I have a personal blog myself, although it's more for one specific aspect of my life rather than a general sharing of thoughts or writing, but I feel like I benefit more from workshopping in class than I do blogging. I do, in fact, enjoy our blogging assignments- I feel like they are a great opportunity to share and get to know each other a bit beyond class- but I think the things I learned during our workshopping sessions are what I'll remember most and take with me after the semester is over. That enviornment, one of sharing and bouncing around ideas and giving and taking criticism, was a new one for me. It's something that I found I enjoy quite a bit whether we were going over my work or a classmate's. Just looking at stories closley and offering feedback that meant something to someone- I'm pointing this part out because it's differnet than reading a peice from the text and discussing it- just got my own imagination going and made me feel like writing.
I'm not sure I would have gotten that from comments on a blog. The in-person environment seemed more interactive and provides, I feel, more opportunites for several thoughts in quick sucession rather than just reading text/comments online. Workshopping creates a more fluid discussion that I think promotes more creative thinking. However, I don't hate the idea of blogging at all, as some understandably do- it's just not for them. I feel like sharing online could create a wonderful network of support and feedback, but I don't think it trumps the atomoshpere of in-class workshopping.
Thanks for this and, gee, you get up early!
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