Posts tagged workshop

So in case you need one more reason to visit out HOOT chats on Wednesday night from 9-10.30 EST, here’s a testimony from 3labs, a frequent user, about how awesome we are:

“I just started writing poetry a few months ago, learning in on-line classes. I stumbled upon Hoot and their chat workshop just by chance as I was exploring the online world of poetry. I went to one a month ago—-and have not missed one since! It’s a bit of free-for-all experience whether you are discussing another participant’s poem or sitting back and watching the group discussing yours.  One of things that I found quite useful when my own work is being discussed is to be able to see points of critique that everyone seems to agree with and those in which there is disagreement. I must also say that the editors do a great job making it all work, leading it along and being primary sources of feedback.  You do definitely get critiqued, but both with what does not work for folks as well as what does. Sometimes, the chat even goes to the point of brainstorming specific suggestions for solving problems that are seen. And folks are just funny sometimes too—I have chuckled a lot during the workshops. I must say that the editors of Hoot seem to, in part, be billing their efforts with their review as a place that will be friendly to writers.  That has certainly been my experience. I am really grateful for this free online workshop and will continue to be back at it till they throw me out.”

Aw, thanks 3labs. This was charming and thoughtful!

COME VISIT USSSSSS.

—James

In case you’d forgotten that we do this, tonight (Wednesday night) is our usual online workshop! Bring a short piece (150 words or less) and your literary lenses and get ready to critique others’ work/have other people help you with yours!

Go to our website, http://www.hootreview.com/workshops/, and click on the link. We’ll be there from 9-10.30 EST, so we’d love to have you!

—James

Thanks for @Wahidao for the Twitter shout-out (she has so many followers!) and for coming to our Wednesday workshop! It’s awesome to have cool people from across the country who are able to take part in our workshop experience.

If you haven’t had the chance to check us out, make sure you mark your calendars for Wednesday nights at 9pm EST!

—James

We always talk about how awesome our online workshops are, but for those of you in the tri-state area (or better yet, those of you in the Philadelphia area), we also offer real-time, in person writing workshops!

We had our first fantastic micro-fiction workshop this last Sunday afternoon at Moonstone Arts Center at 13th and Sansom in Philadelphia from 1-4.

Despite it being the day-after-St.-Patrick’s-Day (with the entire city wearing their green shirts from the night before), we had a strong turnout of strong people ready and willing to work and share.

What we did:

• Discussed flash-fiction we’ve published as a warm-up to the genre
• Looked at some prompts, then took time to write our own pieces
• Went around the group and shared, giving feedback as well as looking for possible points of expansion (since we only had about 20-30 minutes to write the original pieces)

Our participants were absolutely FANTASTIC, thoughtful, and supportive of one another. Not only that, but everyone came from diverse writing backgrounds, which made both our writing and our criticism much more interesting.

Bummed you missed out?

We’re having another one next week (3/25) discussing the combination of text and art! Same bat time, same bat place! Come join!

A big thanks to Moonstone and Robin’s Books for letting us share the space, and for the fantastic people who came to our workshop and shared with us!

—James

More workshop reviews! This time from our friend Shawn Proctor:

“Tonight’s online critique with HOOT Review was a first for me. I’ve met with fellow writers to discuss stories in workshops and coffee shops; I’ve emailed critiques back and forth with friends. But I’ve never received feedback to a story online in real time from editors.

So by now you guys all know about our Wednesday workshops, right?

(Wednesday nights, 9-10.30pm, by clicking on the link on our website under the “workshops” tab)

Here’s an awesome review from our friend Chris Smith, who has not only attended several of our workshops as a fellow reviewer but also had his work critiqued. 

“The online workshop is really fun and informal. It’s like being with a group of friends talking about each others writing. 

The editors of Hoot Review are really nice and they’ve made the process pretty simple.  Someone volunteers to go first and then  they email the others their piece. 
They then read and comment and discuss while the person receiving feedback becomes “the fly on the wall” and reads what is being said. After the discussion is over; about 20 minutes usually, the person observing can ask questions and get clarification. 

Usually we get through 2 or 3 pieces in the hour and a half and we learn a lot about each other and how we write in the process. 

It’s very educational and fun, and even if you don’t have a piece to workshop you can still comment on others and join in the discussion with other writers. The hour and a half goes by very quickly because everyone is having such a good time! ”

Thanks for your input, Chris!

And don’t forget to stop by our workshop yourself Wednesday night!

—James