My Writing Cohort group had our first set of workshops this morning! We read the work last night and then spent some time writing notes for the workshop discussion. Ruthie shared two short stories and Foster shared two poems—both obviously in very different formats and styles. Before we began the workshops, we came up with a set of norms as a group as well as a rough structure for the workshops. Rather than force the author to remain completely silent during the discussion of the piece, we decided that the author would be allowed to add their voice to the discussion if it was needed. We also decided to voice our comments and feedback in the form of questions so that the author is engaged. The last structural piece we decided on was that the author is able to provide some context and feedback requests before the workshop discussion. Overall, for a first workshop, I think it went pretty well and I’m looking forward to having my piece workshopped next week.