Please respond with one number — either 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1.
5 being “strongly agree,” and 1 being “strongly disagree.”

1.  I am satisfied with the workshop leader’s teaching skill. 5
2.  I am satisfied with this workshop leader’s communication skill. 4
3.  I learned a lot from this workshop leader. 5
4.  I would recommend this workshop to others. 5
5.  I would take an advanced version of this workshop. 4

1. What did you enjoy about the workshop? Please explain.

I felt blessed to be able to get the weekly lessons. It was addictive to get everyone’s thoughts on my writing each week – also extremely valuable. It is true that it’s hard to get people to read one’s writing (my wife won’t even read my stories-and vice versa!) so that was a big deal to get so much feedback. And – maybe most important – I enjoyed that I can call myself a writer now because I’m not just “thinking about it”, I’m doing it! I owe that to the class.
     The other thing – that was unexpected, really – was that I LOVED reading other people’s stuff. I was amazed, I really was. Partly because there are so many universal experiences and emotions, but also because it was a good learning mechanism to see what other people did well (or not so well). I think I’m going to miss the suspense of what people will put up each week as much as anything else.
     And related to that, it’s weird, but I feel like I have a bond with the other people in the class. Like they’re my friends, or something. And to think I wouldn’t even recognize them if I passed them on the street(!)

2. How could the workshop be improved? Please explain.

The one part that seemed lacking in the beginning (but improved) was the flow of the chat room discussions. The chat room may not lend itself to the kind of input John was seeking, but I think it has potential. The steps would be to 1) Have John prepare some of his lesson points (and/or discussion questions) before hand and then cut and paste them into the discussion when the time is right; 2)Establish a sort of “round robin” rule for the questions – it’s fine to throw out a question when we’re all in a room together, but in this context, I think it would be good to ask the question and then, for example, wait for each person to chime in. (You can give people the option of “passing”.) On the technical side, give people a little primer about how to recall the discussion when they enter late (it’s one of the options when you click on the toolbar, I think).

3. What were the reasons you signed up for this workshop?

1) I need(ed) a kick in the butt to get me going on this. I dreamed of writing about my experience from even before I left, and I don’t have much to show for it. I need the deadlines (still) and the peer pressure to put something up there. (One of the unsung beauties of the course is that you actually HAVE to write something each week – even when you think what you’ve written stinks, anything is better than nothing!)
2) I love the PC writers website, and I wanted to be able to produce stuff that would be worthy of posting there – no better way to “tailor” my stuff than to study at the feet of the masters!
3) The website always has practical advice about publishing (as well as the good writing), and – for better or worse – I am driven by the desire to get published as much as anything else. I really sought that kind of insight that I’m seeing in lesson 10.

4. Did this workshop provide information that was valuable to you? Please explain.

This is a tough question because it provided me so much that is valuable. Probably the most important thing is that it drove home the idea of needing to write a little each day. I think I learned that that’s how you do it. (I may have “known” this before, but this class made it real.)
     The lessons were VERY useful. (I’ve filled a binder with them, and have already gone back to re-read some lessons a time or two.) Honestly, there was not a single lesson that did not contain new – and valuable – information for me.

5. How did this workshop compare with other training you have had?

It’s hard to compare, but it definitely compared favorably. I attach a lot of emotion to my earlier writing classes, which kind of muddies the waters of comparison. But I would say that this course had more bang for the buck in that the goal was clear from the outset, and every lesson and assignment was geared toward that goal. Everyone was trying to achieve the same thing. That gives it a leg up on the other courses I’ve taken. Perhaps this is most relevant when you consider the time spent reading other people’s writing. In this class, reading and commenting actually benefited me, which has not been true in previous courses.

6. Was the workshop a good value? How does it compare with the cost of other workshops you may have investigated?

It was worth the money. To be honest, this is the only course I have looked into since I graduated from college (1992), and it’s the only one I would take again. I think the secret ingredient is that we’re all after the same thing (see response to #5 above).

7. Please write any comments you have about the teacher? His presentation format? His communication skills?

The responses above cover it, I think, but some complementary thoughts:
The lessons were great, I wouldn’t change a thing.
I (and probably everyone else) was dying each week to see his comments on my writing (and other people’s writing). In terms of comments, his communications skills were great – they lived up to the idea of helping and being tough, but never discouraging.
The early chat rooms were kind of disappointing, but toward the end he seemed to have mastered it, and I’m sure future classes will have even better chats.

8. Do you have any comments about the weekly written Lessons? Assignments? Writers’ interviews?

The lessons were great (see previous comments).
I think the assignments were great, too. I guess I was a little concerned that the class was going to be open-ended and that I would have to plod through my story. But the way the assignments were designed was liberating. I could move from plot to plot and there was no problem. They also made me believe that, little by little, I might actually be able to build a whole book.
The interviews were a nice touch. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that Tidwell didn’t have time for us! (Maybe you can email it to us someday!) To be honest, I wish that there could be one full writer interview per week. I know this is asking too much, but in this class, I was looking for inspiration. To have these “regular people” talk about churning out awesome books – that’s inspiration! I came into the course knowing about Larry Brown, a regular guy who just decided to become a writer, so I kind of believe I can pull it off. But I think we (as students) should be hyper-exposed to these kinds of people. None of use (I bet) are quitting our day jobs, so we need to know that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. The writer interviews provide this.

How was the timing of these?

Like I said, more interviews would be good, and more often. If there was a reason for the staggering, I didn’t catch it.

9. What are your thoughts about the computer on-line aspect of this workshop?

It works very well for everything except the chat. As I said, I think the chats got better, and they’ll be fine in future versions of the class. For the posting and commenting, I think that might actually be BETTER than a real classroom, because people feel the peer pressure to read others’ stuff and comment on it in a coherent way.
The online nature of the class, I thought, was a positive attribute.

About the effectiveness of the weekly forums and feedback system?

See comment above. I think it worked great.

About the effectiveness of the weekly evening one-hour chats? The day of the week, the time of day? Please explain.

See comments above. I didn’t have a problem with the timing.

10. You participated in this workshop with other people. Was their feedback a benefit or not? Please explain.

Yes – I really appreciate each person who read my stuff and commented. As I mentioned above, it was a great surprise how much this added to my experience in the class.

11. The leader provided feedback on your writing. Was this a benefit or not? Please explain.

A great benefit. He seemed to make a serious effort to think about everyone’s story and writing. He set a good example. His comments carried a lot of weight, and I appreciate his time and effort.

12. Please write any other general comments you have about the workshop that will be helpful to us.

Just THANK YOU. This has been a great experience and I’m grateful for your investment in us.

13. May we publish on our website, Peace Corps Writers, your name and quotes from your comments about this workshop as a way to inform other RPCVs of the value of this course?

Sure. If you want me to reiterate or rephrase or explain any of my sentiments so they make more sense, I’d be happy to do it.

14. Please provide your name.

Roderick Jones