`PinkyMcCoversong's Workshop: Break a line!

In this news article

Results of ThornyEnglishRose's Workshop on Children's Prose | PinkyMcCoversong's Workshop: BREAK A LINE! | An important announcement (And yes, we're looking for staff.) | First time you've heard of Writers-Workshop? This section is for you.

ostit: Results of ThornyEnglishRose's Workshop: Children's Prose

Writers-Workshop: Thank you to those who participated this round. It was sad to see we only had 2 pieces submitted to what was a very interesting workshop, but the two pieces submitted both had great quality and understanding of the task set. However both of these pieces did receive a wonderful horde of critique from workshop members for which we're very thankful for.

Special mentions to wyldhoney, :devinspiredinperfection: and itzjusdrama who took the time to read and respond to both pieces.

A public note to neurotype-on-discord who stated in their author's comments 'I'll never be a children's writer' -- read your piece again and get rid of that comment!

ThornyEnglishRose: I don't really like to pick a favourite between only two pieces, but if I must... I'm going to have to go with neurotype-on-discord's This is Teddy Bear</i>, if only for the degree of attention she paid to my ramblings. She obviously put a great deal of thought into who her audience was, and used language that was neither too complex nor too patronising. She also considered the importance of illustrations, and didn't fall into the trap of over-describing things with words. Reading a story like this without the illustrations requires imagination, and this story lends itself well to that. Any part of the story that was missing from the words was there in the images in my head. Read the full response here.

ostit: PinkyMcCoversong's Workshop

PinkyMcCoversong has been on deviantART since March 2005. She has been a wonderful influence in the community by featuring poetry at theunknownartists, through her "Top Ten" project, and most importantly, by writing and critiquing.

Take a look at her workshop on enjambment (also known as line breaks). This should be a fairly liberal workshop, as you are free to break the lines of your poem as you like, as long as you have a justification to back it up.

BREAK A LINE!

Enjambment can make or break a poem. To some, it's the defining element that sets poetry apart from prose (though we poets know it takes more than line breaks to put together a good piece). But they're not wrong in thinking it's important to know where to break. Some breaks seem obvious - where you have a comma, semicolon, or period, for example. Other breaks you might labor over or not think of at all, like setting a noun and its modifier on two separate lines. And the stronger, more jarring the break is, the harder it is to walk the line between poetic license and utter failure. This workshop is a place for you to figure out what works and what doesn't with your enjambment. Have fun!

Resources

The Linebreak
On the Matter of Line Breaks

Remember

This workshop is for POETRY only. Please do not submit more than one entry. Also, try to write something new for this. I'm sure many of us already have poems in our gallery, ready for critique. But if you begin writing with a focus on good enjambment, you are likely to learn more.

How to submit

Submit your entry as a new deviation or scrap

Submit your revised entry as a new deviation or scrap and send us a link to it in a note. The subject line of the note should be "LINE BREAK". Entries must come in on or before midnight (GMT/UTC), July 9. PinkyMcCoversong will respond to the entries on July 13.   

How to accept critique

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.
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.
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.
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.

ostit: An important announcement. (And yes, we're looking for staff.)

Hi there, this is Aditi (lovetodeviate). You probably know me as one of Writers-Workshop's admins. BeccaJS had created this account in October 2006, but it lay dormant until she and I got talking. We realised that we had a common goal and a great many ideas for this space, and in November 2007, we launched Writers-Workshop officially. Since then, we have hosted 17 workshops and have more in the pipeline. I'm happy to say that this is the best project I've been involved with on deviantART. And to have created it with Becca made it so much more special. We've had a lot of fun together, even when we were panicking about who our next workshop host should be and how we were going to meet our deadlines.

Unfortunately, my academic life is taking away from my internet time, and I cannot afford to keep this up. It is a miserable feeling to have to leave now; I was hoping to make it until the end of the year, but I don't have much choice. I will be sticking on till the end of cycle 7, organising workshops and keeping things up-to-date.

We decided to announce this now, because once I leave, Writers-Workshop will need additional help. Believe me, this involves a crazy amount of work, even after getting settled into a schedule.

We have some dedicated workshoppers and many, many kind supporters. Thank you so much for being part of our little home. I hope some of you will choose to apply for the two staff positions Becca is offering. I wish you all the best -- I really feel like I'm leaving this instant, even though I'm not! -- and don't stop writing (especially for our workshops).

BeccaJS's requirements for new staff

To replace Aditi, I am looking for not just one person, but two people to come on board the workshop team. These two people will be working very closely alongside me in the day to day running of writers-workshop. I am looking for people who can be committed and dedicated to this group. The people who apply need to have some experience having participated in several workshops as well as being confident in their ability to critique. As they will have access to the writers-workshop account, they must also be able to prove they can act in a calm and mature manner, especially when it comes to difficult situations.

If you are interested in applying for these positions, please send a note to Writers-Workshop with the following information:

- Name (username and a first name)
- Age
- Why do you want to apply for this position?
- Do you have any relevant skills or experience you would like to share?
- What do you think you could bring to Writers-Workshop?
- Two examples of your critique
- Any other relevant information you feel is significant?

Please also remember that if you do apply and suceed, you will have to work with me BeccaJS, therefore if you dislike me, I don't recommend applying!

ostit: First time you've heard of Writers-Workshop? This section is for you.

Writers-Workshop is a literature community that focuses on the development of a writer. We intend to provide a non-competitive workshop environment on dA, as well as to push good, polished writing over winning prizes or "networking".

Workshops will be conducted every fortnight; prose, poetry and free-for-all sessions will be rotated. For more information, read our FAQ section or note us with queries.

We have been working on a list of resources for our writers: Resources for Writers which we think is worth going through. We are open to suggestions as well.

Our Diary has a list of upcoming workshops.

You can host a workshop, too.

Look out for a free-for-all workshop with our awesome new(est) Lit GD, LadyLincoln!

Staff