During work time, the majority of the time in a writing workshop, the spotlight is on the student. This is time dedicated to the student being actively involved in writing. Here are some possibilities for what that time looks like:

• Students quietly writing while the teacher is conferring with individuals.

• Students meeting with their peer response group to receive feedback on their work.

• Students researching, brainstorming, or studying mentors.

• Students reviewing and adding to their writer's notebook.

• Students meeting in small groups that target a specific need.

• Students meeting with a writing buddy to quietly talk about their work in progress.

• Students publishing their writing.

• Students playing around with writing exercises. Katie Wood Ray in The Writing Workshop: Working through the Hard Parts (and They're All Hard Parts), states: "Many writers 'work out' by giving themselves exercises to do. For example, Natalie Goldberg's book Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life (1990) is filled with 'Try this' exercises that she does for writing workouts: writing for ten minutes without stopping..." (pg 65)

• Staring into space. Again Katie Wood Ray reminds us: "Sometimes writers just need to think. I know this because I write, and I value the time just to sit and start....thinking."