Third Post

Before our final class, a dinner reading at my home, I have decided to hold phone meetings with participants to work more closely with them and their pieces. While this is doable for a class size of four, I'm seeing the need to hold more sessions for more writing, revising, craft exercises, and one on one attention from me within the classroom.

It is so clear and evident that participants have been wanting to write their stories for some time, and really took this workshop to jump at the opportunity to do so. The material that participants are coming up with are extremely risky to write about, and I'm impressed with their ability to allow others to give them feedback in a way that both improve their craft AND help them look at their stories differently.

Next steps are:

1. I want to put their stories out there. Beyond the CTP anthology, I want to continue to work with them so that their pieces are made public.
2. I want to guide participants towards continuing to write. Each of them are enrolled in community colleges and I want to help guide them towards the resources available to them there. I also will encourage them to put their own work out in the world and will share with them ways to do this.
3. Beyond teaching this workshop again, there's an idea gestating that would create a platform for writers who are still developing their craft to share their work with their own communities. More to come later.