tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63770490546402133852024-03-14T04:28:19.218+08:00The K-Pop Writers' WorkshopThe K-Pop Writers' Workshophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598471816839947086noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377049054640213385.post-78346033062847848602014-10-11T07:17:00.000+08:002014-10-12T14:05:57.344+08:00The Fifth K-Pop Writers' Workshop: Moving ForwardIn the span of just one year The K-Pop Writers' Workshop has turned <a href="http://kpopwritersworkshop.blogspot.com/2013/08/small-beginnings-big-goals.html">small beginnings and big goals</a> into a reality, it has <a href="http://kpopwritersworkshop.blogspot.com/2013/09/building-community-second-k-pop-writers.html">built a community</a> of extremely talented individuals, it has <a href="http://kpopwritersworkshop.blogspot.com/2014/01/igniting-passions-third-k-pop-writers.html">ignited passions</a> in new and veteran writers alike, it has <a href="http://kpopwritersworkshop.blogspot.com/2014/05/forging-new-paths-fourth-k-pop-writers.html">forged new paths</a> for its participants -- this time we're taking it to the next level by moving forward. Together.<br />
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<b>The Fifth K-Pop Workshop is all about using the foundations we’ve set in the course of the last year and coming full-circle to provide you, our participants, with the best workshop experience possible. </b>We may be the only independent workshop in K-ent writing today, but that doesn’t give us an excuse to slack off. We do quite the opposite, actually!<br />
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Since our last workshop we’ve taken an unexpectedly long break -- for the last year the longest we’ve rested was a month, but this time it’s been at least two months since we last got together. There was a lot happening to our team outside of the workshop, also in our own practices as K-pop writers, and it didn’t seem right to start a workshop we couldn’t run to the best of our abilities. The team with us during the fourth workshop is still very busy though, so we’re enlisting a new face to fill in <b>Shweta</b>, our reviews facilitator, while she’s away. One thing we always make sure of when we choose team members is that the people we choose know how we work, that they themselves have experienced a workshop firsthand. We look to our alumni because of this and also because enlisting their help is another way of keeping them involved. <b>Your stay with us and your learning experience extends past the workshop proper</b> and <b>Leslie</b>, our new facilitator for reviews, is proof of that. Like Shweta, Leslie is an experienced writer who is currently with <b>Seoulbeats</b>, and we think she will bring valuable insight and feedback to the workshop and the participants under her guidance.<br />
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More than anything, this time off has allowed us to come back with a fresher perspective on our program and more time to improve the finer details of how we work. The changes we’ll be introducing this time around are less conceptual, less to do with major overhauls, and more about how we operate on a day-to-day basis.<br />
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<ol>
<li><b><u>A more efficient workshop system.</u></b> There's still a lot to work on in terms of how we execute our program, which is understandable because our current model was introduced for the first time during the fourth workshop. <b>We’ve learned from our experiences and we’re making it a point to improve the way we work to give our participants a stress-free, comfortable workshop process. </b>If you look at the <a href="http://kpopwritersworkshop.blogspot.com/p/schedule_17.html">schedule</a> for this workshop, you’ll already notice some of the many improvements. Compressed submission periods means longer time for revisions, a more systematic turn-over of pieces and publication offers means your piece is still timely when published, and the list goes on.</li>
<li><b><u>Real-time chat rooms for during the revisions break. </u></b>Participants of previous workshops know that it’s difficult to gain back momentum after taking a week off, and it’s a major issue that we’re addressing this time around. During the course of the revisions break our team will be hosting live chat rooms with participants to talk about their pieces, process the feedback that has been given, and give further tips that may be of help to revisions. Further details such as scheduling and time slots will be provided during the workshop proper.</li>
<li><u><b><i>Even more</i> publication offers.</b> </u>We always aim to do three things for our participants -- to improve writing skills and also to provide talented, promising writers with venues for publication and the connections they need to get their voices heard. Our partner sites allow us to offer participants editorial positions which give them the chance to have their work read by wider audiences and be part of long-term projects with established networks of their own. It’s our way of giving back to the K-ent writing community. So in addition to <b>theONESHOTS, Dinoseoul, Asia 24/7</b> and <b>Beyond Hallyu</b>, for The Fifth K-Pop Writers’ Workshop <b>we are also partnering with Critical Kpop and Seoulbeats</b>. By bringing in more partners, <b>our goal is publication for <i>all</i> workshopped pieces</b>. With SIX major editorial teams looking for fresh perspectives on K-entertainment, we think it’s possible.</li>
</ol>
One year on, The K-Pop Writers’ Workshop has jumped leaps and bounds, and we will continue to move forward to provide the best experience possible. Our program <i>works</i>, our workshop model <i>works</i> -- countless writers who have passed through us are testament to that -- now it’s time to make them <b>work <i>better</i></b>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Nicole</span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Workshop Head</b></span></i>The K-Pop Writers' Workshophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598471816839947086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377049054640213385.post-88742742458829733392014-05-25T06:51:00.000+08:002014-05-24T20:01:32.907+08:00Forging New Paths: The Fourth K-Pop Writers’ WorkshopThis time last year, The K-Pop Writers' Workshop was just an idea. Starting it was a huge risk for me -- I would be setting a precedent and obviously it meant doing things beyond my capabilities and my "job description" as a K-Pop writer. I'm not going to lie and say it's been easy when in fact it's been one of the most exhaustingly challenging experiences I’ve had and continues to demand much more than just writing. But I do it anyway. This workshop has proven to be one of the most rewarding and inspiring projects I’ve ever had the privilege to work on and I'm not about to miss out on a good thing like this. As a writer it’s always an amazing feeling to see my work published and noticed, but this workshop made me realize that it’s even more amazing to know that I’m capable of influencing not only myself, but my friends and peers as well. And that, one year later, I have the power to continue doing so.<br />
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Over the course of three workshops I also realized that all the writers I've had the pleasure of working with were very different from each other -- that I was mistaken in thinking I was different from everybody else. K-Pop writers come from very diverse backgrounds, have very different reasons for writing, and all have their own ideals. I've met K-Pop fans who liked it so much they wanted to take fandom one step further by writing about it, I've met people who were writers first and K-entertainment fans second, the list goes on. So just because I began writing young or because I started the K-Pop Writers' Workshop I can't say I'm an exception without saying that there is really no "ordinary" when it comes to something like this. Because there is no one "standard" path.<br />
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<b>We want to further emphasize the diversity of this amazing community of writers, which is why The Fourth K-Pop Writers’ Workshop is all about forging new paths</b> for the workshop and everyone who will experience it in the future.<br />
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The K-Pop Writers' Workshop has had two major goals from the very beginning, goals which immediately set us apart from other projects. We help K-entertainment writers improve their craft and continuously expand our community for the benefit of participants and alumni -- most major editorial teams hold long-term, in-house training and workshops, but we're different because we bring together a diverse group of writers for a short-term program. We provide a space for writers to meet their peers and get to know them further throughout their stay with us (which extends way past the workshop period!), including veteran writers and “big names” in K-entertainment writing. We have built a community of writers and affiliations that we continuously tap into for the benefit of our past, present, and future participants. Beyond networking, the simplicity of the workshop system allows us to make modifications and introduce additions, major or minor, that will hopefully improve the quality of our program and the learning experience we provide.<br />
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Ultimately, what makes us different is our dynamism as a project -- each workshop is different and we embrace that. So we know that change is inevitable in order to move forward, especially if we want to take full advantage of a program as flexible as ours. <b>Hence, we are overhauling both our system and our team to provide you with an even better workshop experience.</b> We've implemented changes in past workshops, but the Fourth K-Pop Writers' Workshop will see some of the most major changes we have ever made such as:<br />
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<ol>
<li><u><b>Form-specific feedback</b>. </u>We get more and more participants with each workshop and we want to keep the feedback supplied at the highest standard -- focused and thorough, but practical. In order to further improve the quality of feedback <b>we will divide participants into three “paths” based on their pieces’ form -- reviews, expository essays and personal essays/creative non-fiction</b> -- the most common forms published by major K-entertainment websites. These three paths will allow for more thorough feedback from peers who all deal with similar forms, while keeping as much diversity as possible through the different subject matters tackled by each form. <b><a href="http://kpopwritersworkshop.blogspot.com/p/how.html">Click here for a full explanation of our new system</a>.</b></li>
<li><b><u>A more guided writing process.</u> </b>This workshop has always aimed to be a stepping stone for new writers and writers who want to re-start their careers, as well as a venue for currently active writers to expand their portfolios even further. In order to help achieve these goals even better, we have added to our basic structure and emphasized the importance of revisions. <b>We now ask for strictly unpublished pieces</b> because we want to be involved as early as possible in the writing process and prepare participants (and their pieces) for publication to the best of our abilities. <b><i>The goal is to get published, because that’s how it is in the real world.</i></b></li>
<li><b><u>Workshopped pieces published <i>immediately.</i></u></b> Major K-entertainment websites<b> <a href="http://theoneshots.com/">theONESHOTS</a>, <a href="http://beyondhallyu.com/">Beyond Hallyu</a>, <a href="http://asia247.wordpress.com/">Asia 24/7</a>, </b>and<b> <a href="http://dinoseoul.com/">Dinoseoul</a></b><a href="http://dinoseoul.com/"> </a>are all looking for fresh, new content from our workshop pool. For the final stage of the workshop representatives from all our partner websites will look through all pieces and decide which they want to publish -- they also may or may not ask for further revisions before publication. Each site also has the option to hire the authors of the pieces they publish.</li>
<li><b><u>An amazing new workshop team.</u></b> For a more personal workshop experience and further mentorship, discussions within each of the three workshop paths will be facilitated by a veteran writer. Our team of facilitators includes second workshop participant <b>Kay</b> (of <b><a href="http://radio-palava.tumblr.com/">Radio Palava</a></b> and <b>Beyond Hallyu</b>) for expository essays, second and third workshop participant <b>Danice</b> (of <b><a href="http://inwardfangirl.wordpress.com/">Inwardly Fangirling</a></b> and <b>The ONESHOTS</b>) for personal essays/creative non-fiction, and former core group member <b>Shweta</b> (of <b><a href="http://splashofinspiration.wordpress.com/">A Splash of Inspiration</a></b>) for reviews. They are some of the best and most prolific in their respective fields <i>and</i> they have all taken part in The K-Pop Writers’ Workshop in the past. <a href="http://kpopwritersworkshop.blogspot.com/p/our-team.html"><b>Click here to get to know our new team better.</b></a></li>
</ol>
<b>These all support a strengthening of our focus -- <u>preparing pieces for publication and equipping writers with skills for the real world outside the workshop</u>.</b> The K-Pop Writers' Workshop has served as a stepping stone for countless writers -- we’ve helped veterans bounce back by giving them a structured environment conducive to productivity and we’ve also kickstarted careers of talented new writers by providing them with knowledge and opportunities they would have never gotten elsewhere. And we hope to continue that by providing even more options and an even more flexible workshop experience.<br />
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One year after our very first workshop, I'm confident that the Fourth K-Pop Writers' Workshop can help even more writers forge their own paths,<b> </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">better</i><b>.</b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Nicole</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Workshop Head</i></span>The K-Pop Writers' Workshophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598471816839947086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377049054640213385.post-33654878898273201332014-05-05T20:40:00.002+08:002014-05-05T20:44:39.799+08:00We'll be back very soon!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvw5X31QVTBiqeoj-YXxt7YAZx4jZRevols1F4iqI7xhYSUZz5wGpkyqG-eXek_9fhNRU0n9XBuyqitaLVbZAjZwmYC7Ii_s45jjEodUqKpPnl-ix-9L50SJzADe4v3ZaE-uGMIdVzSJQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-05+at+8.37.25+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvw5X31QVTBiqeoj-YXxt7YAZx4jZRevols1F4iqI7xhYSUZz5wGpkyqG-eXek_9fhNRU0n9XBuyqitaLVbZAjZwmYC7Ii_s45jjEodUqKpPnl-ix-9L50SJzADe4v3ZaE-uGMIdVzSJQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-05+at+8.37.25+PM.png" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Follow us on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/thekpopworkshop">@thekpopworkshop</a> for updates.</i></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11709918197463554205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377049054640213385.post-16460510544874797172014-01-19T07:00:00.000+08:002014-01-18T22:21:48.155+08:00Igniting Passions: The Third K-Pop Writers' WorkshopI was <b>thirteen</b> when I started Pop Reviews Now. <b>Fourteen</b> when I realized that I wanted to write for a living. <b>Fifteen</b> when I branched out into writing for major Korean entertainment news websites. <b>Sixteen</b> when I decided to pursue a theory-heavy college major to learn proper art criticism. At <b>seventeen</b> I won my first Philippine Blog Award and was writing a weekly column for SOOMPI. I put together the First K-Pop Writers’ Workshop when I was <b>eighteen</b>. Six years later, at <b>nineteen</b>, music writing is <i>still</i> my passion.<br />
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And I know I’m not alone.<br />
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The past two workshops have been constant reassurances that there are so many extremely intelligent, talented and enthusiastic people writing <i>critically</i> about Korean entertainment. And why wouldn’t there be? K-entertainment is such a dynamic and fast-paced part of popular culture at the moment that it needs a community of writers that grows just as fast.<br />
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At the same time, running this workshop has made me realize how much I enjoy being in the middle of it all. That The K-Pop Writers’ Workshop is just as much my passion as writing about Korean pop music is -- and I know exactly why. Meeting people who I share interests and even aspirations with, learning from them, and reading all these great ideas presented in new ways are experiences I always look forward to. Seeing past participants continuously improving their craft outside of the workshop setting and even having a hand in some of that improvement is as inspiring as it is rewarding. Which is why with the Third K-Pop Writers’ Workshop we want to expand <i>even more</i> -- to help new writers to find direction, and give veterans reasons to stay.<br />
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<b>We want to ignite passions, whether it be for the first time or the hundredth.</b><br />
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At it’s core, <b>the workshop is a short-term program</b>. We are only meant to supplement the writing experience you already have or give that first push you need to get started. Our system aims to provide a new environment with each workshop cycle by bringing together a new mix of writers from different backgrounds, with a wide range of strengths and opinions. <b><i>We keep things fresh.</i> While the cost is the short-term nature of the workshop, we see a need because no one else offers it.</b><br />
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However we know that as we grow, we have to put in more effort to strengthen the ties we've already made in the past. <b>We want to build our community with each workshop, not change it.</b> And we have found ways to do so, which are the new additions we are introducing this time around.<br />
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After the workshop we provide outside projects and long-term commitments to our participants. First because it serves as an incentive for participants to experience the workshop from start to finish, but more importantly because we want to contribute to the steadily-growing flow of Korean entertainment writing online. We want our participants to write for even bigger audiences than they already do, to expand their community as much as we are expanding. <b>Because as their networks grow, so does ours.</b><br />
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This time we have teamed up with several of our alumni and core group members to provide even more post-workshop opportunities, both long and short-term. <b>Our alumni will serve as a bridge, <i>your</i> bridge, to their experience and wide range of connections outside of the workshop. They will share <i>their</i> passions with you</b> and show you the endless opportunities writing about K-entertainment opens up. They can also continue to mentor you outside of the workshop setting, something we want for any writer who passes through us.<br />
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As of now we are working with <b><a href="http://asia247.wordpress.com/">Asia 24/7</a>, <a href="http://dinoseoul.com/">Dinoseoul</a>, <a href="http://thekpoppanel.blogspot.com/">The Kpop Panel</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.melismaticblog.com/">Melismatic</a></b>, and <b><a href="http://popreviewsnow.blogspot.com/">Pop Reviews Now</a></b>. Further details will be provided to participants during the workshop period.<br />
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Having been around for less than a year though, we don’t have that many alumni yet. Despite this, we want to provide as many opportunities for expansion as we can. Which is why in addition to workshop alumni affiliations, we have added to our list of partner websites. <b>We are prepared to recommend <i>more</i> participants to <i>more</i> major editorial teams.</b> Last year we introduced merit-based recommendations to <b><a href="http://beyondhallyu.com/">Beyond Hallyu</a></b>’s editorial team for those who complete the workshop, and this year <b>we are continuing that incentive</b>. In addition to Beyond Hallyu, we will also be sourcing participants to <b><a href="http://theoneshots.com/">The One Shots</a></b>. Just like our alumni we want these two sites to be a vital part of our community, and we think they are great venues to publish writing.<br />
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The K-Pop Writers’ Workshop is primarily for writers with existing commitments elsewhere and so after the workshop they go back to them, hopefully bringing new connections and lessons. While past workshops have focused on <i>building</i> connections, now we want to <b>solidify</b> them and make them an integral part of the workshop experience. Because they<i> should</i> be -- improvement and networking go hand-in-hand as far as K-entertainment writing is concerned. <b>Which is why through The Third K-Pop Writers’ Workshop we will show you our passions at work, the passions that have driven our entire community from the very beginning. </b><br />
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And I sincerely hope that seeing our passions inspires you to stay in this community we're building together.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Nicole</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Workshop Head</i></span></b>The K-Pop Writers' Workshophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598471816839947086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377049054640213385.post-90823724130571486842013-12-08T08:21:00.001+08:002013-12-08T08:21:22.491+08:00Intermission: Nowhere to go but up<b>The K-Pop Writers’ Workshop</b> began during what was a dry spell of sorts for me as a writer -- I had not been working for any major K-entertainment sites for over a year already, and I had little drive to write for my own blog, <b>Pop Reviews Now</b>. I had been thinking about a project like this for a long time, but never had the means to fully execute it. The execution came at the right time though, as 2013 marked my fifth year as a blogger and I knew I had to do something big.<br />
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<b>And that something big was The K-Pop Writers’ Workshop.</b><br />
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Inspired by the workshop system used for creative writing classes in my university and many others, The K-Pop Writers’ Workshop aims to bring back a sense of community among K-Entertainment writers and improve the quality of K-Entertainment writing and thinking. We have many other goals, but those two are the ones we wish to emphasize the most. And those are goals that will never really end -- <b>there is always room to expand our community, and there is always a need for improvement</b>.<br />
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Two workshops were held this year, and they really were unforgettable experiences. Allow me to share some of the many things I learned over the course of these two workshops.<br />
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The first workshop merely scraped the surface, and as workshop head I was still trying to place a handle on things. It was a rocky experience compared to the second workshop, but I learned so, so much about running a project as ambitious as this, and even more about my own writing. As a writer I’d never been one for revisions, because I’d either revise very little or re-write the entire piece out of frustration over my writing. But I was forced to look at my own work with a constructive eye, something I know I need to develop. <b>The workshop also gave me a picture of what K-Pop writing had evolved into</b> -- as I said I hadn’t been writing for any major sites for quite a while, and aside from a small circle of blogger friends (who make up the workshop’s core ground) I knew very little, if not nothing, about what K-Pop writing is like these days. And I think that was the most important thing the first workshop allowed, because it gave me a more solid direction to push further workshops towards.<br />
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Which is why by the time I started putting together the second workshop, I knew there were changes to be made. The basic workshop system -- present a piece, get (and give) constructive comments, and revise accordingly -- was to stay, after all it is the foundation of this entire project. But I tried my best to make the workshop environment warmer, to make it as much about building our community as it is about improving writing, because that’s how I had always wanted it to be. The two go hand-in-hand, and we were able to start working towards that in the second workshop. While I do still keep in contact with some of the writers from the first workshop, I keep in contact with more from the second. <b>It’s even more fulfilling to know that the workshop really has started building a community of K-entertainment writers</b>, and seeing participants interact with each other outside of the workshop setting is small, but very much tangible, proof of that.<br />
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The two workshops this year have given me so much to be thankful for, but they have also opened up so, so many options for the future. <b>There is so much I want to do with the workshop now that I know what it’s capable of, and that includes expanding our reach</b>. One of our main goals for the coming year is that we want to introduce this system to even more writers. We want to learn from other writers just as much as we want them to benefit from the workshop system, because we have much to learn from every single writer who passes through the program. I want this, this entire idea of a workshop, to be my contribution to K-entertainment writing, and I want it to go on long after I leave (if ever I do), which is why I will continue, along with the workshop’s core group, to improve and refine the program.<br />
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<b>Thank you for a wonderful start this year, and here’s to all the possibilities 2014 brings! </b><br />
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<i>Applications for the Third K-Pop Writers’ Workshop will open late January/early February 2014.</i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11709918197463554205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377049054640213385.post-30859101878614295842013-09-20T06:03:00.000+08:002013-09-20T06:47:18.831+08:00Building a Community: The Second K-Pop Writers’ WorkshopThe K-Pop Writers’ Workshop began with two goals -- to encourage writers, new and old, to continue writing by providing a place to improve themselves, and to bring back a sense of community among K-Pop writers. The first workshop last July was a success, but it barely scraped the surface of the two long-term goals we set. However it achieved two very important things. First, a promising idea proved to be just as promising when put into practice -- I and core group are in agreement that this is a project we wish to continue and further improve. And personally, this is a practice I would like to leave for later generations to carry on. Second, we have established that the workshop system is indeed effective for both improving technical writing skills, as well as critical thinking -- the two most important aspects of K-Pop writing, and the two central skills that this workshop demands. The revisions made at the end of the first workshop speak for themselves, really.<br />
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However, the most important lesson the first workshop taught is that <b>the writing workshop model, as tried and tested as it may be, is also highly flexible</b>. Any number of factors can affect the nature of the workshop at any given time -- the way it is run, the additions to the basic model, and most importantly, the participants themselves and the pieces that are workshopped. That flexibility allows a workshop to bring together a diverse set of writers and still continue to create an environment that’s conducive to improvement. It is for that reason that each workshop is different, and for me as the workshop head, each has to be approached differently, and each has lessons to teach me. It’s all about refining the model, catering to the needs, and dynamics, of each group. <br />
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Majority of the changes and additions that will be introduced in this second workshop were prompted by the first workshop -- what worked, what didn’t, and what could still be improved. These new aspects will, for sure, affect the dynamics of the workshop -- for the better or worse, we don’t know yet. What we wish to emphasize though is that these changes are not an attempt at permanency. The basic format of this workshop is refined enough, but what we do with that format and where we take it is always subject to change and improvement.<b> The K-Pop Writers’ Workshop as a whole aims to take advantage of the flexibility we are given</b>, so this second workshop will be very different from the first. <b><i>All</i> workshops will be different from each other.</b><br />
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Considering that one of our main goals is to build a community of writers, we have decided that <b>the thrust of the Second K-Pop Writers’ Workshop will be the social aspect of writing</b>. The first workshop focused mainly on the writing itself -- pieces were submitted, feedback was given, revisions were made, and posted again. While it was a very serious and professional atmosphere that had its merits, as a participant of the workshop myself I found very little opportunity to socialize further with the participants I didn’t already know. Which is why we will strive to provide more concrete opportunities to socialize, while keeping the professional atmosphere that the first workshop had.<br />
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One way of bringing the social aspect to the foreground is <b>the addition of “free for all” posts -- one before posting begins, and one during revisions</b>. The first will serve as a space for introductions, for participants to get to know each other before posting begins, while the second will serve as a space to discuss the feedback given, as well as suggest methods and tricks for revision.<br />
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Another observation made from the first workshop was that there was no way of making sure that all eligible participants posted their final revisions. Posting revisions is the final stage, and a short break was provided just before posting re-opened, which partially destroyed the workshop’s momentum. In response to that, this second workshop will provide an incentive aimed mainly at new writers, but also very much open to those with more experience. <b>Participants who complete the workshop will be considered for recommendation to <a href="http://beyondhallyu.com/">Beyond Hallyu’</a>s writing staff.</b> After the workshop ends, two participants will be chosen from those who have completed their revisions, and will be highly recommended for hiring by Beyond Hallyu. The choice is strictly skill-based, but the piece that will be evaluated will be the final revision, and therefore requires that this revision is published.<br />
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Beyond being an incentive, our partnership with Beyond Hallyu is yet another way to expand our community and give K-Pop writers a reason to stay in this community we're building. For new writers it is a chance to learn to write in a team setting, where the work you do inevitably reflects the entire team, and where you are compelled to write on a regular basis. Most importantly, the writing position will give you what this workshop cannot -- continuous, long-term, improvement. While we’d like you to keep coming back to the workshop, we simply cannot offer you the same kind of stability that a writing position like this will. For more experienced writers as well, this opportunity is yet another venue for publishing as well as critique, as well as a reason to continue writing about K-Pop. <br />
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The final change we will be implementing, will, however, be long-term. <a href="http://kpopwritersworkshop.blogspot.com/p/i-may-have-thought-of-initial-idea-but.html">The core group</a> of the first workshop had four members -- myself, McRoth of McRoth’s Residence, Mel of Melismaticdiva and Ree of Seoulbeats. Though core group members are not given special treatment in terms of rules or deadlines, and even in the criticism of their works, they participate in all workshops and are regularly consulted about workshop progress and changes to the system. And, if there is one permanent aspect we’d like to promote in the workshop, it is that we have a steady number of participants, and a steady core group will greatly help keep our numbers constant. <b>In line with this, we’d like to introduce a fifth member to our core group -- Shweta</b> of Seoulbeats and A Splash of Inspiration, a friend of ours who was also with us in the first workshop. She is an extremely talented writer, and we believe that she has a lot of good things to contribute to the workshop dynamic in the long-run.<br />
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Amidst these changes, what I wish to guarantee is that<b> the two main goals of The K-Pop Writers’ Workshop will not be forgotten</b>. We may be emphasizing the social aspect this time around, but the main focus of the workshop is still on improving writers of different backgrounds, educations, and skill sets. If you are a new writer with questions or concerns, or if you are not very sure of what direction to take, we encourage you to join the workshop as you will definitely have a lot to learn from the other participants. But we also think that as a writer yourself, you have much to teach us, and much to contribute to this workshop. <b>We want to tap into your potential, and we want you to go places with it.</b> Likewise, if you are a veteran writer, you know that writing is a continuous process, that there is always something to improve -- <b>it will be our pleasure to help you further improve your craft</b>.<br />
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I look forward to getting to know you, and your work, very soon!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Nicole</span><br />
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Workshop Head</span></b></i>The K-Pop Writers' Workshophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598471816839947086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6377049054640213385.post-83344930025550636282013-08-20T16:38:00.002+08:002013-09-18T09:27:19.987+08:00Small beginnings, big goals: The First K-Pop Writers' WorkshopHi! My name is Nicole, or<b> Nikki</b> on the internet, but you probably know me better for my blog -- <b><a href="http://popreviewsnow.blogspot.com/">Pop Reviews Now</a></b>. I have spent the past five years writing about popular music, the past four of which have been in the wonderful world of K-Pop. And I plan to spend the rest of my life doing this -- writing about music I love and enjoy listening to. It has been an amazing five years for me so far, I’ve achieved things I’ve always wanted to, even things I didn’t expect, and I think it’s time I give back to an industry that has given me so much.<br />
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The idea for this project began after I won a major award for Pop Reviews Now -- that award was my ultimate goal, and it had been fulfilled. I was a struggle for me to achieve that, and to win it at seventeen was something I never expected. And so, I wanted my next goal to cater to young writers -- I wanted to create a network that would help them better their craft and practice writing, but I didn’t have a well-developed system of going about that.<br />
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Almost two years later, I have finally found that system I was looking for. I was inspired by the creative writing program of my university, and the way they conduct classes, which is essentially the format of this K-Pop workshop. It’s most often called the “<b>workshop system</b>”, where students of creative writing, and even groups of established writers and organizations within the university, present a piece and receive feedback not just from their professors or seniors, but also from classmates, while also giving feedback to other students and peers. This is a method that not only improves writing, but which also further develops analytical, critical thinking skills which are our bread and butter as K-Pop writers.<br />
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I, like many K-Pop writers, come from a musical background, and I am currently majoring in Comparative Literature, a choice highly influenced by blogging. I am a formally-trained, experienced, journalist, and I have already taken all mandatory critical theory subjects for my criticism-dependent major. But I still believe that whatever I learn in the classroom must be balanced with experience, and actual writing. I started blogging at thirteen -- they don’t teach you critical art theory in high school, and so everything I learned from then until 2011, when I entered university, I learned from experience, from continuously writing and reading other people’s work.<br />
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The first thing I want to achieve with this workshop is to improve my own writing, as well as those of my peers and those of newer writers. I still have so much I can improve on, and I know majority of writers feel that way. And, like I said, when I was a new blogger no one was there to help me, and whatever comments I got were only marginally constructive. As a teenager that was difficult, and if I didn’t love writing as much as I do, I would’ve given up early on. I want to change that, and I want to encourage more people to take up critical K-Pop writing by providing them with a place to hone their skills.<br />
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This workshop will not take you through writing step-by-step, nor will it correct simple grammatical errors -- this workshop, and the comments that should and will be given, are focused on improving frameworks, big ideas, organization, context, syntax and in general, things you cannot learn in basic English grammar class. The core group of this workshop, the bloggers who have pitched in and are helping make this happen, all bring years of experience to the table, experience in everything from writing pieces regularly, to working in and above teams, to giving feedback on writing. I also believe that even if you’re a new writer, you clearly have critical thinking skills which you can offer to your peers, hence the decision to use a workshop system. After all, you’re writing critical pieces yourself -- reviews, editorials, etc. -- on a regular basis! <br />
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I began writing about K-Pop during what I would say was its golden age -- a time when critical blogs came in the dozens. I also began writing during a time when there was a very strong sense of community among writers, and that sense of community was what led me to many of my closest friendships within K-Pop. Through the years, majority of the community has moved to other projects and even other interests, and now I want to recreate those days, bringing them one step further into the present. During my time as a blogger, as well as a staff writer for several major news sites, I have seen, read and met countless other bloggers and writers who share the same passion for K-Pop and for writing about it, no matter how different our approaches or opinions may be -- I want to meet more, and I want these amazing people to meet each other and read each other.<br />
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Meeting all these people have made me realize that K-Pop writing is probably even more diverse than K-Pop itself -- we writers come from a variety of different countries and backgrounds, but somehow have managed to build a close circle of friends and colleagues. The core group is composed of myself, from the Philippines, <b>McRoth</b> of <b><a href="http://mcrothsresidence.com/">McRoth’s Residence</a></b> from the US, <b>Ree</b> of <b><a href="http://seoulbeats.com/author/ree/">Seoulbeats</a></b> and <b><a href="http://colourmesplendid.wordpress.com/">Colour Me Splendid</a></b>, from Australia, and <b>Mel</b> of <b><a href="http://www.melismaticblog.com/">Melismatic</a></b>, also from the US. We all have different levels of training in writing, thinking and the practice of music, and our strengths as bloggers differ, but it’s exactly that diversity that makes us click as a group, and allow us to stand on our own as writers. We have worked together as a group in the past, with the launch of The K-Pop Panel, another international project, and occasionally collaborate as smaller groups, but we’re also very good friends at the end of the day!<br />
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Which is why, what we hope to achieve with this workshop while improving our writing and critical thinking skills, is also to make new friendships and broaden our current circle of K-Pop bloggers. We want to create friendships and connections that are founded on K-Pop, that are founded on recognizing good ideas and talented writers, but which go beyond that in the future. <br />
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Hopefully as these workshops continue, we also solidify and legitimize a community of critical K-Pop writers, bloggers who are not only passionate K-Pop fans, but brilliant writers and thinkers as well. We’re starting small, with a maximum capacity of around a dozen participants, but this is a project most of us would like to continue for a long time, and this is a practice I, personally, wish to leave to future generations of K-Pop writers, long after I’ve moved on. It’s ambitious for such a simple, probably overused idea, but for me, as a blogger who has come to stay, I want to give this a try.<br />
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<i><b>July 2013</b></i>The K-Pop Writers' Workshophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598471816839947086noreply@blogger.com0