • Are the characters’ voices distinct? Do you always know who is speaking? Does the characters feel like they’re speaking to each other? Or like they’re explaining things to the reader? Are there too many dialog tags? Too little?

If you don’t know how to tell whether the author is using the correct amount of dialog tags, or what ‘passive voice’ is exactly, the simplest way to usefully critique a piece is to look for the places where an author is obviously trying to do something and let them know whether or not they’ve succeeded at that thing. When they add a comedic line–do you find it funny? When they describe a character’s looks–can you see that person clearly in your mind? When they reveal a shocking piece of information–are you shocked?

Discussing A Piece In Workshop 

• Don’t frame your critique around what’s bad and what’s good or what you like and what you don’t like, but around what works and what doesn’t work. This will also help to change your mindset while reading the piece. It doesn’t matter if you like it. It matters whether or not the writing is doing what the author wants it to be doing. 

• When discussing what works, explain why that thing works. If you like a piece of dialog, take the time to figure out what exactly you like about it: is it funny? Does it provide some smart foreshadowing? Let the author know. 

• When discussing what doesn’t work, point out exactly what aspect of that thing is not working. Focus on the why.

• When you suggest fixes to a story element that’s not working, focus on the work the fix needs to be doing, rather than exactly what the fix itself should be. Tell them the poster needs to be affixed to the wall, not whether they should use tape, glue, or nails. Of course, it’s okay to tell them about tape, glue, and nails if they don’t already know how to hang a poster.

• Try to balance the time you spend discussing things that work and the things that don’t, even if the things that don’t work are the plot and characters, and the things that do work are the occasional sentence. You’ll probably spend more time talking about the things that need work than the things that don’t, but that ratio should be closer to 60:40 than 90:10. 

• If you’re not sure whether the advice you’re giving is good, if you aren’t sure whether something is working or not–bring it up anyway and ask the rest of the group what they think about it. 

• If you don’t agree with something someone else is saying, but don’t want to disagree because that person probably knows more about it than you–say what you want anyway. The writer can only benefit from the additional view. 

• And remember, it will be your turn eventually, and the way you discuss other students’ writing will set a precedent for how they’ll discuss your writing. If you develop a reputation for being especially harsh to other people’s writing, they’ll probably be equally harsh to you. Likewise with gentleness, kindness, and praise. 

HOW TO DEAL WITH OTHER PEOPLE WORK-SHOPPING YOUR STORY 

• In nearly all workshops, you won’t be allowed to speak while people are discussing your work. Don’t break this rule. This is the time for readers to tell you what your words say to them, for your work to speak for itself. This is not the time for you to tell other people how to read your words. If someone is complaining that you didn’t say X, but you did say it on page 9 and they just didn’t see it–let someone else correct them, let it go, or maybe X needs to be clearer in the text. 

• Never write for your workshop group. There’s no guarantee your tastes will align with the rest of the class. You may find yourself in a workshop where no one reads your preferred genre. That’s okay. It’s not their job to love your writing, and it’s not your job to provide them with something to love, but it is your job to write what you love. 

• Know that suggestions are not mandates. Take in the feedback that you think would help your story, and reject the feedback that doesn’t fit the vision you have for your story. 

• Remember that the people in your class are learning as well. They may not realize how critical they’re being or how hurtful their words are. They may even be wrong. Don’t take the criticism personally. 

• If you can’t handle looking your classmates in the eye–or if you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed–it’s okay to pull-out a notebook, pretend to take notes, and doodle. Still listen, but let the doodles distract you enough to keep your composure. 

AN EXAMPLE OF A NOT-VERY-HELPFUL CRITIQUE*

Overall, I liked this piece. I thought there were a lot of good things in it. The characters were cool and the plot was really interesting. However, I didn’t like the setting. It didn’t feel like a real place to me. I think you need to do some work on it to make it better. Maybe you should change the setting entirely. I think the story would be more fun if it was set in a small town, rather than in a big city. Also, I thought there were some places where the dialog was bad. It was clunky and didn’t sound very natural. I’ve put marks next to the lines that you need to change. There are also a couple of cliches, but you can probably get away with those, because this is SFF and you don’t really have to worry about avoiding things like cliches in that sort of genre. But overall, yeah, I thought this was okay. 

*which is still better than many critiques you’ll hear in workshops

AN EXAMPLE OF A MORE HELPFUL CRITIQUE. 

Overall, I thought there were a lot of things that worked in this piece. The characterization stands out particularly. The protagonist’s frustration when the man keeps interrupting her felt very relatable to me, and I thought the way she responded by turning into a fire-breathing dragon and roasting him alive was very telling about the emotional turmoil it caused her. Her anger was evident on the page, and you never even had to say outright that she was angry, which I thought was clever. 

Also, I thought the foreshadowing in the piece was executed well. The scale earrings, her hoard of silver spoons, and the way she didn’t need a match to light her cigarette… I didn’t realize she was a dragon, but I knew something was up, and that kept me turning the page. 

However, I thought there were a few things that could use some work. 

Largely, I think the dialog works well. The protagonist’s voice is distinctive and believable for her age, but there are a couple of pieces of dialog that don’t sound very natural. I think maybe it’s because you aren’t using contractions in places where most people would use them? For instance, on the second page, she says, “there is not another way to go about it,” but “there isn’t another way” would probably sound less clunky.

I’ve also flagged up a cliche at the end. I know that knights in shining armor riding up on white horses have traditionally been the good guys in fantasy novels, but the way I read it, this piece is all about the personal journey of the dragon, so I was confused when the knight riding up and slaying her was framed as something the reader should be happy about. It might be worth considering subverting this trope, or taking a second look at how it fits in with the ideas you’re already exploring in this story.

I’d be curious to hear what other people think about the ending.

Overall, I thought this was a fun fantasy story, that had a unique and fascinating twist on dragon lore. I look forward to seeing the next draft. 

IF YOU FIND YOURSELF TRAPPED IN A HOSTILE WORK-SHOPPING ENVIRONMENT…

A good workshop environment depends upon an instructor who will facilitate a helpful and healthy discussion. It’s an instructor’s duty to curb students who get carried away describing all of the things they hate about a piece, and to point students toward constructive criticism, to bring up the great elements of a piece that no one else has mentioned. 

When work-shoppers are less experienced, it won’t be uncommon for someone to struggle to learn the difference between helpful critique and a rant about all the ways a story could’ve been better. People will give sharp, decided opinions. 

If you submit your writing to a class, and your classmates’ reaction is overwhelmingly negative in a way that upsets you, or if your classmates are upsetting someone else, talk to your instructor about it. Ask them to remind students about good workshop etiquette. If they’ve never even brought it up, suggest taking a few minutes out of one class to discuss it. 

If they refuse to do their job, try to be an example to everyone else. Find small ways to facilitate a more helpful discussion yourself. When you see students bashing another person’s piece, interrupt them with your own comments about what works in the piece, even if it comes down to individual lines you thought were funny. Conspire. Teach people about good work-shopping yourself. Share this post with friends in your workshop class. A few well-spoken critiques can change the tone of the entire conversation.