Blog 5: Workshop Reflection

I've always really enjoyed workshops. I don't know if it's because I'm really selfish and love hearing the good things people have to say about my writing (as I'm sure most people do), but I really love them. It was so cool to hear and read how people reacted to my poem and what it made them feel and think of - I think I just really enjoy evoking emotional responses from people through my writing. I think, from what we've done so far, everyone has had such insightful comments for every poem we've done. While it's hard to hold back from responding to comments made throughout class, I really think that's beneficial because a good piece of work (poetry, in this case) should be able to stand on its own and the point of the workshop, I think, is to be able to get the piece to the point where it does. I think it's really important for everyone to say what they feel could improve or change, but at the same time it's important to make sure that the author knows that they don't need to take every single piece of criticism and use it. A lot of times, there have been some really amazingly thoughtful comments and suggestions that have either given a new perspective to a poem or, if the author chooses to work with them, could really make the poem so much stronger. Overall, I've really been enjoying the workshop process and I think it's helped me grow as a writer.