Blog 5

While workshop can be a terrifying thing, it’s also very necessary for anyone who is serious about their writing. It gives you a chance to have your work looked at extremely closely by multiple people, all of whom have experience both writing and reading, so their opinions are especially valuable in this kind of setting. It’s helpful to get criticism on your writing, both good and bad, because it helps open your eyes. Sometimes it’s hard to see the flaws in our own work; we work hard on our writing and what we put down on the page is likely to be very intimate material, in one way or another. It’s really good to have others workshop your writing, so that they can catch your blind spots and open your eyes to new suggestions. Feedback is also a great way to find your true stance on your writing. Perhaps someone thinks a specific line is unnecessary or they just don’t like it – maybe this has never been brought to your attention before and you decide that no, this is your favorite line of the entire piece. These kinds of revelations can also be helpful, because you can give more power to things you love, especially when they’re under attack. I always find that this helps me get a definitive stance on how I feel about my writing. The drawbacks of workshop, for me specifically, is that not everyone gives adequate feedback (specifically, because almost no one was in class on my workshop day!) Workshop can also be tricky if you do not have a strong connection with your writing; all the opinions could discourage your own voice, if it is not yet developed enough to withstand so many suggestions.