Zk | Further Confusion Writing Workshop 2023

Workshop notes

Friday — Critical reading

• Intro
  • Intro self (incl. “this is for MFA” spiel)
  • Allow others to intro
• Ice breaker: what is your least favorite part of your favorite movie?
• Lead into what is a text
  • Books/writing, sure, but also anything that tells a story — film, games, etc
  • Thus, what is critical reading?
• Intentional engagement with a text, especially with regards to the self
  • Back to ice breaker: how do you intentionally engage with your favorite film?
  • How do we intentionally engage with a text in furry?
    • What do we like in a furry text? What don’t we like?
    • Notably, not asking what makes a text furry, that we are furries is what enables us to read into that context
    • Thus, how do we engage with a text that we feel is furry as furries?
• What goes into critical reading?
  • Layers:
    • Mechanical: presentation, word choice, language usage, writing style
    • Subjective: emotional impact, plot effectiveness, evocative descriptions
• Reading exercise:
  • Pick one of these two categories to pay attention to first and read, then read for the second
  • Critique tomorrow, but preview: we’re not tearing a text apart, we’re asking it questions:
    • How did we feel the plot worked? Was there a structure? Could we follow it?
    • What was told? What was left out? How did (not) knowing make us feel?
    • What type of language usage was there? Word choice? Style?
    • How about emotional impact? Was the story impactful? Did the mechanics help or hinder us?
    • Was it evocative? Was it furry? Did that work?
  • Be ready to summarize
  • 10 mins to read
  • _~
  • Have someone summarize
  • Talk through the mechanical and subjective layers, drilling down into specifics
  • Talk through how the exercise felt
    • was it useful? Tiring? Enjoyable?
• Tomorrow, we’ll go through critiquing writing and actually workshop a piece — one of mine that has already been workshopped and published, so just an example of critiquing for a present author.
• Optional homework:
  • Write a short ~500 word snippet (or pick one already written) to go through a gentle workshop, think about what we talked through today while writing
  • Email it to me and I’ll put it online for all to read in the workshop
  • Will be asking how it felt etc

Saturday — Critiquing in workshop

• What is workshopping?
  • More important, what is it not?
    • Tearing apart a story
    • Tearing down the author (Maslanka story)
    • Editing a piece
  • Talk about your engagement with the piece — remember list of questions from yesterday
  • Author:
    • Listen to feedback and take in the ways your work affected others
    • Will talk about writing for workshops tomorrow
• Types of workshops and such
  • Silent author
    • How that works
    • Why — active listening, no shaping responses
  • Participatory discussion
    • Better for pieces earlier in process
    • Feedback as to where to take it
  • The role of the facilitator
    • Prevent stalling
    • Keep on track
    • Pay attention to mood, etc
• Tone
  • Talk to the piece, not the author — some don’t even use the author’s name, pretend they aren’t there (not particularly a fan, but also stay away from addressing comments to ‘you’)
  • Talk about yourself, your responses, your questions
  • Changing language
    • Stay away from generating shared values/taste
    • Imagine and invite change
    • We don’t want to over-reward author because then it becomes less about creativity and more about writing for success
• Sample workshop:
  • https://makyo.ink/jump
  • 10 mins to read
  • Workshop discussion with silent author, then bring author in
  • Discuss how it felt
• Tomorrow: writing to receive critique/actually receiving critique

Sunday — Writing to expect critique

• https://makyo.io/fcww23s
• Writing and vulnerability
  • Vulnerability in creation
  • The terrifying ordeal of being seen
  • How to manage having one’s vulnerability openly addressed
• A lot is on the facilitator
  • Ensuring discussion stays on the work
  • Ensuring uncomfortable silence is filled
    • How silence feels
    • How to fill silence if it happens (ask questions)
• Engaging with responses as author
  • Always good to thank, but overdoing can weaken your position in your own eyes
  • Maintain authorial vision ---- everything you get (even negative) is encouragement and opportunity to change, but not a demand
  • Friction and vulnerability:
    • Maintain openness (even physical — half smile, willing hands)
    • Maintain distance
    • Feel free to maintain boundaries, facilitator is there to help, can guide/move on from topic
• Take notes! Can be overwhelming, so read through and think before blithely implementing
• Workshops:
  • One person summarize and lead in with discussion
  • Try one response at a time vs open discussion
• Reflect on how that felt