Wednesday, February 6, 2008

I Don't Want to Write Your Story For You But....

The Gotham Master class allows the writer to ask questions after two days in the booth:

Questions like:
  • Did everyone agree with Henry?
  • I meant to do this--you didn't see that?
  • No, I was correct; here are 17 links proving my point
  • Haven't you read {Famous Author}? {Famous Author} does that in her Booker Prize Winning Novel?
I exaggerate, because I am fond of hyperbole. It is the bestest of all the literary devices. And metaphor, is like, you know, hard.

Anyway, whatever format a workshop offers up, now that I've been in five? in a row, I must say I truly appreciate those critiquers who can totally get your story, appreciate the good, and absolutely nail what you need to fix. I've been lucky enough to have a few people who can do that reading my stuff, and I want to give them money or a kidney, or maybe return the favor (although I don't think I'm as good as the best readers I've had).

So, hope you like the video. Also check out the poem Workshop by Billy Collins (yes, I did link it in the last post, thanks for reading my blog). Alex also recently posted on the Workshop process.
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1 comment:

Alex said...

That's a funny scene...

Yeah, you can definitely be led astray in the ol' workshop. It's hard, too, when participants don't spend much time on your piece. They're saying things based on a quick read and an even quicker "critique."

And then there's the in-person workshop where you get people's initial, off-the-cuff reactions...what then? I suck at immediate critiques so I feel bad saying anything.

February 8, 2008 at 10:16 AM

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