In response to your classmates brief overviews of their Author Interviews and professionalization presentations, use this space to identify things that stuck out to you as themes, advice, warnings, that you learned about from each other. Consider, as you write, the vastly different settings where writers work and writing takes place. After you've posted your response, read through what your colleagues have to say and post one more time: what does this tiny, itty-bitty sampling of writer's lives and writing jobs have to say about what the work of writing actually is? Feel free to post the answer to that in response to one of your colleague's observations that really spoke to you. 

Your Final Post for one of our readings is another group post. In groups of three, discuss what you thought of the book, the twistiness of it, the ending(s), the characters, etc. Consider it as genre (literary fiction). As a group, write a review of the novel. This isn't a thumbs up/thumbs down kind of review. Imagine that this is a movie review you might read in The New Yorker or The New York Times. Channel your inner Pauline Kael and go to town. 

SILENT WORKSHOP INSTRUCTIONS: I didn't have a chance to talk to all of you before class to say that today's workshop is a "silent" workshop. I want to be respectful of the fact that it seems like we, as a class, work best when we are writing to each other rather than talking with each other. And I also want to be considerate of the fact that folks most likely have not read with all that much care the material from classmates. Thus, for roughly the first hour-hour and a half of class. You will have time to read your colleagues' materials.

WRITERS: As you will no doubt notice, each of you have a discussion board titled with your name. Please take a moment to help out your classmates by posting a prompt to the following question: 

What do you feel like is strong and successful about the piece and that you would perhaps prefer not to tinker with and where are there parts that are giving you trouble or you are unsure about? What makes you question that part? What feedback would help you make strategic revision decisions that would not take up your whole week but would really level up this piece of writing. 

READERS: If you have not sent it out to folks, perhaps put a link in the chat. As you read, consider the following three very specific prompts:

1) What do you like, what is working for you as a reader, where are there places you'd read more if it was appropriate? Why is this so great? 

2) Where is it dragging for you as a reader? Or not making sense? Or just not working? Why and what could the writer do to fix it?

3) Consider the genre, audience, and purpose that the writer is producing this text for. Does it work given those considerations? If you were to position this among other examples of the genre, does it seem to fit? Why, why not, and what could the writer do about it?

KEEP IN MIND: You have roughly a week to get this done and you have other things due in other classes, and we are all tired. So be specific in your feedback and useful. Try to determine the one thing you could say to this writer that would help them move this piece to the next level.