I always enjoy the workshopping process. I don't mind giving feedback to my fellow students, or receiving feedback from them. Often times, hearing other peoples ideas, and even reading their work, will take my writing in another, more potent, direction that I had not considered up to that point. The small group format is especially beneficial for me because it allows me to spend extra time on my group members' writings. I am able to give them a little extra feedback due to the added concentration -- instead of simply pointing out grammar and spelling errors. Fortunately, I have been able to attend every scheduled class session thus far, so I have maximized the number of critique opportunities for my work.
I have taken other writing courses which required a weekly blog posting and I am grateful for them. I enjoy these ruminations for two reasons: 1) My hunt-and-peck typing skills can always use the work. 2) They allow me to step back and realistically evaluate my current writings. Are they conveying what I want to convey? Are they heading in a interesting direction? Do i keep moving forward, or go back and reconsider? As a rule, Ifeel that my blog posts are at least semi-cogent. I enjoy a less formal form of written communication where I can sometimes inject humor (or attempts at humor, anyway).
I have had my requested drafts for each class meeting. Iam nothing if not diligent. I have a specific process I follow while writing. My first draft is hand-written (I know...old school). My first revision occurs as I am entering this draft into the Word program. This is the copy which I bring to the first workshop. Subsequent workshop copies come from further revisions based on feedback. The total number of drafts varies based on my satisfaction with the piece. I must say that I appreciate computers. This process was extremely tedious when I was in high school, and all that we had were electric typewriters. (I know...what a fossil!)
My primary writing goal for the rest of this semester is to become more "business like." I still tend to be a little verbose. At times, my writing still reads like an academic evaluation of Tolstoy. I admire the succinct, eye-catching format of the business writing samples that I have seen. I need to incorporate this genre into my writing. It's going to require... practice, practice, practice.
My individual report is not going as smoothly as I had hoped. The research portion of the project is not bearing much fruit. I am getting a little antsy with the topic I chose. I may be forced to reconsider my approach or topic, or both! Although it is getting late, I know if worse came to worse, I could produce a quality piece. The strength of my writing is its language and technical quality; but, I don't want to BS a piece which contains nothing but impressively-worded fluff. I will get this squared away soon.
As for our group piece, the first draft overlapped excessively and was quite redundant! As a group, we had a lively idea session. Subsequently, we decided to take a few elements form this first draft and move in a different direction. The feedback from other groups highlighted the futility of this initial offering. With this response as our foundation, we enjoyed the finest group brainstorming session that I have been a part of for a while.
The most beneficial aspect of the course is that it is held in a room where each student enjoys instantaneous access to a computer. The only drawback is that I don't type very well, so I am probably always the slowest worker in my group.