Address The Work

I've been in real writers' workshops. I had the privilege of being in a fiction-writing course taught by Daniel Keyes, known for the stories Flowers for Algernon and The Minds of Billy Milligan - the course was run as half lecture, half workshop. It was great. Dr. Keyes started out by saying he couldn't teach anyone to write ... but he could teach people who can write, to write better. One of the points he emphasized is that WorkshopsTeachReading.

Now I'm reviewing a novel my younger stepson is writing. I have a lot of pointed comments, and a lot of questions, such as, "Who says this?" I'm feeling a little nervous. How can I do this without hurting Jason's feelings? How do I present it so that, instead of telling me the answers to my questions, he goes back to the manuscript and makes improvements? On the train this morning, I remembered the answer I learned back in Dr. Keyes' class.

In a writer's workshop, AddressTheWork, not the author. If you have a suggestion for improvement, or have a question you can't answer by reading the material, aim it at the work being reviewed. Request that the work be improved or answer the question. Don't go to the author, especially for questions; if the author responds to you, you'll have the answer, but no other reader will.

The exceptions are when giving PositiveFeedbackFirst (or whenever you give it), and when you ThankTheAuthor. Those activities don't improve the work; they make the author more comfortable, and reinforce the good things he or she has done.

-- PaulChisholm

This technique also applies in PairProgramming.

CategoryPatternLanguage CategoryPsychology CategoryWritersWorkshop