Episode Title:
In Defense of Writing Circles Where No Feedback Is Given
Episode Description:
In this episode, Laura Davis draws on more than three decades of teaching experience to make the case for a teaching philosophy that runs counter to conventional writing workshop wisdom. Drawing from her own formative experiences as a young writer in Santa Cruz and her training with two influential mentors, Laura examines what happens in the space between reading raw new work aloud and responding to it, and why that space matters more than most writers realize.
What Laura Covers in This Episode:
The Santa Cruz laundromat flyer that led Laura to her first writing circle and her decades-long friendship with Ellen Bass
How a workshop with Natalie Goldberg introduced Laura to "writing practice" and reshaped her entire teaching approach
The specific reasons Laura believes freshly written, vulnerable work is better met with listening than critique
How praise can be just as silencing to a writer as criticism
The role comparison and internal pressure play when feedback enters a room too soon
Why "being heard" is its own form of validation, separate from commentary
A passage from Rachel Naomi Remen on the healing power of simply listening
Episode Highlights:
Laura recalls tearing a workshop flyer off a laundromat bulletin board at age 23, a small decision that changed the course of her creative life
The story of her first phone call and first living-room writing circle with a teacher who would become her lifelong collaborator
How a trip to study with Natalie Goldberg introduced Laura to a practice with no feedback at all, only the words "thank you"
Laura's reflection on the moment a single offhand comment from a fellow writer shut her down for weeks
Her explanation of why new, unshaped writing is especially vulnerable to being frozen into place too soon
A candid look at how praise, not just criticism, can quietly discourage a writer from taking creative risks
Laura's case for why writers need to build their own internal compass, independent of outside approval
The closing reflection from Rachel Naomi Remen on listening as one of the most powerful things we can offer another person
About Host Laura Davis:
Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping writers find their voices and tell their stories. She is the author of the BookLife Prize-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars and the co-author of the groundbreaking bestseller The Courage to Heal.
Laura leads writing retreats, pilgrimage programs, and weekly writing classes around the world, including trips along the Camino de Santiago, and hosts The Writer's Journey podcast and Substack publication. Her teaching draws on decades of study, including years of mentorship with Ellen Bass and training in Natalie Goldberg's writing practice method.
Resources Laura Mentions:
The Courage to Heal by Laura Davis and Ellen Bass
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories that Heal by Rachel Naomi Remen
Ellen Bass's writing workshops
Natalie Goldberg's writing practice workshops
Laura's international retreats, including programs in Bali and along the Camino de Santiago
Key Takeaways from This Episode
New, vulnerable writing is often still being decided upon by its writer in the moment it's shared, and a poorly timed response can shut that decision down.
Silence after a reading gives words room to land, for both the writer and the listeners.
Feedback offered too soon can freeze a piece into a shape before the writer has discovered what it's meant to become.
Praise, just as much as criticism, can create pressure that keeps a writer from taking creative risks.
Learning to trust one's own work, without needing outside validation, is a critical part of developing as a writer.
Episode Call-to-Action
Listeners who want to experience this style of writing practice firsthand are invited to explore Laura's upcoming retreats and weekly classes, where deep listening remains at the heart of the creative process.
Connect with Laura Davis
Substack: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/
Website: https://lauradavis.net/
Retreats: https://lauradavis.net/writing-retreats-2/
The Writer's Journey with Laura Davis is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You'll receive regular posts like these, as well as beautifully curated poems and nature photos, essays on life and the craft of writing, and more.
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Learn about Laura's writing classes, books, workshops, and international retreats at: https://lauradavis.net/
