Defense of the Defensive Writer: A Therapeutic and Relational Approach to Workshop

Abstract

Emerging from a thesis seeking to characterize the undergraduate creative writing workshop experience, this article identifies the reasons for defensive behaviors in workshop through the use of Relational-Cultural Theory, a therapeutic model that posits how we grow through our relationships with one another. An analysis of eight in-depth interviews alongside my own experience are used to examine how and why individuals in creative writing workshops reject feedback, even when they want to grow as writers.