Workshop Tips
- Bring poems you are invested in that you want another perspective on.
- One way to think about workshopping a poem is to look for its possibilities.
- Don't bring poems that are too personal/you don't feel comfortable having critiqued (no poem is perfect, no poem is imperfect)
- We are all learning. We can learn from every person if we let them teach us; they can learn from us.
- Don't judge poems too harshly - every written piece has value, we are all human and have things to say, ideas and interesting perspectives on the world. If you give the piece a chance, it might open up something new for you.
- Be open to new ideas, words, forms, styles, chaos and order, worlds.
- Do not talk or ask questions of the poet. Instead, ask questions of the poem.
- Poke at it. Engage with it. Have fun with it. See it's potential but also accept it as it is. Speak your thoughts. Only those who see greatness in a poem can help it grow.
- Explore other's poems as if they were your own.
- Find the world/space the poem has created and see it from there. Only from there can you determine if this space needs any clarification, specificity, chopping down or building up.
- Take what you can from it. Not every voice will speak to what your poem needs. Listen to the comments that ring true with what the poem needs to accomplish and disregard the others - it could also be that you feel it is finished as is. Listen to your instinct.