Workshop etiquette and revisions

Adam Israel · Apr 10, 2007

I'm wondering what the proper etiquette is in this situation. I have had a short story accepted into a workshop at a convention I'm going to later this month.

Is it okay to continue to edit and revise the story? The workshop will focus on the draft I submitted and I'll have ample opportunity for revisions over the weekend of the convention/workshop.

My thinking is to work on the issues that I see now and use the time that weekend to focus on the other issues brought up by the critiques. Will it piss anyone off if I work on the obvious edits now, rather than during that weekend where I could be focusing on more critical changes?

Thanks!

Maryn · Apr 11, 2007

My thinking is that you should leave it alone, doing no more than making detailed notes on the revisions you believe it needs now. If the workshop goes well, you're going to do a complete rewrite that can include those changes in addition to others you never saw or thought of, but will seem absolutely necessary thanks to the workshop.

It seems unprofessional, or maybe just uncool, for you to have a different version already complete when the workshop begins. It's almost like saying you don't really want or need what the workshop process is all about, even when that's not the case.

So let your story be, with its warts and bad haircut, for all the world to see. The "After" picture will be even better for it.

Maryn

Cat Scratch · Apr 11, 2007

I'm with Maryn. Additionally, it seems counterproductive to submit a WIP where you already know issues exist (and what they are). It doesn't seem as if their feedback will be of much value to you, since they'll basically be telling you what you already know. Perhaps their comments will be different, but as someone who is asked to critique others, I get frustrated and feel I've wasted my time when someone submits something, I give it a lot of thought, and they respond with "Well, I already knew that. What else?" It's hard to answer "what else" because I don't have a more recent draft where those problems are fixed. However, in this context, it's too late to submit something more recent, so it seems you're a little stuck.

Maryn · Apr 12, 2007

Cat Scratch, I think it's altogether too easy for a writer to share something for critique before it's as good as he or she knows how to make it. I know I've done that--once.

Sometimes I critique for people from AW. I'm not the fastest, but I get to it in a few weeks, usually. More than half tell me they've already made substantial progress on a rewrite and that I was working on an earlier version. Often they've already addressed or changed parts which I took quite a bit of time to mark, comment, explain, etc.

Now when I agree to critique, I ask that the writer be sure she can't improve the work any more on her own before sending it, and to make no changes until I'm done. If she must reread it while I've got it, I ask that she make extensive notes but no revisions, although really I'd rather she worked on something else altogether.

Maryn, who doesn't critique much because she's so crusty and demanding

Cat Scratch · Apr 12, 2007

I'm the same way.

Workshop etiquette and revisions

Adam Israel

Formerly known as StoneTable

Maryn

At Sea

Cat Scratch

The Peacock Next Door

Maryn

At Sea

Cat Scratch

The Peacock Next Door