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Mysterious Cycle 5: Workshop by Beccalicious

Journal Entry: Wed May 14, 2008, 1:29 AM
  • Mood: dA Love




UPDATE There's just a day left for you to get your entries in, so get working! Revision is a really important part of the creative process.



May 4, 2008

Are you wondering why *Writers-Workshop has a new CSS?

Then you've perhaps missed something important.

No, it's not that this is the beginning of our fifth cycle of workshops -- or it's not just that. It's also not that we're doing something slightly different this time round. Well, you'll just have to scroll down to figure it out. Until then, look what we have in store for you this fortnight.




THE GREAT REVISION EXPEDITION: PROSE

This cycle consists of workshops on transformation or revision. We plan to focus more on the polishing on one's writing to higher standards, publishable standards, even.

The first workshop will be hosted by `Beccalicious. For those who don't already know her, Becca is a lit senior (denoted by her `) and one of the most resourceful people in the lit community. She is one of *Writers-Workshop's admins and founders. In cycle two, she hosted a hugely successful workshop on character: What is in a name?.

Take a look at her workshop on revising prose pieces.



Many people expect to write a successful story in one submission. True, there are elements of success in a first write up, but isn’t there always room for improvement? Usually when you return to your writing after a period of time, you can find the flaws and often dislike it. Wouldn’t it be great to feel for that piece again and consider rewriting it?

It is always important to remember that writing is a process, not just a splurge of creative words on paper. It involves development, accepting critique, revising, changing, understanding and consistency. All these elements don’t come at once and have to be worked at until you meet that polished piece. They may not even come on a second draft -- some writers can take up to 20 redrafts and still not be completely satisfied with the results. Writing takes a lot of patience.

It is also important to remember that revising work isn’t about the technical aspects of writing. Although grammar and spelling is important, revision focuses on the content -- the actual story the words are telling you. Some elements that fall into revision, and should be considered include: character development, descriptions, hooking the reader, consistency of the plot, whether things make sense, consideration of audience, etc.

As part of the literature communities incentive for revision month, *Writers-Workshop is encouraging our members to consider their writing and taking it to the next level. This workshop is a window of opportunity for you as an individual to spend some quality time on your writing and work towards that new draft.

These useful articles have been written by ^GeneratingHype and create the baseline to which we are working towards in this workshop. There are also many useful articles and resources on our resources section.

:bulletblue: Polish that Poetry and Prose!
:bulletblue: What is Revision?

The Task

Take any piece of your own prose which you would like to revise. Put your old copy into scraps and submit a newly drafted version of your piece. Consider the critique you have received on this piece and try and use some of this in the rewrite.

There is no word limit, but please bear in mind due to submission volume, the lengthier pieces may not have the same level of response. Please only submit one piece per member.

Tips

:bulletblue: Start by reading your piece all the way through. Don’t stop to amend anything on the first read, but just refresh yourself with your story and get a feel for it.

:bulletblue: Printing off your draft and sitting down with a red pen can keep you focussed -- how many of you slip onto dA when you’re in the middle of writing?

:bulletblue: Learn to be self critical. This doesn’t mean hate yourself; you have to believe in yourself that you can make this piece work. However, you need to be able to take that step back from your work and take it all on your own chin. Be brutally honest with yourself, even if the emotional attachment cries something different.

:bulletblue: Ask yourself questions -- are the characters interesting? Do they connect with the reader? Will this keep the reader interested? Does this make sense?

Do you have some helpful tips and advice into redrafting? Why not share them with the group in our forum discussion thread??

When it comes to critiquing each others’ work, try and focus on the revised elements more than the technicality. Again you don’t have to ignore it altogether, but too many critiques tend to look at the technical aspects over the content, this time you need to look more at the content.


:postit: Remember!

:pointr: This workshop is for PROSE only.
:pointr: Please do not submit more than one entry for this workshop.
:pointr: Try to follow :debeccalicious:'s workshop as best you can.
:pointr: Feel free to revise a previous workshop entry as you are likely to have received more critique on these entries. But obviously, this is not necessary.

:postit: How to submit

Submit your revised entry as a new deviation or scrap and send us a link to it in a note. Please also send us a link to the original, unrevised version of the piece (and indicate which is which, please). The subject line of the note should be "REVISION PROSE". Entries must come in on or before midnight (GMT/UTC), May 14. `Beccalicious will respond to the entries on May 18.

:postit: How to accept critique

:bulletblue: Always thank the critic. This gratitude must be as sincere as possible, even if you did not like the critique given, because the critic has taken time to offer his/her opinion of the piece.
:bulletblue: If you do not like the critique, it is not necessary to mention so. Simply thank the critic and move on. You can always ignore their suggestions, while not making a scene of it.
:bulletblue: If you are unsure of what the critique means, feel free to ask the critic what s/he meant. Building rapport with your critic is one of the best ways to survive in a workshop and to learn. If you want examples, ask. Similarly, if you like the suggestions given, mention it. Critic's have feelings too. :)
:bulletblue: In the unlikely case that a critic offers rude/sexist/racist/etc comments, feel free to contact *Writers-Workshop in a note and we will try to help you. A decision regarding the rudeness of the critique will be taken, and if we're not sure ourselves, we will consult with one of the GDs or anyone else high up on deviantART.

:postit: It would be fantastic if you also...

:+favlove: our news article!

Still haven't figured out what's special about this now?

It's our 6-month birthday! That's right, we've been bringing you workshops consistently since November 11, 2007. Although the date looks strange, think about it: 4 cycles of workshops successfully completed. Each cycle is a month and a half long. 4 * 1.5 = 6

Some fantastic statistics and facts

:bulletgreen: Since November 11, 2007, 12 different workshops were hosted. Our guest workshoppers so far (in chronological order) are:
`GunShyMartyr, `PoeticWar, ^StJoan, ^GeneratingHype, ~TheHungerArtist, `Beccalicious, ~apocathary, ~EveningDownpour, ^lovetodeviate, `conorschild, *MSJames and `Jon-Law. In addition, the admins hosted a personal review week.

:bulletgreen: We have received 229 submissions (and 2 late submissions) to our workshop in all! These submissions have been for workshops on plot twists, ekphrasis in poetry, jazz in literature, dialogue, lipograms, character, magic realism, non-fiction prose, exploring the self in writing, brevity in prose, tanka and humour.

:bulletgreen: 4 of the above submissions and 1 resource article written by a guest workshopper have received Daily Deviations -- the highest honour for art on the site! These have been featured in our journal shoutboard.

:bulletgreen: Although pageviews are not always important, they are to us, because it means that people find our club useful and/or interesting (most of the time, anyway). So it's good to know that we have had nearly 13,700 pageviews to date.

:bulletgreen: Most importantly, our huge group of members. We shan't number you (because we can't; there are too many of you), but we appreciate you very much. :heart:

Thank you to our members, supporters, contributors, guests, anyone at all who has offered us a kind ear. A workshop is nothing without writers and critics.

A special thank you to *itzjusdrama and =inspiredimperfection for these stamps:



So yes, happy birthday us! :party:

(But don't let any of this distract you from revising and submitting to this workshop, eh?)


Journal CSS by *ginkgografix


Devious Comments

~Desertlion:iconDesertlion: 3 days 16 hours ago
Thank you for friending me.
Let's see how expansive this life truly is

evolve
construct
then lose all sense

--
I don't need
no doctor
for my prescriptions
to be filled
=Deltabeta:iconDeltabeta: May 7, 2008, 12:28:15 AM Mood: Love
Thanks for adding my Contest News to your "Loved It" selection. It was so kind of you in doing so! :heart:

I'll have to feature this club now in my journals for a while. I'm indebted. :hug:

--
My Photography Contest

"L'identité est important quand tu veux savoir le monde"
=Deltabeta:iconDeltabeta: Apr 25, 2008, 8:14:24 AM
lol. cool. :D

--
My Photography Contest

"L'identité est important quand tu veux savoir le monde"
=Mattiello:iconMattiello: Apr 24, 2008, 12:49:26 PM
Thank you. I shall do so!

--
Who can hate love when Love begets Hate?

hmm. This is interesting
click here


Feel The *RawEm0tion burn in
*Writers-Workshop:iconWriters-Workshop: Apr 24, 2008, 12:48:33 PM
All part of the bag, welcome to the workshop!
=Mattiello:iconMattiello: Apr 24, 2008, 10:10:53 AM
I just watched you and will add you to my clubs. Should I start submitting now?

--
Who can hate love when Love begets Hate?

hmm. This is interesting
click here


Feel The *RawEm0tion burn in
=Deltabeta:iconDeltabeta: Apr 24, 2008, 6:56:07 AM
Thanks for adding me.D:

--
My Photography Contest

"L'identité est important quand tu veux savoir le monde"
*Writers-Workshop:iconWriters-Workshop: Apr 9, 2008, 5:38:24 AM
You can start submitting right away. :)
~essuie-glace:iconessuie-glace: Apr 9, 2008, 4:31:49 AM
Hi! I just joined the group.
Um. Should I wait until next week's workshop to submit things, or write something from the current one?
~Moyrn:iconMoyrn: Mar 27, 2008, 3:18:59 PM
i sent in the note about 15 minutes late. ignore it please. sorry for the inconvenience. :(

--
It's free :heart:
*WordCount:iconWordCount: Mar 27, 2008, 11:09:41 AM
Thanks very much for adding Punctuating Dialogue: A Guide to your favorites! We appreciate the support. :wave:

--
Make Every Word Count.

*WordCount 510 watchers and counting!

The Prose Piggybank.
*Writers-Workshop:iconWriters-Workshop: Mar 23, 2008, 11:12:20 PM
That's fantastic. Maybe we can have children's fiction workshop sometime in the future, too.

Welcome to our group. :)
*Writers-Workshop:iconWriters-Workshop: Mar 23, 2008, 11:11:36 PM
We don't at all! The more the merrier. Hope you enjoy the workshops.
~Art-of-Hilt:iconArt-of-Hilt: Mar 23, 2008, 2:00:34 PM Mood: Joy
I've always wanted to join a workshop, so I hope you guys don't mind me barging in; this seems really interesting.
~utawoutau:iconutawoutau: Mar 17, 2008, 4:05:09 PM
*every post, not pos =D

--
Place punctuation in this phrase:
"A woman without her man is nothing"
Incorrect: "A woman, without her man, is nothing."
Correct: "A woman: without her, man is nothing."

Visit my stock account! ~sing-a-song-stock
~utawoutau:iconutawoutau: Mar 17, 2008, 4:04:25 PM
Hi! I just joined this group, which is kinda strange, seeing as I do very little writing. The only thing I've written is... Well, I guess you'd call it children's fiction. Sorry to everyone else that takes part in this group that writes a lot more. (ha...) Anyway, I really like how the group responds to almost every pos. That's fantastic! Thanks! I'll definitely start participating in workshops and such ASAP!
~Molly

--
Place punctuation in this phrase:
"A woman without her man is nothing"
Incorrect: "A woman, without her man, is nothing."
Correct: "A woman: without her, man is nothing."

Visit my stock account! ~sing-a-song-stock
*Writers-Workshop:iconWriters-Workshop: Mar 17, 2008, 2:45:03 AM
Thank you :heart:

If we had time to send roses to all out 200+ members, we would return the love!
*SecretAdmirerPlz:iconSecretAdmirerPlz: Mar 16, 2008, 7:38:10 PM
:shamrock: When our heart makes a wish,
We realize our goals and dreams,
=Erinamis sent you this greeting,
As an offer to your esteem,
A reminder to wish on a star,
For what you're reaching for is never far,
May this gesture bring you luck,
And offer hope when you feel stuck.
:shamrock:
*itzjusdrama:iconitzjusdrama: Mar 12, 2008, 1:16:38 PM
:hug: Thanks for the :+fav: on the stamp!

--
Writing is always a work in progress.

Support dA scholarships! [link] and [link]

Faith in Humanity Score 366
*jade-pandora:iconjade-pandora: Mar 12, 2008, 5:08:00 AM
Thank you for adding me to the club's watch! :)

--
I am Lit', therefore, I am!
*Writers-Workshop:iconWriters-Workshop: Mar 10, 2008, 7:08:58 AM
Always welcome Jade-Pandora! Every two weeks is a new workshop so you'll never fall behind :)

thank you for joining and we look forward to your participation!
*jade-pandora:iconjade-pandora: Mar 10, 2008, 1:41:50 AM Mood: Optimism
:wave: i've wanted to come in for some time to see what this club is about...

would i be welcome i wonder? i ask cause it's late and so must dash but i'd love to come back here again soon!

meantime, i'll add you to my watch, and thanks! :)

--
I am Lit', therefore, I am!