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Originally Posted by Olly Buckle
Let's see if I have this right.
The critique and discussion in the present forum is useful.
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agreed
Olly, though it's my understanding that discussion, or any exploration of particular aspects of writing poetry which does not directly relate to an OP poem has been ... well, frowned upon ... in the
Poetry forum, and virtually invisible in other (more suitable?) areas ...
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The present forum is used to such an extent though that things get pushed off the page before they are properly looked at. A new poetry workshop with a limited life and readership limited to members, similar to the writers workshop, would alleviate this.
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I'm not sure that it needs to be similar to the
Writers' Workshop - given the intent of the
Writers' Workshop is not necessarily to workshop, but to critique and provide first publishing rights protection - but an area dedicated to general discussion and workshopping of poetic skills and devices which does not impact on the
Poetry critiquing forum, yes ... I believe there would be value in such ...
to be fair, some of this could or does occur in other areas - in challenges, for instance ... but they are necessarily limited in scope, and less visible to those who tend to focus on the
Poetry forum ...
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There is also the possibility of a more advanced workshop. This is an untried thing but it is generally agreed that it would difficult to regulate on an open forum, would require considerable skilled attention and would be most useful to an ill defined, elite group.
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Workshopping can be undertaken at any skill level - it's not a euphemism for Master Class - leading any given workshop is just as difficult as leading anything in a forum environment (discussion, debate, challenge), the same for moderating one - the skill level, or how advanced it might be, can do no more than reflect the experience of the participants ... if it helps, think of study groups and how they differ from class lectures, especially in how they approach set assignments ...
while it would be tremendous to have famous poets or writers, or even qualified teachers, leading the discussions and exercises, the lack of same in all sorts of forums has not prevented interested people in participating and improving either their understanding or their skills in their chosen areas of interest ...
really, the only definition or elitism that need enter into it is to be interested in honing skills ... those not interested would soon be bored to tears and seek excitement elsewhere ...
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Given these two possibilities it would seem worth pushing for the first as something with immediate and tangible benefits.
The second will be much harder to make a case for, especially on a site that is apparently near capacity. Baron asserts that one to one tuition is the best way for this to progress, it occurs to me that one way of promoting the case would be through one to one tuition via pm which could then be amalgamated and published as a completed thread, uninterrupted by trivia. If this were successful it would create a powerful argument.
Initially though I would suggest uniting in a call for a poetry thread comparable to the existing so called writing workshop in order to relive pressure on the present thread.
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Certainly, if the existing areas can provide the right setting, and be known to interested participants, then there's no real need to double up ...
private tutoring, or teacher-student scenarios, are somewhat distinct from workshops - valuable in their own right, without question, but not the same thing, nor necessarily mutually exclusive ...
