Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Reviewing Vignettes in the Exploratory Writing Workshop

Right now is the calm before the storm in the Exploratory Writing Workshop.

On Thursday I will get deluged with six Vignettes to review. This is where the students will demonstrate how committed they are to the Workshop. I have done everything I can think of in readiness, explaining that the first vignette is like the first chapter in a novel.

They will be introducing the reader to a story world and a Central Character. In their writing I hope to see a diversity of the tools being used that go into good writing. For example some scene setting, a little dialog, some backstory, a dash of foreshadowing, and maybe a sprinkle of symbolism. Seeing some internal dialog would be nice. What really gets me cranked is reading a before snapshot of the Central Character, maybe an unexpected supporting character or better yet an antagonist. A transition at the end that leaves a reader hanging is the icing on the cake.

Most of my students will not include a good mix of elements in their first vignette. Usually it's all backstory, or a heavy dose of dialog, like listening to a a telephone conversation. I like dialog as well as the next reader but better is a blend of the other tools and components that make their writing multidimensional. Well, they say hope springs eternal.

Some will do better than others and some will submit something written awhile back that has absolutely nothing to do with the requirements of the lesson. Its like that bell shaped curve we learned about in Statistics. There will be a good student and a weak one and between the rest will show up demonstrating their wares.

I will do what I can to make them better writers, commenting on what they did best and where they can most improve. Each lesson has a checklist and I'll use that to begin with and then address those strong and weak areas.

Experience has taught not to gush while at the same time not to beat a dead horse. I enjoy writing the reviews and look forward to getting started.