Ian #4

One line in Bedford that really rang true to me was the line "As a tutor, try to frame the negative aspects of a paper as good first steps toward improvement and offer lots of encouragement." This is a key component of the workshop model in my MFA program, and I think it sounds obvious and maybe frilly, maybe unnecessary, but I don't think it's mundane or obvious to the process at all. Sometimes I think praise can feel inorganic to the consultation process: particularly when I'm working with a student to improve their writing, and especially if that writing isn't "strong," per se, it feels natural to focus exclusively on what isn't working - there's even an altruistic justification to do this, as you could argue that a session is more beneficial to the student if they leave with a list of things to improve than with a list of compliments. Combined with the fact that time in sessions flies by, I often have to remind myself to offset critique with praise.

I work towards this balance because I really do think praise is essential to the success of a session. For one, I think offering praise forces the tutor to find merit in writing that otherwise might be easy to dismiss, and that can yield a more nuanced understanding of the work at hand. But more importantly, I think offering praise, or even feedback cushioned by praise, does a lot of helpful work in setting writers at ease. I think praise is particularly crucial for vulnerable writers, writers who are more likely to arrive at appointments having already dismissed their work, or writers playing on an "uneven playing field" -  my international student, for instance, upon sitting down at our first appointment, said right away she "wasn't a good writer." I viewed this comment as a defensive maneuver on her part, something to say to protect herself from a perceived forthcoming barrage of criticism. I think offering some praise - even praise that feels nebulous, something like, "Hey, I don't think this is bad at all," or "I think there's a lot here we can work with," helps defuse that tension in the student, and helps them arrive at a place where they can receive feedback and critique.

Comments

  1. luluSeptember 18, 2018 at 2:46 PM

    I'm also trying to find this balance between critique and praise and have found that I tend to lean more heavily towards praise, which I worry muddies the impact of my tutoring. I'm wondering about times when it is more effective for the student's writing for me to be more direct, for instance, "You have some great ideas, now let's work to order them in a clear way" vs. the more direct (and critical seeming) "Your organization needs some work here."

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