Natalie Walker

My Experiences with a Writing Workshop

            At the beginning of the semester I was excited about beginning a class totally devoted to creative writing. I have always enjoyed writing creative fiction and was glad for an opportunity to do some more writing. I have never been overly confident in sharing my work and so I was a little nervous when I found out the class would be in a workshop format. After participating in a few workshop sessions and seeing how things were run I felt a tiny bit more comfortable about reading in front of the class. I was very glad that the objective of the workshop was not to ‘“crush” students with hostile or negative criticism’. I have had bad experiences with other writing groups and so to read my work out loud was intimidating until I saw that this was a supportive environment set up to help each other and not tear others’ work down.

            This course also allowed me to strengthen my skills as a writer by seeing the different writing styles of others and how my style fits into the writing world. Minot stated in Three Genres, “As you gain experience and get in the habit of reading new work regularly, you will want to examine what makes some works more sophisticated that others”(p.149).  Having to write and share my work with others has led me to want to expand my knowledge of what it takes to be an accomplished writer. All in all this has been a positive learning experience that I would want to continue in my future as a writer.

            As I prepare to teach English to my own students I plan to use this method of writing to encourage and nurture my own students in the same way that I was. The workshop method not only helps to enhance creativity it also helps to build confidence in writing and sharing your work with a group of fellow writers. This also helps to dispel the myth of the writer as an isolated genius, able to write a masterpiece without the aid of any outside critique. Gaining the understanding that writers form a community to help each other create their best work will help me to teach my students that writing is not a solitary act and that it is okay to ask a fellow writer for input on their story.

            By teaching the different ways that writing can begin I will free my students from thinking that there is only one way to write and only a limited number of subjects to write about. “As writers of fiction, we often draw on our experiences and on details from the world about us, but we reshape them. Our first loyalty and primary obligation is to the artistic object we are creating”(Minot, p.145). This statement from the text expresses the freedom that creative writing gives to the author.

            Using a writing workshop to enhance a creative writing class really helps to develop a support system within the class. Everyone at some point is put in the same position and feels the same sense of vulnerability. This creates an environment that is inherently supportive because everyone can relate to having other people read and dissect their work, which is very personal to them. I found this very helpful in my own experience presenting to the workshop because I knew that the class would not offer malicious and unhelpful comments and that added a bit of comfort to know that they would really try to help me improve my story. Through the workshop experience I was able to see my story through the eyes of others and see how elements of my story did or did not work, and now as I continue to write I will have those type of comments in my head so that I can work on areas that I am weaker in and constantly improve.