Monday 25 October 2010

Writing Groups 25th October 2010.

Sometimes involvement with a writing group can really help a novice or new author. Sometimes they can really hinder them as well; if the group is really good it can do both at the same time.

I have a case in point. I am just finalising a manuscript, doing the last little touches to the formatting and creating the various output files, and double checking the cover and the blurb for any last minute changes or touch ups before release in the first week of next month.

In this case the touch ups to the cover need checking as we had to ‘clone’ out a telegraph pole and wires from the background image on the cover to get the period detail right. The more important one to check is the blurb, never the easiest thing for any writer to produce.

But I digress; it’s the writing group’s influences that struck me, especially as I was part of the same writing group, and a vocal contributor of some of the constructive criticism given to this author. It’s interesting now to see the effect some of that criticism has had, now I’ve actually got the final manuscript in my hand, and the book is about ready to come out.

I remember our editor commenting on this particular book, it had no point of view errors, some grammatical stuff but not a lot wrong with it. This, no disrespect to the author here, is almost certainly down to the influence of the writing group. This particular writing group was absolutely white hot on the subject, even to the point of, at times an almost line by line scrutiny of the section being read to ensure no tiny point of view error crept in.

Score one for the positive side.

Similarly, the group was very clear in its criticism on tense, not allowing cross over from past to present etc, and pace, keeping the story moving and not getting bogged down in detail narrative. The dialogue in particular is sparkling and shows a lot of polish.

Score another for the positives.

Unfortunately the group had a downside too. One prominent member kept up the siren cry, don’t write something too long – no-one publishes anything much over 70,000 words these days so cut, cut and cut again. This particular book came down from nearly 120,000 words to just over 88,000 in its finished version.

While I agree it can be very important not to get bogged down and introduce too many sub-plots or unnecessary scenes, particularly when they don’t move the story along, but sometimes cutting too hard artificially raises the pace.

Honours even here I think.

A writing group is a microcosm of society as a whole – a disparate group of people with different, and different levels of ability. They may all like to write, and I wouldn’t discourage anyone from writing, but you have to learn when to take advice from some members and when to smile and ignore the advice. I will hasten to add, this was the writing group that got me started, and without advice from them, I probably wouldn’t have had my first book published. You have to learn to filter out the good from the bad, not what you want to hear from what you don’t. Most of the good advice will fall into the latter category.

Score one for the negatives.

I’ve been at writing group where they read out their work, but no-one is allowed to comment. I was engaged to give them an hour’s workshop on point of view, and didn’t want to be churlish and walk out at the break. I was utterly amazed when the second half of the session went that way. I seriously had to bite my tongue. I checked with the secretary of the group afterwards – and yes, that’s the way they work. No criticism of any type. What they got from group membership is thus beyond me.

Score another for the negatives.

Another constant comment from the group was on the use of dialect. At least one member of the group was adamant that the dialogue should be in the correct dialect for the period and location, while others argued to use a smattering of dialect to flavour, but leave the dialog understandable for everyone.

Honours even again.

Have I reached a conclusion?

Yes, I think I probably have. Writing groups can help, but they are not the final arbiters of your success as an author. Fortunately for all of us, it’s the reading public who will decide your popularity, or otherwise in the end. One of my favourite coaching books has a great line as a chapter heading. “Don’t take your best work to a writing group.” It goes on to say “If you must belong to a group, take your mistakes there instead.”

I kind of like that.

2 comments:

  1. You also have to hang onto your gut instinct as well. I don't really like group work so much because I see people stifling other's inner voices in their rush to give helpful advice, because they feel that they need to have an input.

    I do like to take advice, but I find I hear very little that I haven't heard before. Instead, I will listen to the advice and discard 90% of what I hear, but that is usually because I either have a clear idea of where I want to go, or, the person has not read the entirety of the piece and doesn't get a particular aspect of the plot.

    And in the end, writing is a solo sport.

    Cheers,

    Grant

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  2. Writing is a solitary venture and writing groups give us a bit of comradary we need in the beginning. As a new writer, you'll get pushes to "write the next chapter" and advise on commas and POV and such. It can make the difference in giving up or getting that first novel finished.

    Beyond that, the writer needs to listen to their own voice and tell their tale, their way. Too many rules, too many fingers in the pie and it falls apart. The writer then feels as if they've failed when, instead, the only real failure was to plod when you have to have the courage to fly

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