Hi
This is a new thread that is dedicated to those writers who desire a bit more than their regular feedback. If you're a reader who think you could offer some constructive criticism or a writer who is looking to enhance their style and develop their skills, then you can come here to do so! You're welcome to ask for feedback on any kind of Simlit, be it a Sims 3 legacy, a Sims 4 based story or anything of the sort!
@CathyTea and I will be moderating this thread so feel free to ask questions, there will be posts below offering guidelines for both readers and writers and we kindly ask that you adhere to them to make this as fun and easy as possible for everybody involved!
We hope for this to work as literary workshops do, where a group of readers will see a draft of a piece and come forward with ideas on how to improve it in a literary sense, be it layout or content. So if this sounds like the kind of thing you'd be interested in, as reader offering feedback or writer seeking it (or both!), then please join in!
Happy Simming!
Comments
A Writers' Workshop provides a structured and supportive environment in which writers can share their writing with other writers.
Writing is a process, and receiving feedback from other readers is an important part of that process.
For centuries, writers have been meeting with each other to share and critique each other's work with the one goal of improving their writing.
The tradition of writing workshops goes back to undergraduate and graduate writing programs, where groups of writers meet together and provide feedback on each other's writing.
The feedback solicited in writing workshops is different from that which we receive on our threads or on our blogs. Threads and blogs tend to promote feedback that presents the reader's feelings ("Your post really touched me.") or assessment of the work ("OMG! This is amazing!") That type of feedback is great to hear and it lets writers know that their work is reaching readers--a vital motivator for any writer. That type of feedback doesn't really help the writer write more effectively.
In writing workshops, we focus on craft: how does this sentence work? What does this image convey? Would a different image work more effectively? Should I lead with this paragraph, or should I lead with a different scene? How's my balance of scene and summary? What about the "camera angle" I'm using here?
We are examining technique.
While comments on blogs and threads are often personal, the comments that we share in writing workshops tend to be less so. We do not assume that the writing reflects the writer's own experience. We keep the focus on the writing, not on the writer.
Because we read with our hearts and our minds, we will certainly share how pieces of writing make us feel--this is an important part of the process. And then, we will likely analyze how that feeling was created.
Writers' workshops are friendly, supportive, and not personal--instead the focus is on the work and the craft and on supporting each other to become more effective writers.
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
@CathyTea - November 2
@aroseinbloom - November 9
@Jes2G - November 16
@JulyVee94 - November 23-November 30
@lovesstorms - December 14?
Week of Nov. 23: @JulyVee 94
July's Piece: Workshop Piece - It's password protected so not all my followers will read it, the password is "writersunite".
On the background: The chapter is about my Amazon tribe. Manika is currently the creator and her daughter Kalaya is the heiress. Kalaya's father was Manika's love of her life but was sacrificed to the godess of nature. Kalaya turned out to be a pretty bratty and arrogant child always rebelling against her mother and being rude to slaves. Taam (as a ghost) has actually not seen his daughter since she was a baby.
Here are my questions:
1. Does Kalaya sound like a child? I always struggle to write from a child's point of view. Also consider that she grew up in an environment where children mature much earlier.
2. Does Taam's reaction to meeting his daughter seem believable? If not, why?
3. In the last paragraph, Taam is supposed to tell Kalaya about how love is not that bad but I feel like it's not believable that he is still so happy after Kalaya was rude. Do you have any other ideas on how Taam could tell her that and that she would still like him?
4. Do you think anything is missing in the conversation? What else would Taam say to his daughter?
5. Any other thoughts you would like to share?
Process for Having Your Work Discussed
Select the work which you'd like to have discussed. (Note: pieces that will be submitted to the Short Story Challenge may not be workshopped prior to submission.)
Come up with three to seven questions that you'd like to have addressed by your readers. Questions that tend to prompt useful feedback include the following, "Is this character believable? If so, what about him seems believable? If not, where does the believability break down?"; "Are there places where you pop out of the reality of the story? If so, where?" "I'm not sure about this sentence: here are three options--which do you feel works best?"
Describe the specific challenges that you are facing in writing this piece. What, specifically, do you want help with?
If your piece is part of a larger work, describe the context for that piece. What happened before? Where does it fit in the overall scheme?
You are invited to share the same piece multiple times throughout the writing process. Feel free to share it, get feedback, revise it, and share it again, as many times as you want.
During the first two-thirds of the feedback session, the writer is a silent observer, listening to the comments and discussion. If needed, the writer can provide clarification to one of the questions he or she has posed or can provide essential plot or character details that come from a previous chapter of longer works, if the work being discussed is an excerpt.
After the readers have shared their responses the the writers' questions and have had a chance to discuss their responses with each other, the writer can then ask follow-up questions and respond to the readers' insights. Remember that you are not here to defend your work. You can bring up considerations and your own vision for the piece in response to specific points that were raised. It can also be useful to discuss the choices you made so that you can evaluate if they work for you or if you might want to try another approach.
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
If your work will be read and discussed, then it is expected that you will also participate in at least two (and hopefully more) feedback sessions as well. This way, other writers will benefit from your feedback as you've benefited from theirs.
Here are some guidelines to keep in mind to ensure that this process is useful for you as a writer:
Readers' Guidelines
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
Discord: #5153
Can't wait for the fun to start!
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Hiya, folks! I've just drafted a description of what is a Writers' Workshop as well as Writers' Guidelines and Readers' Guidelines.
Please look these over and let me know if it looks clear, if anything should be added, anything reworded, and so on. I found myself putting on my professor's hat, so the wording may be a bit authoritative--we can make revisions, if you feel the tone isn't right.
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
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Great point, July! I was thinking we'd wait and see how many people participate. Judging from responses I've heard in a few places, I'm not expecting a lot of participants. If we only have five to ten, then we can be a bit more informal with the scheduling. If we get a lot, we'll need a more formal rotation process. So we'll see what happens, and modify from there.
There's still a lot of room for figuring out all the details of the process as we move along. At this point, anyone who wants to participate can select which of their works they'd like to workshop, and we can begin the process sometime this weekend!
(Oh! I just thought of two things to add!)
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
two things to add . your brain must work faster than your fingers. its a compliment so i hope you take it that way.
whats here?
It's always here here.
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
oh you mean we started already.
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I'd like to suggest that, at least for starters, we consider the work as a whole. For each work submitted, the writer gets to establish what type of feedback he or she would like. So if you'd like us to focus on or consider the visual aspects, then please let us know and we will. This will also bring up some really nice teachable moments, for if we're not sure about composition or color theory, it will bring up a time to discuss that and ask questions about it.
For example, what were you hoping to evoke with those purple, purple skies in Willow Creek?
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
i still need to figure out my writing style.
You can start with straight narrative: just telling what happens and letting the Sims' funny actions carry the weight!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
so like my blog but more descriptive.
Do you really want to know? Lol
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Sure! And we can even do a workshop on your blog!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
I was joking for fun, but actually, yes. I have theories, but I'd love to hear what you were hoping to evoke with those skies.... but tomorrow, right? It's so late already where you are! LOL!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
i got to stat over i'm lost again.i might try a actual story. just to see if i can do it.
It would be so awesome, friendsfan! We can offer a lot of suggestions and support here.
With most of my Sim writing, I tend to let the game direct the story. I just write the story around what happened. So you could consider that style. The part about that which I find fun is in getting to know all of my Sims and in sharing who they are to me with others!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!