From Davie to Cozumel via Sioux City: Lessons from the Trenches

After three and a half weeks of studying nonfiction, my students and I finally had our first workshop. I'm happy to report it was a success, and full of useful lessons.
The first three pieces workshopped all had a strong sense of place at their center. Yazmin wrote about a trip to Cozumel, Chip wrote about his family's yearly trek to Sioux City, Iowa for Christmas, and Michael wrote about Davie, a South Florida suburb. Each of these places is pretty challenging, in the sense that they are...