--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My notion of a failed writing workshop is…" description: "\"My notion of a failed writing workshop is when everybody comes out replicating the teacher and imitating as closely as possible the great original at t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/nicholas-delbanco-61106_creativity_my-notion-of-a-failed-writing-workshop-i_1648351.jpg" --- # My notion of a failed writing workshop is when everybody… ![“My notion of a failed writing workshop is when everybody comes out replicating the teacher and imitating as closely as possible the great original at the head of the table. I think that's a mistake, in obvious opposition to the ideal of teaching which permits a student to be someone other than the…” quote by Nicholas Delbanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/nicholas-delbanco-61106_creativity_my-notion-of-a-failed-writing-workshop-i_1648351.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/nicholas-delbanco-61106_creativity_my-notion-of-a-failed-writing-workshop-i_1648351.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/nicholas-delbanco-61106_creativity_my-notion-of-a-failed-writing-workshop-i_1648351.jpg) > “My notion of a failed writing workshop is when everybody comes out replicating the teacher and imitating as closely as possible the great original at the head of the table. I think that's a mistake, in obvious opposition to the ideal of teaching which permits a student to be someone other than the teacher. ... The successful teacher has to make each of the students a different product rather than the same.” [Nicholas Delbanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-delbanco/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocates for teaching that fosters individual creativity rather than imitation of a single model. **In simple terms:** Teach students to become unique, not copies. Key Takeaway Encourage originality. Themes education creativity individuality learning Mood inspirational thought‑provoking Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - classroom - writing workshops - mentor programs Key Concepts pedagogy innovation Questions to Reflect On - How can teachers support uniqueness without losing standards? - What methods nurture diverse expression? A Different Perspective Balancing guidance with freedom can be challenging for some learners. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Failed Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failed-writing-629830/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Ideals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideals/) [Imitating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imitating/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Notion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notion/) [Obvious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obvious/) [Opposition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposition/) [Originals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/originals/) [Permit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/permit/) [Products](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/products/) [Replicating Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/replicating-teacher-629831/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Tables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tables/) [Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher/) [Teacher Imitating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher-imitating-340513/) [Teacher Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher-make-629832/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Workshops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/workshops/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing workshop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-workshop/) ## Related quotes > [Schools teach you to imitate. If you don't imitate what the teacher wants you get a bad grade. Here, in college, it was more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/schools-teach-you-to-imitate-if-you-don-t-imitate-what-the-teacher/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“Schools teach you to imitate. If you don�t imitate what the teacher wants you get a bad grade. Here, in college, it was more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/schools-teach-you-to-imitate-if-you-don-t-imitate-what-the-teacher-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“As a result of his experiments he concluded that imitation was a real evil that had to be broken before real rhetoric teaching could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/as-a-result-of-his-experiments-he-concluded-that-imitation-was-a-real/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Teacher who make Physics boring are criminals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lewin/teacher-who-make-physics-boring-are-criminals/) [Walter Lewin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lewin/) > [The teacher should make a concerted effort never to lose his temper in the presence of the class. If a man, he may take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lyon-phelps/the-teacher-should-make-a-concerted-effort-never-to-lose-his-temper/) [William Lyon Phelps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lyon-phelps/) > [You don’t become a teacher to make a world of money. You become a teacher to make a world of difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-blow/you-don-t-become-a-teacher-to-make-a-world-of-money-you-become-a/) [Charles M. Blow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-blow/) > [Another obligation that I have as a teacher is to make available to students a range of options and devices and approaches, rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leni-zumas/another-obligation-that-i-have-as-a-teacher-is-to-make-available-to/) [Leni Zumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leni-zumas/) > [Love is that one teacher that can make you touch the skies. It's also that teacher that can bring you down and keep you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adnan/love-is-that-one-teacher-that-can-make-you-touch-the-skies-it-s-also/) [Adnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adnan/) > [“What, then, are some of the shifts that have happened in our understanding of the composing process that make a focus on digital writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/troy-hicks/what-then-are-some-of-the-shifts-that-have-happened-in-our/) [Troy Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/troy-hicks/) > [I did not go to any creative writing workshop; I did not major in literature. If I can write, anyone can write. All it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikas-swarup/i-did-not-go-to-any-creative-writing-workshop-i-did-not-major-in/) [Vikas Swarup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikas-swarup/) > [“I’ve always thought that a close-reading course should at least be a companion, if not an alternative, to the writing workshop. Though it also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-prose/i-ve-always-thought-that-a-close-reading-course-should-at-least-be-a/) [Francine Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-prose/) > [Someone from the Internet Writing Workshop sent me a link to the Gender Genie, where you paste in a section of text and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-barry/someone-from-the-internet-writing-workshop-sent-me-a-link-to-the/) [Max Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-barry/) > [The comments you'll get from a filmmaker about your performance are going to be very different. My writing workshop is about mixing it up,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/the-comments-you-ll-get-from-a-filmmaker-about-your-performance-are/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [You don't teach information in a writing workshop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-don-t-teach-information-in-a-writing-workshop/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A creative writing workshop will contain students whose ambitions and abilities, whose conceptions of literature itself, are so diverse that what they have in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-creative-writing-workshop-will-contain-students-whose-ambitions-and/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) ## More by Nicholas Delbanco > [The writer gleans wind scraps; he listens wherever he can. Each day is full of instances; what counts, as with all stimuli, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-delbanco/the-writer-gleans-wind-scraps-he-listens-wherever-he-can-each-day-is/) [Nicholas Delbanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-delbanco/) > [“By the age of four one has experienced nearly everything one needs to be a writer of fiction; love, pain, loss, boredom, rage, guilt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-delbanco/by-the-age-of-four-one-has-experienced-nearly-everything-one-needs-to/) [Nicholas Delbanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-delbanco/) > [Fiction is a web of lies that attempts to entangle the truth. And autobiography may well be the reverse: data tricked up and rearranged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-delbanco/fiction-is-a-web-of-lies-that-attempts-to-entangle-the-truth-and/) [Nicholas Delbanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-delbanco/) > [Jesmyn Ward returns to the world of her first two books, but here in the mode of non-fiction. A clear-eyed witness to the harrowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-delbanco/jesmyn-ward-returns-to-the-world-of-her-first-two-books-but-here-in/) [Nicholas Delbanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-delbanco/) [Explore all 5 Nicholas Delbanco quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-delbanco/) ## More Creativity quotes > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“The Soviet “creative intelligentsia” - that is, people accustomed to thinking one thing, saying another and doing a third - is as a whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-amalrik/the-soviet-creative-intelligentsia-that-is-people-accustomed-to/) [Andrei Amalrik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-amalrik/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [You don't get lucky. You create lucky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/you-don-t-get-lucky-you-create-lucky/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [“You are the end of beauty and creativity one must have created so far.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/you-are-the-end-of-beauty-and-creativity-one-must-have-created-so-far/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“I believe in magic. As a writer, I create them on blank paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonnia-kemmer/i-believe-in-magic-as-a-writer-i-create-them-on-blank-paper/) [Sonnia Kemmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonnia-kemmer/) > [Creativity is like chasing chickens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-niemann/creativity-is-like-chasing-chickens/) [Christoph Niemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-niemann/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. It's a time when you really get to do what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-landecker/you-always-hear-actors-say-theater-is-my-first-love-and-it-is-it-s-a/) [Amy Landecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-landecker/) > [Create an environment for people to fail, to learn, and to grow. Their creativity and productivity will increase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/create-an-environment-for-people-to-fail-to-learn-and-to-grow-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 13,625 Creativity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My notion of a failed writing workshop is when everybody comes out replicating the teacher and imitating as closely as possible the great original at the head of the table. 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