On the morning of October 29th, I attended two writing workshops held at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. This an annual event with various programs held throughout the week. There were two back-to-back sessions. A college English professor led the first workshop providing comments and suggestions about stories previously submitted by the attendees. This year I did not provide a submission. I did read all of the stories before I went and found her reviews very helpful.
The second session comments were provided by an experienced workshop leader. He spent the time on general suggestions, rather than individual reviews. The gentleman was not the original scheduled presenter. He was a last minute replacement. Unfortunately, I did learn as much as I had expected.
To be perfectly frank, he spoke so fast I had a difficulty keeping up with him.
One no no for any teacher is to work at the front board and speak with his back to the audience. He may have done a lot of workshops, but for those of us who have hearing difficulties, his presentation left a lot to be desired.
Nonetheless, I am very glad I went. It was a beautiful day. I enjoyed being around mostly young people and learned somethings new. As far as I am concerned, this is time well spent.