Preview for full workshop critique elements, SFCC, Spring 2019

1. Testing! Testing 1,2,3
Today is a warm up for the forthcoming full workshops

2. Process
 1. Decide as a group the order in which you will be
workshopped
 2. Read first exercise, silently, together
 3. After reading, one person volunteer to simply state
what happens in the piece, to make sure everyone is on
the same page
 4. Use the critique sheet, which is the actual critique
sheet for the full workshop, to discuss the exercise
 Note: Adapt the worksheet as needed (will discuss
more in a moment)
 5. Repeat for each participant. Rotate who describes
the action/what happens in the piece.

3. Characterization
Does this story make good use of the elements of
characterization? Does it include: appearance, dialogue,
thought and action? Cite specific instances in which the
author employs characterization to good effect, as well
as places in which characters could use greater
development.

4. Point of View
Is the POV in this piece appropriate to the story, and
used consistently? What observations can you offer
about the use of POV?

5. Plot
Does the story have a sense of rising action and
complication? Does it include a Crisis action and, if so,
what do you pinpoint as the crisis action? How do you
experience The pacing in the story?
For the sake of this exercise: You might adapt this to ask
if the conflict is clearly put, if the stakes are high, how
you think it might resolve itself.

6. Theme
Theme
What do you observe as the theme or themes of this
story? Are there areas in the story where its themes
could be heightened by imagery or language?
We will discuss theme more next week, but this
essentially relates to the idea of “what is this
about about?” What’s at stake beyond the actions
in the exercise. What is the one idea or feeling you
have from this piece?

7. Other
comments
Please offer observations about the elements of the
story you found most compelling, as well as those that
were unclear. This is also a good time to make
observations about language: style, syntax etc.