The Writing Workshop Note Book: Notes on Creating and Workshopping

Poet Ziegler, the award-winning professor of writing at Columbia University, whose previous Writing Workshop books are well regarded by teachers and students, has put together what he calls a “note book” for workshopping. The first part focuses on personal writing strategies—how to get the creativity going, how to flex different writing skills. The second part discusses how to use the workshop experience productively. To Ziegler, the workshop is that rare place where writing is actually an “obligation,” writing is what you're supposed to do. He gives detailed advice on critiquing other people's work; essentially, comments shouldn't be negative or positive, but “helpful.” Ziegler's own experience running workshops leads him to offer much advice on encouraging other people's creativity, but it's his love of the literary anecdote that makes his advice so palatable. To illustrate that feedback needs to be useful, for example, he quotes Anne Sexton's husband's (useless) response to one of her works, “I don't think that's too hotsy-totsy.” As Ziegler talks about his own mentors or difficult situations he's handled with his students, he models, for readers, the constructive, compassionate writing teacher. While intended for the apprentice writer, Ziegler's manual, with its useful ideas for creative writing assignments and its marvelously brief copyediting appendix, should be read by students and teachers of creative writing. (Jan.)