The Workshop Space

Song: Want Some More x Nicki Minaj (Feat. Jeremih)

I love workshop. Even when I was leaving my first intermediate workshop (nonfiction) and feeling as if I'd been bullied every afternoon, I still loved it. Even when a story I put my heart into and lost hours of sleep and life working on wasn't chosen to be workshopped, I still loved it. And throughout the several breakdowns workshop has led me to, be it crying and feeling worthless on campus, or holding back tears when my professor asks "are you okay?" after a bad workshop, I have still loved it.

I think Justin Torres said it best at a Q&A at the Sigma Tau Delta 2014 convention. He said that going into workshop with a piece was "throwing it to the wolves" and honestly, it is. In workshop, you take a piece of writing (that you have worked and revised and poured your soul into) and give it to several people, hoping they will like it and return with great critique on how to further your piece. Wouldn't that be great, but that's not real life. And if that's how your workshops are - all pretty and fluffed - then you should ask for your money back because everything can be revised and made better.

The workshop is a "safe space" in that whatever needs to be said about a piece can be said and that's where it stays. Actually, I take it back, I don't like the idea of a "safe space" because it seems unfair - only some people are ever safe in a "safe space" anyways. People have said wild things to me in past workshops, once someone implied that only poor, black girls think about getting abortions, another time, someone told me their parents were married and lived together, so they couldn't understand my family dynamic, and I've had so many people remain silent and give me no critique whatsoever. And all of those people have privileges I don't and they used them to their advantage in workshop to get out of giving me relevant and/or helpful critique. That's cool, but see how the workshop is not a place I feel "safe"? The workshop can be a hostile environment, it can be full of disagreement, it can be made up of students who refuse to try and understand, it can make you angry, it can make you cry, it can make you think that art is not for you. If you can't handle any of these potential issues, then maybe you shouldn't be in a workshop environment. If you can't handle critique or questions or ponderings, then maybe you shouldn't be in a workshop.  Maybe. But remember that you're there to get feedback and critique from your peers, you don't have to listen to what everyone is saying. I've said things and watched a lot of writers put their pens down while I speak, frown, lock their jaws, and not write down my commentary. That's cool, do you, it's your work, not mine.

Fight for your art by taking it into workshop. What happens in that room, what happens on that page, stays in the room, stays on the page. Don't be petty and take things outside of workshop. If you're going to call yourself an artist then Critique should be your worst enemy and best friend. Don't let your workshop think you're afraid or let them know that they hurt your feelings. Write down whatever is said (or don't) and take that piece of paper home and dissect it for important things to change, compare it to the hard copies, see how it differs from the workshop letters. Don't go into workshop and say "I like it, the language is great!" Okay, yeah, I knew that because I wrote and revised it before bringing here...what needs work, what can be cut or changed, what's doing too much?

I had two workshops this semester, and before now, I've been in so many workshops, I refuse to count how many pieces have been thrown to the wolves, chewed up, and spat back at me. In my first workshop, no one told me what wasn't working, and no one delved into the topic of race/culture that was thread through my piece. It's been 8 weeks since that workshop, and I still am afraid to begin revising that piece because it desperately needs work, but no one (except my professor) told me. My second piece, I didn't ask any questions and just wrote down every word that was said - much better workshop. I know exactly what needs work with that second piece.

I don't know, I'm rambling. Don't be nice in workshop, don't expect people to be nice, it's not worth the money or the time. Be real. Only take things personal if someone is clearly ignorant to what they've just said, or if they clearly didn't try to explore your piece without bias. Remember that you're a good writer. If you weren't, you would have been ripped to shreds in your first workshop. Don't attack people just because they aren't you and didn't think of you while writing your piece. I've read a lot of work written by people drastically different from me and you don't see me attacking who they are in workshop... Work through it with the author during the workshop or outside of it. Don't just give it a superficial read and say you don't understand - get out of workshop if you're going to do that.

Finally, if you're going to call yourself an artist then own your craft. You're probably not going to get anywhere if you let a single workshop break you and never bounce back. No one said this was easy, and if you thought it was, get out now while there's still time. It's hard as hell, but the rewards are worth it. Fight for your right to call yourself an artist. Make awesome shit. Be a shark.

A last tip from Cristina Yang (Grey's Anatomy):

"Ugh, you make me sick. Have some fire. Be unstoppable. Be a force of nature. Be better than anyone here, and don't give a damn what anyone thinks. There are no teams here, no buddies. You're on your own. Be on your own."

 *also, find a song that makes you feel like a Boss and make that your workshop/writing song