“How to Give & Receive Writing Critiques” with John Pipkin
September 1, 2021 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM CDT
$49.00 – $109.00
- This event has passed.
This Event is for Members only.
Click here to learn more about benefits of membership
$49 for Members
$109 for Non-Members
All registrants will have access to the class recording for one month.
Are you in a writing group but not sure how to give good feedback on others’ work?
Giving and receiving feedback is a learned skill that writers can develop and hone, and learning how to participate in and benefit from a workshop can be invaluable to any writer looking to take their craft to the next level. Allowing other writers to critique your work in a group setting (where you critique their work in turn) offers fresh eyes and a fresh perspective, helps you to zero in on problems you might be overlooking, strengthens your skills as a reader, and opens the way to communing with your peers in a safe, nurturing environment.
In this class, participants will learn what to consider when reading works with a critical eye, including how to identify what is working within a piece and, just as important, what isn’t working and why, and how to identify the narrative structure and rhetorical strategies at work; how to “read like a writer” including tools for better understanding the technical aspects of storytelling and how to apply those techniques to your own stories; how to give feedback in a helpful and constructive way; and how to accept feedback in a workshop and how to apply it to your work-in-progress.
TAKE THIS CLASS IF
- You’re not sure how to discuss craft in a practical way that allows you to give concrete advice.
- You want to become better at translating others’ advice for your writing into practical strategies that you can use.
- You want to learn how to identify the strengths and weaknesses of stories on a structural level.
The deadline to register for this class is Wednesday, September 1 at 5:00 PM CDT.
Instructor
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John Pipkin is the Director of the Undergraduate Creative Writing Program at the University of Texas-Austin and also teaches in the low-residency MFA Program at Spalding University. Originally from Baltimore, he holds a Ph.D. in 19th-century British Literature and is the author of the critically-acclaimed novels: Woodsburner (Nan A Talese/Doubleday 2009) which won the New York Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and The Blind Astronomer’s Daughter (Bloomsbury 2016). He has received fellowships to MacDowell, Yaddo, Dobie-Paisano, and the Gullkistan Center for Creativity in Iceland. He is also the recipient of the 2021 Harry Ransom Award for Excellence in Teaching at UT-Austin.
Before purchasing, please read all policies as noted below and on our Classes page.
If your browser has difficulty with our website store, or if you prefer to mail in a check, click here for a class registration form. The document provides instructions on where to mail it. If you prefer this option, please email wlt@writersleague.org with a copy of the form as well. We are working out of our office at this time.
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Class & Event Registration Policy
Once a purchase has been made, registrations are not refundable and cannot be transferred to a different class or event. No exceptions will be made. If you purchase a registration and then find you cannot attend the class or event, someone else can attend in your stead. Simply contact us at wlt@writersleague.org and let us know the name and contact information for the person who will be using the registration so that we can update the class or event roster.
Credit Card Transaction Handling Fee Policy
All credit card transactions will incur a 4% handling fee. If you’d prefer to pay by check for membership, a class, or an event, you can use the provided forms on the membership or event pages and mail to: WLT, P.O. Box 14355, Austin, TX, 78704.
HOW WLT CLASSES WORK:
Our classes offer a combination of lecture and practical exercises, determined by the individual instructor, on focused aspects of the craft and business of writing. Your fellow participants will come from a range of writing experience, from beginners to people with MFA degrees and published books. WLT instructors, participants, and administrators all work together to create a welcoming, supportive environment.If you haven’t taken a class with us in recent years, feel free to email WLT Program Director Sam Babiak at sam@writersleague.org if you’d like to discuss whether our programming is the right fit for your needs.
HOW ONLINE CLASSES WORK:
Once you register for the class, you’ll receive an email with detailed instructions no later than 48 hours before the class date. You should expect 2-2.5 hours of direct teaching and 30 minutes of Q&A (for three hours total). If you need to leave the class early or can’t attend the class on that date, all registrants will have access to the recording for one month after the class date. No microphone or camera required, just an Internet connection capable of streaming video. All online classes are hosted on Zoom. To learn more about how Zoom works, click HERE.
Plan to log in to the online platform several hours before the class so that you can update your software or any other settings required to access the platform. (Updates usually only take a few minutes, but you don’t want to wait until the beginning of class.) Questions? Email us at wlt@writersleague.org.
This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.
Writers’ League of Texas classes and workshops are also funded in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts – Investing in a Creative Texas. For more information, go to www.arts.texas.gov.
This project is also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
This project is supported in part by the Mid-America Arts Alliance. For more information, go to www.maaa.org.
