Writing Workshops

Poetic diction
Can a poet writing today use words such as "doth", "thy/thou/thee", "telleth", " 'neath", 'o'er" "ere"?

Why or why not?

I have never taken any kind of lessons on line, but I took a creative writing course in college.



From my personal experience in reading and writing poetry, I believe there are no set rules on the way one chooses their words and phrases in order to get their point across.

Re: Poetic diction



aagh I hope not! I'm not too keen on them anyway in old poets - I suppose modern poets use modern equivalents though - slang/street talk.

Sadly, my talents aren't in writing but I love reading

I would say use whichever words suit your subject. Where something like "Pray, why doth mine bus be late to Grand Central" may sound a little odd, I think if you were talking about the bleak and blustery moors of north England (and why mightn't you?) then I think the old slightly antiquated stuff is cool. See how I said antiquated and cool in the same sentence?

Life... is a course which cannot be beaten :-)

Quite

I have attended writers' workshops, but only as a guest artist. I found them deeply frustrating, and, now, when someone is kind enough to ask me to visit, I accept the invitation only if I know the group is small (3-5 participants).

After my first books were published, I was flattered to be asked to speak with writers. And, I assumed that, by visiting a workshop and talking with a variety of committed people, I would probably learn as much from them as they might from me. I was sadly mistaken; satisfying communication was--due to time constraints--often impossible to achieve.

I discovered that, in general, the larger the workshop, the greater my disappointment. Because I had loved my career as a teacher, I was determined that, as in my classrooms, everyone in a workshop would have a chance to speak up, so that shared issues might be revealed, and the ensuing discussion would be helpful to as many people as possible. Although seminar-style discussion seems a sound approach, it seldom worked. Serious students of writing are in the process of developing their own voices, and each writer has concerns that relate quite specifically to what he or she is working on at the moment. Some of these narrowly-focused questions were deeply interesting to me, and I felt caught between spending enough time one writer's good question and leaving an opportunity for others to ask questions. Clearly, what was needed was more one-on-one.

When I taught creative writing in school, I limited my class size to 12 (a major luxury in public education), so that, each meeting, I'd have a few minutes alone with every student--to discuss works in progress. Perhaps, once a week, the whole class would join in a brief discussion about common topics I had seen arising from the working through of a number of projects. Generally, what the students (and I) most benefited from was one-on-one on their burning issues. And, if one is passionate about writing, at any age, one's issues are burning!

When I visit a writing workshop these days, I know in advance it's going to be small, and the participants know in advance that each of them is going to have significant time to raise a question important to his or her work.

Do writing workshops help people become better writers? They can. But, for them to work, the size seems to need to be quite small, and every participant needs to focus hard on the others' often highly individual issues--even if no one else is apt to be helped in his or her work anytime soon by the topics at hand! This is a tall order. I have seen too many workshops in which one needy soul tries to dominate the group's time--and the other members go along out of misguided politeness.

These days, being retired from teaching (supposedly, to write more!), I have a small number (3 is the maximum at any given time) of private students. Each person meets with me once a week for an hour, during which I devote 100% of my attention to the project at hand and to the longer-range goals of the writer. I love this system. By being able to talk at length one-on-one, I feel that I am usually able to help the artist evolve in his own technique, in his own voice.

I have never seen on-line courses in creative writing. This could work, but I think the participants would miss the opportunity for rapid give-and-take--and the important messages that are given through small non-verbal gesture. Live people working with live people seems to make for the best discussion--which is why I still have students who come to our house, and why I still go to small writers' workshops. If you love writing, you really want to share, and sharing is probably best done in person.

I must stand in agreement with Miklos7 on many of his observations. Though I have attended a few workshops, they were more social than anything else. In teaching, the instructor/student ratio directly correlates with quality. As a professor at Campbell University, my best classes were those with the fewest students, to be certain. On the writing front, none of my six published books or 100+ articles gained anything from 'workshops'. As I intimated before, life is our best resource.

“What do you want to go to today? “ Flipping her hair out of shining eyes, any one could see the excitement in them.
“Why are you asking me” Cassie asked with shock written all over her face. “Aren’t you the one always lecturing me for wanting to go to Oranigi cause it takes to much energy?”
“Well normally that’s the case, but I had such a good day today it’s worth the power.” Tossing her hair over her shoulder Lexi spun around in obvious glee. Soft hands rested on her shoulder as Cassie waited patiently for Lexi to calm down. Standing there quietly Lexi looked like she would explode, as Cassie counted down in her head, waiting for another explosion. “Do you remember Sactan?” “The guy we met at the Karma class?”
“Of course he was absolutely amazing and was staring at you quite a bit.”
“Well he asked me out on a date for tomorrow.” A flurry of screaming and jumping later Cassie calmed down enough to realize that Lexi was in her trance. As she looked around at the telltale blue glow a grin reached her face as she realized the blue glow was the symbol of the spell needed to go to Oranigi. The only world where Lexi and her could actually be Dragon Riders, consequently being Cassie’s favorite world. Moments later Cassie felt the familiar twinge similar to being turning into a temporary elastic band and being stretched as far as it could go. Wind rushed through her hair as she opened first one eye then the other. Looking over at Lexi she saw her friend lost in the sensations of dragon riding. Drinking her fill of the air pulsing through her hair Lexi opened her eyes to realize with glee she had surprisingly skipped a step. Translucent scales stretched in front of her reaching an ark followed by a horned head of her companion Saliloway. Sapphire eyes snapped open.
It’s nice to see your awake Oh Mistress. Resounded an airy voice through her head. Look through the pouch Please. Resuming her flying Saliloway left her rider to riffle through her packages in a vain attempt to find out where they were going.
You knew I wasn’t going to find any thing didn’t you? Lexi through with a mental glare.
Yes but it was amusing to watch you try Lexi had been partnered with Saliloway for as long as she had been going to Oranigi thinking to herself she would never understand the dragons wry humor she sent another message with what she hoped to herself would yield better results.
So where are we going?
A mental sigh reached through her mind as she “heard” Saliloway getting ready for a “lecture” all of a sudden Lexi was no longer enjoying the sea breeze weaving through her hair. She was now sitting in a plush chair feeling slightly as if she were trying to look through water. Twisting around in the chair she quickly gobbled information as to where she was. The marble hall reminded her vaguely of something but recalling the memory was like dragging a weighted ball through her mind. Then it snapped to her with surprising clarity.
I need to edit this help

lexi--

You really should post your work in a new thread rather than burying it here in the "Workshop" discussion where it may not be seen.

but we don't talk like that! people, even on our blustery moors, live in this century

I was an English Major With an Emphasis On Creative Writing -- lots and lots and lots of creative writing classes and workshops. (The creative writing classes were for the most part workshops.) I had some stupendous teachers (Lorrie Moore was on the faculty but I didn't take a class from her -- that level of writing and instruction throughout, though), class sizes were small (I don't think ever larger than 10), and even though the varied voices were an issue as Miklos says, I learned so much and adored the process -- both critiquing others' work and having mine critiqued.

Haven't done any workshops since I graduated.

I think sozobe eloquently sums-up the reality of this thread's premise. Other than life, if you are going to better your writing, it takes a quality classroom environment. I never majored in English, though that was my third choice. My three degrees are all in the management sciences, culminating with an MBA. My two undregrad minors were in Law and my graduate concentration was in corporate law. As much as writing is a part of both my professional and private life, I envy the road taken by sozobe. That's the way to do it.

Sozobe: Sell me your degree :-)

Got a mil? ;-)

Yep, it was terrific fun. Not so practical as all that -- yet, anyway -- but I don't regret it.

No mil, but I'll write you a very nice poem about one :-)

Ummm... that'll get you a so-so poem about my degree. :-P

Is that a cheese on your Rosie the Riveter avatar?

It is indeed. As you may have gathered from the Lorrie Moore reference, UW-Madison is my alma mater -- and while there, a life-long devotion to the Green Bay Packers was hatched.

My prayer for you, my friend, is that you or your relatives are not in any way affiliated with the dairy industry :-)