Hello World!
On my previous entry I received a question asking if I was writing. Yes! Yes! Yes!
If you've been following this blog for long, you know that one of my earliest rants was about sharing my book with a few relatives and friends only to get zero helpful feedback (and I only exaggerate slightly.) Up until now, the hardest part of writing for me was having to go it alone. I so wanted to hear something -- especially something critical -- from a reader.
I had considered hiring an editor just to get some feedback, but the expense put me off. I'm just not that far along in my rewrite yet. To hire an editor at this point would cost me double, because I'd probably have to do it again later. Obviously my family and friends were too nice to tell me what every writer knows -- rough drafts suck. And those critique groups I knew of had offered me no invitation to join despite my pointed hints.
But an awesome thing happened as a result of the Write On the Sound (WOTS) Friday workshop. I've begun exchanging work with several other writers! Not only does practicing my editing skills on their work sharpen my ability to see glitches in my own, but they critique mine! This has been better than Christmas. Seriously.
With one fellow, I have sent two chapters and critiqued three of his. A doctor, he has been able to help me make a medical scene much more realistic. Then, my new online critique group finished our first round a couple of weeks ago. As I wrote in a summary e-mail, two of the women pointed out the descriptions they really appreciated, while the third, primarily a flash fiction writer, helped me weed thorough the rest and tighten up my chapter. Then, from one I got a three-word description of a main character that blew me away, one reminded me to consider the grittier side of gaming in my book, and one shared her hope for what might come next in the story. (Her idea was so much better than mine that I changed my story!)
I find myself on fire to write again. My muse is grabbing me and taking me on a rollercoaster ride. I love rides. And critiquing with my new on-line writer's group has helped me move forward far faster than I was able to do before -- even counting all the time I put into my critiques of their work.
As one character likes to say in my book, "Sometime, life can be very good."
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Part 2: WOTS Conference Discoveries and Amazon.com Links
Hello World!
In my last blog entry, I started telling you about the Write on the Sound Conference. I'm nowhere near finished. I learned so much.
The keynoter was Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones and other books. With a gentle voice and excellent humor she gave a wonderful talk on how she discovered who she was. As her journey continued, she started writing and discovered she liked it. She became an author.
Writing Down the Bones was 17 years in the writing (and 4 in the publishing), the result of long meditation on the writing process and the way of life. She tells people to practice, practice, practice. Translated, that means write, write, write -- even if it's sh#t. We all need to keep reminding each other to keep going. Keep our mechanism oiled and ready. If you read the comments on my last blog entry, you'll see that another writer who heard Natalie speak reminded me of that fact recently! (Thank you!)
Natalie had three main bits of wisdom for writers.
In my last blog entry, I started telling you about the Write on the Sound Conference. I'm nowhere near finished. I learned so much.
The keynoter was Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones and other books. With a gentle voice and excellent humor she gave a wonderful talk on how she discovered who she was. As her journey continued, she started writing and discovered she liked it. She became an author.
Writing Down the Bones was 17 years in the writing (and 4 in the publishing), the result of long meditation on the writing process and the way of life. She tells people to practice, practice, practice. Translated, that means write, write, write -- even if it's sh#t. We all need to keep reminding each other to keep going. Keep our mechanism oiled and ready. If you read the comments on my last blog entry, you'll see that another writer who heard Natalie speak reminded me of that fact recently! (Thank you!)
Natalie had three main bits of wisdom for writers.
- Never stop writing. Write daily, even if you have nothing to write. "It’s a deep practice," she said.
- "Don’t be tossed away," she said. Every time you're put down, after each fall, get up again. And again -- write.
- "Make positive effort for the good," she told us. As with any good habit like just picking up the toothbrush and brushing your teeth, "just pick up the pen and write."
I first heard about two other books at WOTS that interest me. One is Self Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King. Self editing is something I want to learn well. I've been an editor for others for years, but editing my own work is harder. So it's on my list, and I'll tell you more about it once I've read it. The other one -- as my writer friend reminded me in that comment I mentioned above -- is a current popular YA book called Hunger Games. She (and I) hope it will help inform the game in my own book-to-be, The Game. I have it on reserve at my public library.
If you are interested in the Amazon.com info on these books, I've added a look-up link and a display at the bottom of this page. All the books in the display are my picks -- only the books I've discussed on this blog. I'm a great supporter of the library system, but occasionally I buy books to use over and over again. If you would like to purchase these (or other) books, and do so here, I get a little kickback. Seems like a benefit all around to have the link available. Hope you don't mind.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Write On The Sound Conference (WOTS) in Edmonds Washington
Hello World!
I spent the weekend at the Write on the Sound (WOTS) Conference. I'm so glad. What an infusion of information and motivation!
On Friday afternoon, I attended a special workshop where 10 fiction writers read and shared possible edits and structural changes on each other's writing. The leader was a Community College writing professor and author. I met some good people (one from Denver, CO!) and learned quite a bit about how writers work together.
One thing that became evident is that such workshops are not a great place to take your worst writing. How do I know? Well, guess who was naive enough to do so? Yep.
We sent in 10 pages of text that was distributed to the other writers. I figured that since I had this chance, I'd send 10 pages that I was really struggling with. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Most of the writers and the leader seemed unsure what to do with my pages, though the leader intends to e-mail additional thoughts. One participant gave back little more than a statement that the writing held no interest for him/her. (I'm not sure interest should have been the deciding factor in whether or not to give feedback, but that is a different issue.)
Most people presented work in progress at a higher level of revision than mine. About half brought work that bordered on polished. One woman's work was so far along in the process that all I could really do was list the questions I would want to answer if I were able to read on. I hoped that knowing how one reader's mind worked might be helpful. Giving critique can be quite challenging!
The best result from this experience so far, aside from learning what level of work to submit and discovering the difficulty of critique, was that another writer, DIane, and I plan to work together, reading and commenting on each other's novel. I have wanted to do this with someone for over a year, so I am very excited. Hopefully, by the time Diane next encounters the 10 pages I submitted, if they are in no better shape (a false assumption, I hope), she will better understand how they fit into the story, be able to follow what is going on, and thereby share useful feedback with me. And I will get to read more of her novel, a YA story that already has captured me!
I have lots more to write about the conference, but I think I'll stop for today. I want to encourage other writers to attend a writer's conference, especially if you feel stuck and want a boost in motivation. You may also get a fresh pallet of tools to apply as well!
I spent the weekend at the Write on the Sound (WOTS) Conference. I'm so glad. What an infusion of information and motivation!
On Friday afternoon, I attended a special workshop where 10 fiction writers read and shared possible edits and structural changes on each other's writing. The leader was a Community College writing professor and author. I met some good people (one from Denver, CO!) and learned quite a bit about how writers work together.
One thing that became evident is that such workshops are not a great place to take your worst writing. How do I know? Well, guess who was naive enough to do so? Yep.
We sent in 10 pages of text that was distributed to the other writers. I figured that since I had this chance, I'd send 10 pages that I was really struggling with. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Most of the writers and the leader seemed unsure what to do with my pages, though the leader intends to e-mail additional thoughts. One participant gave back little more than a statement that the writing held no interest for him/her. (I'm not sure interest should have been the deciding factor in whether or not to give feedback, but that is a different issue.)
Most people presented work in progress at a higher level of revision than mine. About half brought work that bordered on polished. One woman's work was so far along in the process that all I could really do was list the questions I would want to answer if I were able to read on. I hoped that knowing how one reader's mind worked might be helpful. Giving critique can be quite challenging!
The best result from this experience so far, aside from learning what level of work to submit and discovering the difficulty of critique, was that another writer, DIane, and I plan to work together, reading and commenting on each other's novel. I have wanted to do this with someone for over a year, so I am very excited. Hopefully, by the time Diane next encounters the 10 pages I submitted, if they are in no better shape (a false assumption, I hope), she will better understand how they fit into the story, be able to follow what is going on, and thereby share useful feedback with me. And I will get to read more of her novel, a YA story that already has captured me!
I have lots more to write about the conference, but I think I'll stop for today. I want to encourage other writers to attend a writer's conference, especially if you feel stuck and want a boost in motivation. You may also get a fresh pallet of tools to apply as well!
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