Something to Think About

[ladysankofa]

Michael Chabon wrote this and I think he makes some very valid points.

One of the problems that I've been seeing in writing workshops is that people not only take themselves and their ideas way too seriously, but at the same time, they tend to not be taking their writing seriously. Perhaps it is just the make up of the workshops that I've had the (

Comments

[seabird78]

This is one of the things that has contributed to me being in a bad way with my own writing, I think. I'm not generally confident about my writing when I'm in the thick of it, but despite that, I can look at completed drafts and recognize that I have some semblance of talent, and to have to sit in classes, listening to instructors giving praise to mediocre hacks while ignoring me was just devastating.

To their credit, I think my instructors may have given me less attention because they didn't think I needed it, and when we did talk they were nothing short of encouraging, but my writing program operates on the premise that everyone is a natural storyteller (something to do with the oral tradition) and as such have tales that are equally valid and meaningful. I don't doubt that everyone has a story, but I do doubt that everyone can communicate it, especially if they're more in love with the idea of being a writer than actually putting in legitimate effort.

Enough ranting. I have to do some work, I guess.

[mdatl]

It's the revision, isn't it, that's bothersome? Or rather, the lack of it? I tell my young ones (as I know you do) that revision is where the real writing begins. But 90% of the "revision" I see involves band-aid fixes: punctuation, spelling, verb tense, etc.

I've only taught creative writing once, and it was frustrating for the reasons you list, plus their belief in their first drafts. In comp (what I teach most), I expect more students to just "do what the teacher says." But even the revision I saw in c. writing was equally surface-level. I know, I know, we ain't Iowa, but still.