In this news article: Results of ^fllnthblnk's Workshop: Authenticity: It's All In The Details | Details Week | Call for workshop hosts! | First time you've heard of *Writers-Workshop? This section is for you!

Results of ^fllnthblnk's Workshop

A word from *Writers-Workshop

Thank you to everyone who participated in this workshop.

We have been noticing in recent workshops that we’re getting a lot of people who are submitting works, but not joining in the other half of the workshop which is the critique and feedback side. The concept of the workshop is that it is the entire process from theme idea, to produced personal attempt and then to view each others’ piece and how the theme has been approached. You can learn a lot from reading and critiquing others’ work, and we are also here to encourage redrafting using the feedback.

In our next few workshops we will be looking out for the people who complete the workshop in full, mean beyond just submitting a piece. We can not force you to critique, nor do we expect you to critique every single piece, but we encourage it with sincerity and passion.

And in saying that we would like to give some special mentions to ~Elmara and *GrimEden who haven’t just taken the time to get stuck into critiques in this round, but two people who have been consistently involved in the recent workshops in a complete manner. Thank you.

^fllnthblnk’s response:



I was excited to see that eleven of you decided to step up to the challenge, submitting poems that included details to help make them feel genuine and authentic. A few pieces really stood out to me. *GrimEden's One Dozen did more than just describe flowers he received. Mentioning a bouquet being rescued from a Walgreens compactor really convinced me that this happened to the poet; why a Walgreens compactor specifically? It must be true if it's not just any old compactor--the kind of details I really wanted from the poems submitted. Also mentioning a mother's Lalique vase made the poem authentic. It wasn't just any vase... it was a Lalique vase!

~Kitz-the-Kitsune in Long Distance Relationship mentions a homeless man to whom she and others gave Chick-Fil-A biscuits. The specific restaurant's food really engaged me to the poem and made it feel believeable. The poet also mentions the magnolias she misses, describing them as big white umbrella flowers. I like how she gets specific and doesn't just speak of any flowers. They were magnolias that reminded her of umbrellas.

Although I enjoyed some of the details in *RickDanger's poem Morning Ritual, such as the green tea leaves and freshly eaten oranges, a critique put it succinctly by stating "...the detail consumed what was going on so I was only getting objects and not what they were connceted to or stood for." I agree. I believe it is important to not just bombard a reader with detail, but to help guide them as to their importance and meaning in a poem.

I love street names in poetry. It gives a poem a better sense of place. Lewisville by `BerylAlexandros mentions Holland Road and the two dead deer on it. It's much more engaging to get specific and mention Holland Road instead of just "a road."

Now, we always don't have to be too specific and name names. =AstarteKatz in the poem beachy keen mentions "three overgrown boys in the surf". She does a couple of things in this line that I love. First, a specific number. It is much easier for the reader to imagine three boys instead of just boys. We didn't need to know their names... just that there was three of them. This makes the poem genuine because why three? The poet must've witnessed these three boys since she counted them out for us. She also describes them as "overgrown"--again, another small detail that convinces me of this poem's authenticity.

Overall, there were many great gems in the poems. Although not all poems need detail to be good or authentic, the way many poets write today, some good detail will help convince readers of a poem's authenticity, making for an engaging read. But just adding detail will not simply do; a poem should generally teach something new to a reader: what's so important about all these things the poet is telling us about? Why should the reader care? Answer these within the poems and they'll make for a fantastic read!

DETAILS WEEK

Hello workshoppers! As you may have noticed, the two workshops in this cycle have dealt with focusing on detail (and lack thereof) and the importance of detail in writing. That said, Becca and I have decided that it would be a good idea to have some reflection on the details of the writers behind the writing. Therefore, we bring you Details Week! Let us know where you stand, the details of you as a writer and where you are with your writing.

A few things to consider when writing:

What reason(s) do you write for?
Do you take your writing seriously?
If so, when did you start taking writing seriously?
Where do you feel you stand as a writer?
What do you feel you do well? (ie, characterisation, dialogue, imagery, etc.)
What do you feel you struggle with?
What do you most want to improve on?
Do you have any questions to ask your readers?

Ask questions. These can be to the readers, they can be to yourself, they can be to a figment of your imagination, but ask away. Asking promotes thought, and thought may just prompt the answers you've been looking for, or at least point you in the right direction to getting these answers!
Read what others have to say. It could be that others are having the same problems you are, or else that someone could have the solution to challenges you've been struggling with. This is definitely one of those situations where communication will likely be very beneficial!

How to Submit

Submit your review as a scrap or a journal entry and link it to us in a note, with the subject line "DETAILS WEEK" before midnight, April 1. (This is obviously more than one week, but it best fits our schedule this way.) The reason we say scrap or journal is because this is more a reflection than actual writing, and will likely not fall under the dA category system as it were. `Beccalicious and I (`GaioumonBatou) will respond to entries between April 1 and 5, with an overall results journal posted on the 5th. However, we encourage that everyone read and comment on what everyone else has to say, as it will be of great benefit for everyone that way!

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?

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 can host a workshop, too.

Look out for `Amberlouie's workshop on vignettes, coming up in a fortnight!

Staff