Welcome to the Purdue OWL

Key Questions and Other Resources

Each workshop model is unique, presenting its own benefits and drawbacks. Further, each instructor and student within the classroom is unique; it’s unlikely there is a one-size-fits-all workshop model for every student, instructor, and class. As instructors consider how to structure workshop within their creative writing classrooms, the following questions can serve as a starting point in discerning how best to shape the workshop into the meaningful, enriching activity it can be.

Objective-oriented Questions

• What are the instructor’s objectives for the class? What are the students’ objectives? How might different workshop models help or hinder the instructor and students from meeting their objectives?
• How important is it that every student has the opportunity to verbally participate in workshop?
• What amount of instructor-led facilitation would be most conducive towards meeting class objectives?

Logistical Questions

• How much time can the instructor allot to workshop throughout the semester?
• How big is the class?
• How frequently does the class meet, and for how long?
• Will students have read their peers’ work before workshop, or will the workshop class be the first time they’ve seen their peers’ work?
• Will students be expected to provide written feedback on their peers’ work?

Miscellaneous Questions

• Have students workshopped before? If so, what kind of workshop was it, and what was their experience like?
• What is the class dynamic? How might each workshop model mesh or clash with the way the students are engaging with each other in other portions of class?

Suggestions for Further Reading

How the Hell Do We Fix the Creative Writing Workshop?

Unsilencing the Writing Workshop

Workshop: A Rant Against Creative Writing Classes

Workshop is not for you

Liz Lerman Critical Response Process

Creative Writing Feedback: How to Workshop Creative Writing

The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom

Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping

For additional resources for creative writing, click here.