Traditional Workshops vs Freewriting Workshops and the Amherst Method

Traditional Workshops: Refining the Writer through Sharing
My first experiences with writing workshops came as an undergrad at Case Western. Like most academic institutions, Case Western uses the Traditional Workshop Approach to teach creative writing. Relatively speaking, the traditional workshop is a "new" approach to learning creative writing. It first began at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, evolving during the 1930s as established writers tutored students of writing.

The traditional workshop is different from most academic courses because most of the "study" comes not from reading established works of literature, but rather from reading and responding to pieces recently written by classmates. Through this model, students learn to see their stories and poems through the perspectives of outside readers. They learn how to identify the strengths and weaknesses in creative work and - ideally - they become adept at revision.

The traditional workshop method is, however, still chained to the scholarly approaches from which it evolved. The structure, meaning, and style of individual pieces are dissected and analyzed. Given the diversity of writers present, most workshop participants are exposed to a variety of critical perspectives. Additionally, any "errors" of personal style can be corrected - if you're a wordy writer, or if you've used images of ravens in just one too many poems, you'll hear about it. The downside, though, is that there is little time allotted for learning "what" to write about, or for figuring out how to find your personal writing focus. Students are taught not to evaluate the author's personal growth as a writer, but rather the work alone.

Freewriting Workshops: Spilling Your Story Across the Page

The problem, though, is that the work produced in this process is not very polished. When done correctly, the first draft may filled with all the common mistakes of rushed work: typos, incomplete sentences, and unresolved elements of story. Because of this, freewriting is rarely promoted under the traditional writing workshop. Instead, students do their best to turn in coherent stories which are well-structured - stories which are invested with meaning, but lacking the emotional power to really hold a reader's attention.

Amherst Method Workshops: Building Confidence to Feed the Story?

Pat's workshop helped me overcome many of these issues because the focus was less on how to "tell" and story and more on how to find the story.? And her main priority here is creating an environment in which it's safe for the writer to write and (if he or she chooses) to share that writing.? There

12Writing: Seeking the Progression of Inspiration, Writing, and Ongoing Community

Source: http://www.12writing.com/2011/05/traditional-workshops-vs-freewriting.html

pippa middleton child abuse ampersand ovarian cancer blackhawks