Keep up the good work preparing for discussion. And continue to think about what you can take from these discussions and apply to your own writing. Write those things down in your writer's toolbox.
*There have been questions about the wisdom of asking you to fill in the workshop prep sheets for each submission given that many of the comments come out in discussion. I do not want to take up people's workshop time to discuss this issue. There will be some time on Monday to discuss this more if folks feel the need. What I did take away from yesterday's comments was that it would be helpful for me to provide the rationale for doing workshop prep.
There are several reasons for asking you to write down your thoughts prior to discussion. I ask you to consider these reasons
~ Not all feedback comes out in discussion and it can be helpful for writers to see how many people bring up an issue and how many people disagree. The sheets allow the writer to have an informal poll of the class, especially on the questions that they are asking.
~ Having your notes in front of you can help you remember what you were thinking and gives you something to refer to when I or someone else asks questions.
~ Writing your thoughts down can prompt additional thoughts and ideas. The process of writing itself is central to some people's thinking process.
~ Having your thoughts written down, ensures that we have a strong discussion. Having sat through workshops for three years in graduate school, the best discussions occurred when we had a written response ready instead of talking off the cuff.
Beyond the benefit to the author and to the group in terms of the quality of discussion, engaging the questions on the worksheet can help you grow as a writer. Thinking about the specific parts of writing craft (e.g. point of view, character, word choice) as you read improves your writing.
~ It will also help you make discoveries about writing to turn into "tools" for your toolbox. If you find yourself saying the same thing on every worksheet, what you're saying is perhaps something you know about writing that could be one of your tools and perhaps the subject of your spell.
~ Addressing the questions on the worksheet, will make you a better workshop participant in college. The truth is that many writing workshop discussions are vague, unnecessarily personal, and not related to what's on the page. One of the goals of the course, is to train you to be a constructive participant in future workshops you encounter. Having the questions on this worksheet etched into your consciousness, will help you make substantive contributions to other workshops.
~ For me, looking at your responses helps me to evaluate how deeply you're engaging with the work and provides a basis for further discussions with the writer about how to change the piece.
Filling out the worksheet should not take very long. I urge you to think about the it as a guide to the normal annotations that you would do on any reading assignment, plus a reminder to consider specific elements of craft.
Because I believe the worksheets have value outside of the workshop, I will accept them after the fact. Hastily filled out sheets that are clearly just a grab for points will not receive full, or perhaps any, credit.
Homework for peer workshops
Read each student's submission when they are up and fill in a workshop prep sheet for them. Student submissions are posted in order under Student Resources on the course site.