My short story was workshopped on Thursday and I thought it went really well! I really like my story, so it was nice to hear other people in class say they liked it as well! I was also pleased that people seemed to notice that my goal was to leave unanswered questions because Tucker was a confusing character who never gave Josie the answers she needed. I was worried it was going to come across wrong or odd, but I’m glad everyone basically agreed he seemed like the problem character who left questions unanswered. I also appreciated the feedback of potentially taking things out and shortening it to add more in. What I turned in as 11 pages was my final rough draft, but I knew even then there was stuff I wanted to change and potentially add in later.
As for revisions, I don’t think I’ll be removing the first 4 pages as suggested, simply because I love them and I think that they add good backstory to the plot so you understand exactly what is going on between the characters. However, I do want to trim it down and take some stuff out so that I can add more stuff later on. I want Josie to have a conversation with her friends at the end of the story and I think I want them to appear more throughout it as well. I also have an idea for my artists book and I kind of want to include that in the story (it’s music that fits the plot, so it’d be a like playlist) so I need to try and figure that out as well.
It was really great to hear what other people thought of my story this week, and to get an idea of where I need to take it next. Both what people liked and what they suggested held some surprises for me, and it really goes to show how helpful an outside perspective can be. It seemed that I was able to get the tone of the story pretty much how I wanted it, which I did spend a good amount of time worrying about. However, an issue I ran into was that I know the world of my story well enough not to have questions about it, but without mentioning certain things, it won’t necessarily make sense to readers.
I would like to expand a bit more on the world of the story (for example, Alex’s life on Earth and more of what the mission was for). I would also like to sort out some of the details surrounding Percy (although probably not to full clarity), to help him fit a little better into the story the way he was intended to. I am also going to take a look at some areas, like the start of the story and some pieces of dialogue, and see if I can make them more concise.
Coming into the workshop very nervous to share my work, as I’m sure most of us were, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the process. It was great to hear not only what people found interesting about my draft, but also extremely helpful to hear their perspective as someone reading it not in the mind of the writer. From what I gathered from the workshop, it seems people understood the point I was trying to get across, which was my character Nina’s struggle with control, anxiety, and this new upcoming shift in her life which is going off to college. The jumping off the bridge and embracing the lack of control surrounding a new and nerve wracking situation also came across as a symbol for starting the new chapter in her life, going off to college and leaving her lifelong friends. This was also something I was glad to hear was communicated well in my story.
Some feedback that was mentioned was the lack of a backstory for Nina. Why were the characters at the bridge? Had they been there before? What led up to the jumping off the bridge? What happened in Nina’s life to make her feel the need to constantly be in control? Going forward, if I were to expand this draft, I’d like to delve deeper into those questions. I’d likely cut out some of the “in the head” moments of Nina’s internal dialogue and find a way to expand on some things from the past and more general context as well.
Overall, this was an excellent and helpful first workshop experience in this class. I want to thank you all for the kind and thoughtful feedback. I look forward to more workshops in the future and to reading more of everyone’s awesome stories!
I was very nervous for my story to be workshopped, and I have always been my own harshest critic; however, I feel as though the workshop went really well! I was really surprised to see how each and every person interacted so differently with my story. I found that him being injured came across as a much bigger deal in the story, as it only seemed like whiplash in my head. I will be going back and dialing that down, as he is definitely not in as intense danger as everyone thinks he may be. I also will be adding an ending in which the relationship between the characters changes. Everyone wants to see them end up together romantically, but being the chaotic writer I am, I think I am going to make them end up hating each other and having a really strained relationship. I’m also going to go more in depth to his perspective and show that he is mentally not ok rather than having him push everything aside as he has been doing throughout the whole story. I actually really enjoyed getting to hear the things that people didn’t like about the story or things that they would change because I know I didn’t like specific parts either, but I didn’t know how to change them. Now I have a better idea of where to go with the story and I am actually excited to see where it goes.
My short story was workshopped in class on Monday, 10/10, and I think it went really well. While it did take Jesse asking a few questions to get the class engage, which was quite scary for me as the writer, I felt like the feedback was mostly positive. I liked how everyone could feel some sort of emotion to each character, whether they liked them, hated them or related to them in some way. I think that hearing those thoughts from others about the characters themselves helped me understand that people were feeling similarly about them all that I was. When creating this piece I knew I wanted to do something different and tell a story from the “Other Woman” perspective and show that aspect. I didn’t want everyone to love Florence or root for her but I also wanted to show she wasn’t evil for having these feelings and I think that landed within the class. The revisions and suggestions I was given were things I had already been thinking about when rereading my story. I know that I need to add more depth about the relationship between Lincoln and Angela, showing what caused Lincoln to fall out of love. And also highlight how Florence was there for Lincoln and how his feelings developed. I also heard lots about adding more about Angela to the story. She is the antagonist in this story so from this workshop I see that I need to add more about why she is the bad guy in Florence and Lincolns relationship. I think that adding the element of the conversation Florence and Angela had will really add to that. Overall I think that this workshop was quite helpful for me and will help me create more depth to the story when I start on the next step.
We workshopped my short story’s first draft on 10/10/22. I think I got some really good feedback. Going into the workshop, I knew I needed to flesh out the lore a bit more in my story. Writing fantasy is already pretty difficult and I know that it is not everyone’s cup of tea so I knew it was going to be hard to fit in all the necessary background and explanations whilst not taking away from the main plot. I think I need to let go of some of the more frivolous lines and descriptions I have in order to make room for more world-building. I also received feedback on the characters and their purposes. I think I will definitely need to give Sun a bit more of a personality and really dig into the conversation she and Moon have in the bedroom. That is, after all, the climax of the story and I definitely rushed it. I also got some good feedback about Hamish. I added him in so I could have the Inn as a setting for the ending and I now see that he can be used to add more drama and mythos to the story. I was thinking of maybe making him as a god or god-like figure. Maybe someone who is fate-like or who knew what the situation was already. I could use him to drive home how important it is that Sun and Moon return to the sky. I also got feedback about the scientific side of the story but I’m not going to really consider it because I do want this to read more like a myth or fable and so if people can believe that Helios brought the day while riding in a chariot across the sky in greek mythology then I’m going to say they can suspend their belief for my story as well. What I need to do mainly is flesh out my story. I already have the skeleton laid out well and a little bit of meat but it’s not a full story quite yet.
I was nervous going into the workshop on Monday, 10/17, second guessing everything I wrote. I was pleased with the positive feedback given to me by peers. I liked how there were different things people took and broke down in my story that I didn’t even notice like how the fear of the woods could represent the fear and struggle in Jen and Ryans marriage. I also liked how people got in a deep conversation on the idea of the supernatural and how its such a broad thing it’s hard to cover it all in a short story but it’s not impossible. Also the idea of whether or not to leave some aspects of the story with no explanation or to give a reasoning to everything. Some things for me to work on is give scenery more of a spooky element and discritption to give better visuals. I also need to figure out where I want to take this story next whether to focus more on the supernatural aspects or on Jen and Ryans relationship. People also wondered if the story would have been different if it was specifically in Jen or Ryans perspective the whole time and not third person. Some other suggestions people had were to give more background into Ryan and Jens relationship, also to not rush scenes so much and be more descriptive. Now with the feedback I have an idea of where I want to take this.
It was a very interesting experience having my story be workshopped. Going into the workshop, on Monday 10/17, I had a lot of concerns about whether or not people would enjoy my story or even if they would understand it. Also, due to the genre of my story, horror, I was nervous that people would be put off and not understand the deeper meaning. Now that it has been workshopped, I am glad that a lot of people enjoyed it. It was amazing hearing that people liked it. I especially liked how some people even caught onto the inspirations that I took from other horror stories. I think someone mentioned how my story reminded them of “The Colour Out of Space”, which is really cool since I actually did base the story, especially the meteor part, off of the cosmic horror of Lovecraft. I thought it was very interesting to hear how people interpreted the story. When I was writing the story, I wanted there to be a message about how guilt and trauma can negatively affect an individual and how that guilt can manifest itself into a feeling of being stuck or tied to one place or aspect of yourself. I’m glad that people picked up on that with this idea of staying vs. being stuck in a place. I also got a lot of good feedback from everyone. The main point that I am planning on changing is about how I placed all the backstory in the beginning of the story. Going forward I am going to work on finding ways to intersperse the backstory throughout the story without messing up the key moments of tension. I would say that my first experience with workshopping was a success!
Overall I enjoyed receiving feedback on my first story. I think a lot of people felt moved with the piece, as I had hoped for. I wanted to capture love in its genuineness, and I think this part of my story resonated heavily with others. I really appreciated the suggestions I received about focusing a little more on the husband, and “Raising the stakes” for him and the bar alongside Grace’s death. Going forward I am going to expand on a few sections related to the couple’s past, and reveal more about the husband, how he is personally dealing with Grace’s illness, and more about how Grace’s illness progressed.
My short story was workshopped this past class and I was happy with how it went. I was nervous to share my work with the entire class, but it was definitely worth it. It was very helpful to listen to what my classmates thought about my story. Obviously listening to what they liked about my story was nice to hear and was a great self-esteem boost. Many of the things in my story that I was hoping would stick out and be the aspects people enjoyed were the things that my classmates pointed out. Specifically some of my descriptive writing around the character’s thoughts and the themes that I was going for.
The questions/suggestions part of the workshop was very helpful and I was thankful for the honesty of my peers. I learned that I need to put some more work into the reveal of Marley’s death towards the end of the story, expanding on it and adding more detail. It was clear that some people were confused about the flashback scene that I include. I was anticipating that this would come up during the workshop so I am already working to find a way to make that scene clearer for the reader.
My story was workshopped on 10/24 and honestly I was relieved with how much praise I received. I was nervous going in to it, as I had developed an attachment to this story after working it and reframing it for a while so the thought of people not liking things I held as precious was daunting. However, I found it was really easy to let go of my feelings and just accept the praise and constructive criticism. I also really appreciated that the criticism was constructive as I struggle with being critiqued and this made it easier to swallow.
In terms of any changes, I’m not sure I’ll change anything in my story. I know- controversial. I sincerely valued my classmates’ suggestions and I think they were helpful but I am choosing to use them as stepping stones for my next project,
My first short story was workshopped last Thursday, 10/20. Going into it, I was super nervous. However, as the workshop went on, I became more relaxed. I really enjoyed hearing what people liked about the story and hearing them discuss the deeper meaning behind the ocean. There are a few things that I plan to work on given the feedback I received. First, I want to talk more about Devyn’s life and why he is the way he is. People felt that his character needed more depth, and I definitely agree now that it was brought to my attention. Along the same lines of character development, I also want to possibly incorporate a flashback into Winter’s mothers life, give her a name and a story rather than just use her as a device for my story. As for Winter, I want to delve more into her layers and what led to her downfall at this moment. Most importantly, I would like to clarify that Winters intent was NOT to jump. Thus, I need to work on giving more context as to why Devyn and Winter are at the ocean in the first place. Overall, this workshop helped me take a step back from my story and realize what could make it better and I’m really happy with how it went.
My first short story was workshopped on Monday, 10/24, and to be honest, I was nervous coming into class to hear what people had to say. Seeing as I never took a class like this before, I didn’t know what to expect. I am also not the greatest at writing, especially a story, since I did not have any experience before this class. I’m usually not the biggest fan of my own writing, so I was pleased to hear about the things that my classmates liked. I was glad to know that people liked the dialogue, especially because I had a time trying to convey a good amount of it and how to go about it between the characters. There were some points in the story that I was not sure if I was writing it correctly, like the suspense or the drama between Samantha and her mother. As for the suggestions I was given, I will definitely be doing them to revise my story. As I was writing it, I would make notes on some things that I would go back and revise at a later time, and I was pleased to know that my peers were also thinking the same thing. I for sure plan to go more in depth about the accident and Samantha’s thoughts on her way home and how it affects her anxiety, and the role it plays. I was also told to make it a bit more believable, which I totally agree on. Some questions I received was if the story was over, and ending on a cliffhanger. The answer is no. I have a plan on how I want the story to end and what happens to Samantha. I’m excited to see where it goes. I would say my first workshop was a success and I appreciate all the feedback I got.
My first short story was workshopped on 10/24. I’ve gone through the workshop process before, but I was still pretty nervous going into class. I was really proud of the story I wrote, but I knew that the workshop would force me to reevaluate scenes that I loved and techniques that I felt worked for me. I was especially worried about how the flashback sequences would be perceived. I was pleasantly surprised by all the feedback I got, considering that sometimes it takes a little prodding to get people to contribute. A lot of the feedback I got was positive, which was also really surprising to me. One thing that stuck out to me was just how many people complimented the flow and the prose within the story and how they liked how fleshed out Lou and Nick were. Comments like these really help my confidence as a writer and, if we’re being honest, good comments make me feel amazing, but who doesn’t feel that way? When it came to questions/suggestions, the biggest point of contention was with the flashback sequences. There was one flashback (the one where Lou was mugged) that most of the class agreed was a little jarring. Looking back at that flashback, I agreed with them, and actually cringed a little when it was brought up during class. While some people liked and appreciated the disjointedness of the past and the present aspects in my story, others felt like they needed to be grounded more. Jesse ended up saying something about this that really stuck with me. It was something along the lines of weighing the pros and cons of keeping the disjointedness/confusion for the sake of immersing the reader into the character’s mind, even if that meant alienating a group of readers that need to be grounded. I still haven’t made a decision, but I’ve really kept thinking about this idea. Is it okay to stick to an artistic choice that you feel enhances the narrative, even at the expense of alienating a group of readers? Most writers want everyone to like their work, me included, so I think posing this question was almost a wake-up call for me. Not everyone is going to like/agree with the content/techniques in my stories, but I think that’s okay.
My short story was workshopped on Monday 10/17 and coming into class that day I was definitely very nervous to hear what people had to say about it but also eager to get feedback on it as well. I was not very confident in my writing abilities going into this workshop since I have never taken a class like this before but I was happy to receive a lot of good feedback from peers in terms of what they liked about it, it was very uplifting. Considering I had a whole other story written out and decided to write a new one at the last second I was very pleased to see how this one turned out and felt very connected with it after writing it. My classmates gave me a lot of good criticism and feedback that I am taking into account in terms of the characters and how they were developed. A lot of people wondered about one of the characters Al and feels that he deserved more of a place in the story so I’m still trying to work out what to do with him and how I want to portray that. People also wanted to know more about the main character and dig deeper into his past and feelings which I feel for this story I didn’t want to give a whole background on his life and how he got where he is, I have thought about the suggestion but am just unsure of how to incorporate it so I may just leave his story as it is. Overall the experience went very well and I became less nervous as time went on and realized how helpful the workshopping process is.
I’m very glad that I’ve been introduced to workshopping. It was extremely helpful, yet a little intimidating, to have other people read my story and give feedback. It also of course felt good to have people enjoy your writing. The overall idea I got was to cut down some of the filler to leave room for more important scenes such as Argyle’s backstory. I think I was able to convey the tone and overall idea with what I had, with not too much confusion. I already shortened it to leave room for more on her family situation, possibly with a flashback or her looking back at that time. Although I’m not sure what would better fit the vibes going on in the story. Something else I heard was the way I initially mentioned her family and how it really took you away from the story. I totally agree, it felt abrupt and interrupted the flow of reading. I plan on maybe having Argyle reminisce about living with both her parents and their separation.
16 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 5”
My short story was workshopped on Thursday and I thought it went really well! I really like my story, so it was nice to hear other people in class say they liked it as well! I was also pleased that people seemed to notice that my goal was to leave unanswered questions because Tucker was a confusing character who never gave Josie the answers she needed. I was worried it was going to come across wrong or odd, but I’m glad everyone basically agreed he seemed like the problem character who left questions unanswered. I also appreciated the feedback of potentially taking things out and shortening it to add more in. What I turned in as 11 pages was my final rough draft, but I knew even then there was stuff I wanted to change and potentially add in later.
As for revisions, I don’t think I’ll be removing the first 4 pages as suggested, simply because I love them and I think that they add good backstory to the plot so you understand exactly what is going on between the characters. However, I do want to trim it down and take some stuff out so that I can add more stuff later on. I want Josie to have a conversation with her friends at the end of the story and I think I want them to appear more throughout it as well. I also have an idea for my artists book and I kind of want to include that in the story (it’s music that fits the plot, so it’d be a like playlist) so I need to try and figure that out as well.
It was really great to hear what other people thought of my story this week, and to get an idea of where I need to take it next. Both what people liked and what they suggested held some surprises for me, and it really goes to show how helpful an outside perspective can be. It seemed that I was able to get the tone of the story pretty much how I wanted it, which I did spend a good amount of time worrying about. However, an issue I ran into was that I know the world of my story well enough not to have questions about it, but without mentioning certain things, it won’t necessarily make sense to readers.
I would like to expand a bit more on the world of the story (for example, Alex’s life on Earth and more of what the mission was for). I would also like to sort out some of the details surrounding Percy (although probably not to full clarity), to help him fit a little better into the story the way he was intended to. I am also going to take a look at some areas, like the start of the story and some pieces of dialogue, and see if I can make them more concise.
Coming into the workshop very nervous to share my work, as I’m sure most of us were, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the process. It was great to hear not only what people found interesting about my draft, but also extremely helpful to hear their perspective as someone reading it not in the mind of the writer. From what I gathered from the workshop, it seems people understood the point I was trying to get across, which was my character Nina’s struggle with control, anxiety, and this new upcoming shift in her life which is going off to college. The jumping off the bridge and embracing the lack of control surrounding a new and nerve wracking situation also came across as a symbol for starting the new chapter in her life, going off to college and leaving her lifelong friends. This was also something I was glad to hear was communicated well in my story.
Some feedback that was mentioned was the lack of a backstory for Nina. Why were the characters at the bridge? Had they been there before? What led up to the jumping off the bridge? What happened in Nina’s life to make her feel the need to constantly be in control? Going forward, if I were to expand this draft, I’d like to delve deeper into those questions. I’d likely cut out some of the “in the head” moments of Nina’s internal dialogue and find a way to expand on some things from the past and more general context as well.
Overall, this was an excellent and helpful first workshop experience in this class. I want to thank you all for the kind and thoughtful feedback. I look forward to more workshops in the future and to reading more of everyone’s awesome stories!
I was very nervous for my story to be workshopped, and I have always been my own harshest critic; however, I feel as though the workshop went really well! I was really surprised to see how each and every person interacted so differently with my story. I found that him being injured came across as a much bigger deal in the story, as it only seemed like whiplash in my head. I will be going back and dialing that down, as he is definitely not in as intense danger as everyone thinks he may be. I also will be adding an ending in which the relationship between the characters changes. Everyone wants to see them end up together romantically, but being the chaotic writer I am, I think I am going to make them end up hating each other and having a really strained relationship. I’m also going to go more in depth to his perspective and show that he is mentally not ok rather than having him push everything aside as he has been doing throughout the whole story. I actually really enjoyed getting to hear the things that people didn’t like about the story or things that they would change because I know I didn’t like specific parts either, but I didn’t know how to change them. Now I have a better idea of where to go with the story and I am actually excited to see where it goes.
My short story was workshopped in class on Monday, 10/10, and I think it went really well. While it did take Jesse asking a few questions to get the class engage, which was quite scary for me as the writer, I felt like the feedback was mostly positive. I liked how everyone could feel some sort of emotion to each character, whether they liked them, hated them or related to them in some way. I think that hearing those thoughts from others about the characters themselves helped me understand that people were feeling similarly about them all that I was. When creating this piece I knew I wanted to do something different and tell a story from the “Other Woman” perspective and show that aspect. I didn’t want everyone to love Florence or root for her but I also wanted to show she wasn’t evil for having these feelings and I think that landed within the class. The revisions and suggestions I was given were things I had already been thinking about when rereading my story. I know that I need to add more depth about the relationship between Lincoln and Angela, showing what caused Lincoln to fall out of love. And also highlight how Florence was there for Lincoln and how his feelings developed. I also heard lots about adding more about Angela to the story. She is the antagonist in this story so from this workshop I see that I need to add more about why she is the bad guy in Florence and Lincolns relationship. I think that adding the element of the conversation Florence and Angela had will really add to that. Overall I think that this workshop was quite helpful for me and will help me create more depth to the story when I start on the next step.
We workshopped my short story’s first draft on 10/10/22. I think I got some really good feedback. Going into the workshop, I knew I needed to flesh out the lore a bit more in my story. Writing fantasy is already pretty difficult and I know that it is not everyone’s cup of tea so I knew it was going to be hard to fit in all the necessary background and explanations whilst not taking away from the main plot. I think I need to let go of some of the more frivolous lines and descriptions I have in order to make room for more world-building. I also received feedback on the characters and their purposes. I think I will definitely need to give Sun a bit more of a personality and really dig into the conversation she and Moon have in the bedroom. That is, after all, the climax of the story and I definitely rushed it. I also got some good feedback about Hamish. I added him in so I could have the Inn as a setting for the ending and I now see that he can be used to add more drama and mythos to the story. I was thinking of maybe making him as a god or god-like figure. Maybe someone who is fate-like or who knew what the situation was already. I could use him to drive home how important it is that Sun and Moon return to the sky. I also got feedback about the scientific side of the story but I’m not going to really consider it because I do want this to read more like a myth or fable and so if people can believe that Helios brought the day while riding in a chariot across the sky in greek mythology then I’m going to say they can suspend their belief for my story as well. What I need to do mainly is flesh out my story. I already have the skeleton laid out well and a little bit of meat but it’s not a full story quite yet.
I was nervous going into the workshop on Monday, 10/17, second guessing everything I wrote. I was pleased with the positive feedback given to me by peers. I liked how there were different things people took and broke down in my story that I didn’t even notice like how the fear of the woods could represent the fear and struggle in Jen and Ryans marriage. I also liked how people got in a deep conversation on the idea of the supernatural and how its such a broad thing it’s hard to cover it all in a short story but it’s not impossible. Also the idea of whether or not to leave some aspects of the story with no explanation or to give a reasoning to everything. Some things for me to work on is give scenery more of a spooky element and discritption to give better visuals. I also need to figure out where I want to take this story next whether to focus more on the supernatural aspects or on Jen and Ryans relationship. People also wondered if the story would have been different if it was specifically in Jen or Ryans perspective the whole time and not third person. Some other suggestions people had were to give more background into Ryan and Jens relationship, also to not rush scenes so much and be more descriptive. Now with the feedback I have an idea of where I want to take this.
It was a very interesting experience having my story be workshopped. Going into the workshop, on Monday 10/17, I had a lot of concerns about whether or not people would enjoy my story or even if they would understand it. Also, due to the genre of my story, horror, I was nervous that people would be put off and not understand the deeper meaning. Now that it has been workshopped, I am glad that a lot of people enjoyed it. It was amazing hearing that people liked it. I especially liked how some people even caught onto the inspirations that I took from other horror stories. I think someone mentioned how my story reminded them of “The Colour Out of Space”, which is really cool since I actually did base the story, especially the meteor part, off of the cosmic horror of Lovecraft. I thought it was very interesting to hear how people interpreted the story. When I was writing the story, I wanted there to be a message about how guilt and trauma can negatively affect an individual and how that guilt can manifest itself into a feeling of being stuck or tied to one place or aspect of yourself. I’m glad that people picked up on that with this idea of staying vs. being stuck in a place. I also got a lot of good feedback from everyone. The main point that I am planning on changing is about how I placed all the backstory in the beginning of the story. Going forward I am going to work on finding ways to intersperse the backstory throughout the story without messing up the key moments of tension. I would say that my first experience with workshopping was a success!
Overall I enjoyed receiving feedback on my first story. I think a lot of people felt moved with the piece, as I had hoped for. I wanted to capture love in its genuineness, and I think this part of my story resonated heavily with others. I really appreciated the suggestions I received about focusing a little more on the husband, and “Raising the stakes” for him and the bar alongside Grace’s death. Going forward I am going to expand on a few sections related to the couple’s past, and reveal more about the husband, how he is personally dealing with Grace’s illness, and more about how Grace’s illness progressed.
My short story was workshopped this past class and I was happy with how it went. I was nervous to share my work with the entire class, but it was definitely worth it. It was very helpful to listen to what my classmates thought about my story. Obviously listening to what they liked about my story was nice to hear and was a great self-esteem boost. Many of the things in my story that I was hoping would stick out and be the aspects people enjoyed were the things that my classmates pointed out. Specifically some of my descriptive writing around the character’s thoughts and the themes that I was going for.
The questions/suggestions part of the workshop was very helpful and I was thankful for the honesty of my peers. I learned that I need to put some more work into the reveal of Marley’s death towards the end of the story, expanding on it and adding more detail. It was clear that some people were confused about the flashback scene that I include. I was anticipating that this would come up during the workshop so I am already working to find a way to make that scene clearer for the reader.
My story was workshopped on 10/24 and honestly I was relieved with how much praise I received. I was nervous going in to it, as I had developed an attachment to this story after working it and reframing it for a while so the thought of people not liking things I held as precious was daunting. However, I found it was really easy to let go of my feelings and just accept the praise and constructive criticism. I also really appreciated that the criticism was constructive as I struggle with being critiqued and this made it easier to swallow.
In terms of any changes, I’m not sure I’ll change anything in my story. I know- controversial. I sincerely valued my classmates’ suggestions and I think they were helpful but I am choosing to use them as stepping stones for my next project,
My first short story was workshopped last Thursday, 10/20. Going into it, I was super nervous. However, as the workshop went on, I became more relaxed. I really enjoyed hearing what people liked about the story and hearing them discuss the deeper meaning behind the ocean. There are a few things that I plan to work on given the feedback I received. First, I want to talk more about Devyn’s life and why he is the way he is. People felt that his character needed more depth, and I definitely agree now that it was brought to my attention. Along the same lines of character development, I also want to possibly incorporate a flashback into Winter’s mothers life, give her a name and a story rather than just use her as a device for my story. As for Winter, I want to delve more into her layers and what led to her downfall at this moment. Most importantly, I would like to clarify that Winters intent was NOT to jump. Thus, I need to work on giving more context as to why Devyn and Winter are at the ocean in the first place. Overall, this workshop helped me take a step back from my story and realize what could make it better and I’m really happy with how it went.
My first short story was workshopped on Monday, 10/24, and to be honest, I was nervous coming into class to hear what people had to say. Seeing as I never took a class like this before, I didn’t know what to expect. I am also not the greatest at writing, especially a story, since I did not have any experience before this class. I’m usually not the biggest fan of my own writing, so I was pleased to hear about the things that my classmates liked. I was glad to know that people liked the dialogue, especially because I had a time trying to convey a good amount of it and how to go about it between the characters. There were some points in the story that I was not sure if I was writing it correctly, like the suspense or the drama between Samantha and her mother. As for the suggestions I was given, I will definitely be doing them to revise my story. As I was writing it, I would make notes on some things that I would go back and revise at a later time, and I was pleased to know that my peers were also thinking the same thing. I for sure plan to go more in depth about the accident and Samantha’s thoughts on her way home and how it affects her anxiety, and the role it plays. I was also told to make it a bit more believable, which I totally agree on. Some questions I received was if the story was over, and ending on a cliffhanger. The answer is no. I have a plan on how I want the story to end and what happens to Samantha. I’m excited to see where it goes. I would say my first workshop was a success and I appreciate all the feedback I got.
My first short story was workshopped on 10/24. I’ve gone through the workshop process before, but I was still pretty nervous going into class. I was really proud of the story I wrote, but I knew that the workshop would force me to reevaluate scenes that I loved and techniques that I felt worked for me. I was especially worried about how the flashback sequences would be perceived. I was pleasantly surprised by all the feedback I got, considering that sometimes it takes a little prodding to get people to contribute. A lot of the feedback I got was positive, which was also really surprising to me. One thing that stuck out to me was just how many people complimented the flow and the prose within the story and how they liked how fleshed out Lou and Nick were. Comments like these really help my confidence as a writer and, if we’re being honest, good comments make me feel amazing, but who doesn’t feel that way? When it came to questions/suggestions, the biggest point of contention was with the flashback sequences. There was one flashback (the one where Lou was mugged) that most of the class agreed was a little jarring. Looking back at that flashback, I agreed with them, and actually cringed a little when it was brought up during class. While some people liked and appreciated the disjointedness of the past and the present aspects in my story, others felt like they needed to be grounded more. Jesse ended up saying something about this that really stuck with me. It was something along the lines of weighing the pros and cons of keeping the disjointedness/confusion for the sake of immersing the reader into the character’s mind, even if that meant alienating a group of readers that need to be grounded. I still haven’t made a decision, but I’ve really kept thinking about this idea. Is it okay to stick to an artistic choice that you feel enhances the narrative, even at the expense of alienating a group of readers? Most writers want everyone to like their work, me included, so I think posing this question was almost a wake-up call for me. Not everyone is going to like/agree with the content/techniques in my stories, but I think that’s okay.
My short story was workshopped on Monday 10/17 and coming into class that day I was definitely very nervous to hear what people had to say about it but also eager to get feedback on it as well. I was not very confident in my writing abilities going into this workshop since I have never taken a class like this before but I was happy to receive a lot of good feedback from peers in terms of what they liked about it, it was very uplifting. Considering I had a whole other story written out and decided to write a new one at the last second I was very pleased to see how this one turned out and felt very connected with it after writing it. My classmates gave me a lot of good criticism and feedback that I am taking into account in terms of the characters and how they were developed. A lot of people wondered about one of the characters Al and feels that he deserved more of a place in the story so I’m still trying to work out what to do with him and how I want to portray that. People also wanted to know more about the main character and dig deeper into his past and feelings which I feel for this story I didn’t want to give a whole background on his life and how he got where he is, I have thought about the suggestion but am just unsure of how to incorporate it so I may just leave his story as it is. Overall the experience went very well and I became less nervous as time went on and realized how helpful the workshopping process is.
I’m very glad that I’ve been introduced to workshopping. It was extremely helpful, yet a little intimidating, to have other people read my story and give feedback. It also of course felt good to have people enjoy your writing. The overall idea I got was to cut down some of the filler to leave room for more important scenes such as Argyle’s backstory. I think I was able to convey the tone and overall idea with what I had, with not too much confusion. I already shortened it to leave room for more on her family situation, possibly with a flashback or her looking back at that time. Although I’m not sure what would better fit the vibes going on in the story. Something else I heard was the way I initially mentioned her family and how it really took you away from the story. I totally agree, it felt abrupt and interrupted the flow of reading. I plan on maybe having Argyle reminisce about living with both her parents and their separation.