And
really, how helpful is a workshop?
Either you can write, or you can’t, for the most part.*
That
said, I like wordplay. I like forms. I like humor. I write a decent limerick.
*Remember
when I told you that I took two
graduate courses to make sure I still had a brain and that I was not brilliant
but neither were some of the enrolled students so I held my own, and I also noted
that it was insane that one of those courses I took was a poetry workshop?
Well, that workshop was rather a disaster in that the group never really jelled
and there was really only one great writer in the room (although more than a
few were better than I). It was just an odd group. More on that tomorrow.
God. Are workshops worth it? Almost never, I would say. It is so rare to find good readers in a workshop, and that's what the writer needs, isn't it? I learned a great deal from fiction workshops as an undergraduate because I was in dread terror of the professor (John Barth), and his almost forensic examination of our texts. Our poetry workshop together, Kate, was terrible. It was more than not jelling (you are kind there!) - it was a wasteland.
ReplyDeleteOh dear god, I don't want to hear this: I have spent mega bucks to attend a writing workshop in Greece. Although truthfully, I think I'm going mainly to sit on the terrace and stare at the Aegean.
DeleteBut is it a poetry workshop, Helen? And Greece? Who cares how bad it is?
DeleteGood point re who cares how bad it is. And no, it's not poetry, although I suspect other types of writing workshops may not be worth it either. I may eventually retreat into spanakopita and solitude.
DeleteOh, and I remember that your poems were the only ones worth reading...so we don't agree, my dear! (Was Sharon Martin in that workshop with us? She wrote great things for Peter's impossible assignments, but that might have been in the other workshop I had with him.)
ReplyDeleteStay tuned, my friend.
DeleteYour limericks are more than decent. They are luminous.
ReplyDeleteI am only a passable baker but I am happy to sing praises of my daughter's breads and cookies!
ReplyDeleteYour limericks are a true gift.
ReplyDeleteAnd I also think you underestimate your talents.
Take heart, Helen; I've had good luck with workshops for the most part--poetry, fiction, and writing for children. I've belonged to groups that met regularly, and I've attended one-shot events led by a well-published writer. And if I get the opportunity, I'll do it again.
ReplyDeleteTake heart, Helen. You'll be in Greece.
ReplyDeleteI have never been to a writer's workshop of any sort. I envy those of you who have.
ReplyDelete