5 essentials to effective workshopping
We all do it. When writing our own work, we get so close to it that forests and trees blur into one, and it can be very hard to be objective. That’s why workshopping can be such an important part of the manuscript writing process.
Writing workshops are a valuable tool that even published writers swear by. They’re usually simply a weekly meeting of a small group of writers, designed to critique their work. Feedback is given, and a forum for discussions is opened on how to improve key skills.
A workshop could theoretically operate much like a book club, being as serious or as social as its members allow. But to work effectively, it really needs to be work, not play – allowing writers to analyse and test what’s working – especially things such as a character believability or and plot pacing.