In this news article: Results of `jade-pandora’s Workshop: Senryu | *BerylAlexandros's Workshop: The Writer is Always Right|Call For Workshop Hosts! |First time you have heard to *Writers-Workshop? This section is for you!

Results of the Senryu Workshop!

A word from *Writers-Workshop ...

It was excellent to see so many people giving feedback to the workshop entries. There were many deviants who made rounds on almost all of the pieces. Keep up the feedback, guys, it is wonderful to see everyone getting involved!



`jade-pandora’s response...

It’s a pleasure for me to announce that the Senryu Workshop was a wonderful success! My gratitude and thanks to all who participated or supported the workshop in their capacity. My thanks also to *Writers-Workshop for allowing me to collab with them when it comes to this intriguing and lesser-known/appreciated style of poetry.

I was happily amazed at a fantastic quality of creativity in the subject matter used. Many of you included personal issues and/or societal observations. I was proud to see fluidity in the senryu form and elements of mushin, and was happy to see people taking in what my journals offered, internalizing & incorporating what they learned into their work.

Senryu, like any form of poetry, takes a lifetime of learning. A workshop offers the basics, an introduction into the style. That being said, one thing I would like to see worked on more is to remember that senryu is a bawdy style. It’s in your face, it’s humorous, it’s tragic. Even though there were pieces that incorporated human nature, they were still more gentle, more haiku in nature. I would like to see more people incorporate the principles of mushin which does not try to stress beauty. Also, there needs to be an understanding of basic haiku structure. Senryu is a little more loose than haiku, but is not as flowing as tanka. The principles of brevity still need to be observed in the form. This includes omitting capitalization unless the word is a proper noun. As you seek to find your own voice in these eastern styles, always strive to stay with and follow the principles.

These are things to work on as you grow in the style. I congratulate all who honored me as host over their entries! I enjoyed the spirit in which so many entered. Having fun is key to it all!

I take this opportunity to highlight a few entries that represented the concept of senryu. What I found about many of the pieces in this selection was the use of irony, image juxtaposition, and excellent use of brevity to portray human folly or actions. The images in each work are clear and, in some cases, thought-provoking:

Summer Senryu by ~Elmara
senryu by ~fense
Senryu Soup by ~mintleaves
Senryu by ~ria88

Again, excellent job, everybody! Thank you for participating in what I hope has been a great experience for all of you!

*BerylAlexandros's Workshop: The Writer is Always Right


*BerylAlexandros has been writing for as long as she can remember, although it took a long time before she considered herself a writer. Until she joined deviantART in 2005, she had shared her writing only with a few friends. deviantART also provided her first experience with writing for prompts (she was homeschooled, and therefore had never had assignments in school). The skills that she picked up on deviantART helped her get a story published in The First Line magazine, and also came in handy during her first semester of college last winter.

She is currently focusing on writing more, sharing more of her writing, and playing an active role in her community, both online and off. She works three days a week at the local library, and hopes that someday soon she will be able to buy her own land and move out of her mother’s house.

THE WRITER IS ALWAYS RIGHT

There are times when we all need or want to write something that doesn’t spring entirely from our own thoughts. Whether it be an assignment in school, a contest on deviantART, or a magazine that you really want to get published in that just happens to have very specific guidelines, the situation is going to come up. And while the parameters in those situations are likely to be a little smaller than those that I have provided for the workshop, it’s important than you learn how to move around as much as possible within those parameters. The purpose of the workshop is to help you discover that you, the writer, are always right.

There are really two crucial parts to this workshop. The first is to choose a prompt and write your entry. Choose a prompt that you can write something from – there would be very little point in choosing one that you can’t – but try not to go with the most obvious or easy choice. Go with something that you maybe have to look at a few different ways before you know what to do with it. When you write your entry, I want you to defy expectations. If you think that I meant something one way, but it could be taken another way, that’s excellent: go with the other way. This workshop is about twisting things to your own purposes, so you will have done an excellent job if what you write isn’t anywhere close to what I or anyone else expected to get from your chosen prompt.

The second part will happen in the author’s comments. I want you to say something about why you chose the prompt that you did and why you used it in the way that you did. This can be as long or as short as you want it to be, although I will be asking questions at my discretion so it might be easier if you just anticipate the questions and answer them before I can ask. The purpose of this second part to the workshop is to help me understand your process – it’s always possible that I won’t be able to see how a piece is even connected to a prompt, and your comments would help explain it to me and also give me a little footing to ask questions if I’m confused. It will also help you understand your process, and therefore get the most out of this workshop.

Some additional notes:
1. Although I hope that you will defy my expectations with your writing, it is best if what you write seems to spring naturally from the prompt. I’m sure it goes without saying that it’s best to keep your writing from seeming like an awkward attempt to connect two disconnected ideas.
2. I fully encourage you to use my prompts as part of something that you already had an idea to write.
3. Remember that if you don’t end up with something that you really like, the workshop wasn’t a success.
4. In the event that you use a prompt to write something of a personal nature which you would rather not explain in the author’s comments, you are welcome to say as much. “It has personal significance to me” is a perfectly valid explanation as far as I’m concerned.
5. I am limiting entries to one per person for the workshop, although I will look at others when and if I find time.

The Prompts

- Write something where the second line begins with "Then again," "On the other hand," or a similar phrase. For poetry, it's okay if the entire second line is one of those phrases.

- Write something about learning a lesson.

- Write something that begins "Thinking about trick-or-treating always made [Name] nervous."

- Write something that contains the line "[Fall or Autumn] was her favorite time of the year."

- Write something about two people who never meet.

- Take a sequence of at least five words out of this workshop introduction and use it somewhere in the first paragraph of your prose or the first four lines of your poem. It is okay to re-punctuate but not to add, delete, or reorder the words.

How to Submit

After submitting your entry as a new deviation or scrap, send us a note with a link to your piece. Include the subject line "WRITE RIGHT" in your note. The deadline is midnight 15 October 2008. All times are set for GMT. *BerylAlexandros will respond to the entries on 19 October 2008.

A note from *Writers-Workshop Please note that this is a Free for all workshop, meaning that we will accept both prose and poetry entries. Proofread your work before you send it in so that grammatical and spelling errors are minimal. And most of all, have fun with it!

On Accepting Critique

Always thank the critic. This gratitude must be as sincere as possible, even if you did not like the critique given, because the critic has taken time to offer his/her opinion of the piece.
If you do not like the critique, it is not necessary to mention so. Simply thank the critic and move on. You can always ignore their suggestions, while not making a scene of it.
If you are unsure of what the critique means, feel free to ask the critic what s/he meant. Building rapport with your critic is one of the best ways to survive in a workshop and to learn. If you want examples, ask. Similarly, if you like the suggestions given, mention it. Critic's have feelings too.
In the unlikely case that a critic offers rude/sexist/racist/etc comments, feel free to contact *Writers-Workshop in a note and we will try to help you. A decision regarding the rudeness of the critique will be taken, and if we're not sure ourselves, we will consult with one of the GDs or anyone else high up on deviantART.

Call for workshop hosts!

We're looking for people to come along and host a workshop! Did you know that any member can partake in a workshop? If you have a good idea, then why not consider sending us in a proposal?

We ran a poll to find out why people hadn’t applied to host workshops and it turns out the main reason is a lack of confidence. We would like to encourage everyone to have a go, regardless of status, symbol or popularity. We’re looking for good workshops and want to ideally be booked up for the rest of the year.

So if you’re interested, take a deep breath and send in a proposal!


First time you've heard of *Writers-Workshop? This section is for you.

*Writers-Workshop is a literature community that focuses on the development of a writer. We intend to provide a non-competitive workshop environment on dA, as well as to push good, polished writing over winning prizes or "networking".

Workshops will be conducted every fortnight; prose, poetry and free-for-all sessions will be rotated. For more information, read our FAQs section or note us with queries.

We have been working on a list of resources for our writers: Resources for Writers which we think is worth going through. We are open to suggestions as well.

Our Diary has a list of upcoming workshops.

You canhost a Workshop , too.


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