The AWA Method in a Writing Workshop
- All writers are equal, with their own unique voice and ability to access their creativity.
- We hold all the writing we hear in strict confidence, never sharing it outside the workshop. Once responses are done, the writing is not available for discussion unless the writer gives permission.
- We write freely to offered prompts; no prompt is an assignment or contains any expectations of what will be written. A prompt can even be set aside if a writer chooses to write in a different direction.
- We write together and then read if we choose. I do encourage everyone to read in order to hear constructive, positive responses.
- We listen openly and with respect, setting our own experiences, assumptions, and stories aside and entering into the universe that is created in the writing.
- When we respond, we focus on what is strong, what is working, what stays with us. We notice the craft in the writing.
- We never assume that the writing is about the writer. We respond using 'narrator,' speaker,' or 'character,' even if the narrator is 'I.'
