When thinking about graduate studies in general specifically in the creative writing field, the idea of workshops comes to mind. A fairly traditional setting established in 1936 in Iowa. As we know it, workshops have been the center of creative writing for decades, but little do many know that it is built on white centric standards. This is what Matthew Salesses, asian writer, korean adoptee, brings to the table in his book Craft in the Real World. Writing as we know it and the “common core” of literature (also considered the classics) has been just this, surrounded by white, cisgendered males. Salesses works in this book to determine what needs to be changed, what exactly is the craft and what can we do as future writers and instructors to change the core of this issue.
Thankfully, the canon is now changing, and Salesses has found his place amongst other writers of the craft (the craft being fiction writing), showcasing the ability for the change that is needed. Salesses is the author of three novels: Disappear Doppelganger Disappear, The Hundred- Year Flood, and I’m Not Saying, I’m Just Saying, and a lengthy essay collection. So, Craft in the Real World came in a time of need. Where workshops are the core basis of many graduate students' studies that plan on fiction teaching or writing. He has taught at Coe College, the Ashland MFA program, and the Tin House and Kundiman summer workshops, where his work has been established as groundbreaking and ridding of the gendered standards we are familiar with. Craft in the Real World offers a different perspective on fiction and writing, being like collections of brief essays divided into three sections “Part 1: Fiction in the Real World,” where he analyzes fiction and its different segments, showcasing ways in which writers can improve, “Part 2: Workshop in the Real World” is more instructor focused with ideas for alternative workshops and syllabus examples, and, finally, “Appendix: Exercises,” where he offers the reader challenges on writing and reviewing. With this in mind, the purpose of this book is to allow the reader to broaden their horizons when it comes to what represents fiction and how it is represented. Like he states, "Diversity, in the parlance of our times, should not be tokenism” and it truly showcases the diverse literature of our times. As a writer, it is important to understand that the craft is something consumable and ever changing.
The author devotes attention to how whitecentric and heterocentric workshops are, all starting with the “gag rule.” Said gag rule is based on criticism being given in the workshop space while the writer remains silent. Personally, as a writer I have experienced this method and while it can be productive, it does feel constraining. Salesses suggests in his introduction that this is where the problem stems from. Particularly he homes in on the idea of this being racially charged: “Over a decade ago, I sat silently in an MFA workshop while mostly white writers discussed my race,” although he had left the characters' race unknown. This is the problem he focuses on. Assumptions created in fiction that disregard race, gender, sexuality, cultural context and more can cause biased responses, as it has occurred with my own writing during the “gag rule.” Salesses mentions again this “gag rule” in section two. He in a way hints at the dehumanization that this causes, sometimes the writer being addressed as “the writer” and not by name. Salesses mentions that the usefulness of this workshop model is that the real author is “partly in the dark with regard to [their] work” and that “the workshop can offer an interpretation of the work that will help the author to see either what [they] are already doing or what [they] might do instead.” This is what some of the programs mentioned beforehand do. He draws upon similar experiences, and how this can be detrimental to the points the writer has chosen to make with their writing, causing them to adapt it to the white eye. He continues pressing with the importance of expectations and how they are shaped by the workshop space. In said introduction he mentions “The more we know about the context of those expectations, the more consciously we engage with them.” And further on he proves this to be true with his 25 thoughts on craft and how it functions in part one. Each of these thoughts is carefully crafted to analyze and portray to the audience what craft really represents for example “Craft is about who has the power to write stories, what stories are historicized and who historicizes them, who gets to write literature and who folklore, whose writing is important and to whom, and in what context… These standards must be challenged and disempowered. Too often craft is taught only as what has already been taught before.” As previously mentioned with the common core of literature, or the so called “classics.”
In the traditional workshop (the one crafted in the early 40’s and 50’s) we lean towards the standard, however, Salesses makes note to transform and draw upon a type of literature that is widely criticized: East Asian and Asian American literature. He showcases examples of each, closing section one this way. The reason he points out this literature is because East Asian and Asian American literature tends to be experimental, lyrical and with vivid imagery. While imagery and lyrical prose is common in fiction writing, it’s the experimental part that tends to drive people away and critique this type of literature. Only now are we seeing a rise in experimental publications, such as Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin or What Are You by Lindsay Lerman.
“Who is ‘the reader; the workshop will imagine?” is a question that I also suggest the audience has while reading this book. In section 2, he suggests that everyone writes with a reader in mind, a specific demographic, and that it usually is similar to the author and their background. This is done carefully, but in a rather blunt manner. He wants the audience to react and analyze their own audience and readers. Personally, this was a point I had never thought about whilst writing. Who is my audience, and who am I writing for? Salesses mentions the workshop he crafted, being solely question based, allowing the author to have a voice and to showcase their knowledge on their subject. This is what is considered groundbreaking, it steers us away from the “gag rule” and the silencing and oppression of voices. He does agree that critiquing work is to the benefit of the writer; however there is a fine line to be drawn between what is good criticism and just straight out criticism.
Salesses introduces us to alternative workshops, listing from “Critical Response Process”, “Everyone Workshops at the Same Time”, to the suggestive “Workshop the Workshop”, for a total of 14 different methods of workshopping that steer away from the traditional format. Although in part one, we are introduced to the mind of the author and he does go on tangents, part two is direct with its information, and I believe it is the most fruitful part of his book, mostly because it is the section that we can put into practice. Thankfully, each part successfully comes together to form an entire opinion, fact and matter, although it does permit some jumping around on the part of the reader. This jumping around I believe to be a good thing, allowing the reader to take sections or even chapters of their own interest, rather than having to read the entirety of the book (although I do recommend reading it thoroughly, thoughtfully and fully).
If I do have one suggestion for the reader, that is to come into the reading with an open mind. Nothing that Salesses mentions is harsh, or fiction (pun intended), but rather truths from a society that is structured off of white men in power, suppressing the voices of people of color. I do not believe that background information is necessary, this book is accessible to all. At the end of the book, Salesses has included a reference list of fiction that he references. Although we may not have time to read all of these suggestions, I do recommend the reader of this book to look carefully at the fiction he mentions, since they are technically ‘breaking the norm’ and are pushing on different cultural norms that Salesses pleads for writers to break. Specifically, they are meant to ‘break the readers’ mind and showcase a world without these implicit biases.
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roses are red
excellent must read for all writers and teachers of writing
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