Free Day #4: Writing Groups

You work through your rough draft, getting all of your story down to paper. You read it and reread it, checking for spelling errors, grammar issues and make sure all of it makes sense. You are confident that your work is complete and as good as it can be.

Then you face reality and submit your story to a writing group.

This is the worst moment in the process and at the same time the best experience. You get to lay your masterpiece before other writers or people who have a keen eye for detail and accuracy and have to sit back, shut up, and watch as they devour it.

Writing groups are assembled for one purpose: getting third party perspectives. This is also known as 'work-shopping.' Trust me when I say that it is very easy to think you have everything written in a way that any reader can understand what's going on and catch on to your intended moods. Easy to assume, but probably not entirely accurate.

This story is a product pulled straight from your own imagination. You already come with an understanding of what is happening. Sometimes what seems clear and obvious to you is not so for others because you left out certain 'obvious' bits of information. This can turn your hilarious scene into just a scene. It can be like telling a joke, but not building it up correctly. If you don't, the punch line just doesn't get that punch.

That's where writing groups are handy. You allow others to tell you how they see the story, how it makes them feel, and any points on grammar you may have missed.

Getting feedback will be difficult. Most of the time, someone will find something that needs work and you may feel like you have to defend yourself, explaining why you wrote it the way you did. What is important is that you refrain from responding in self defense. Answering questions is fine, but this really can undermine the purpose of the process. If they didn't catch on from your story alone, it isn't sufficient. You won't be there for every reader to explain why you made your character do something, or how they should be feeling about it.

Another thing to note is that not all feedback is correct. Someone may make a comment that something needs to be changed to something else or handled in a specific way because it just isn't working. Listen to the advice. Take note of it. When you review your notes, realize that the feedback means you might actually have a problem needing repairs. It doesn't mean what has been suggested is always the best way to solve it. The best method is to identify it and fix it they way your gut tells you.

Be aware, however, that not all feedback actually indicates a problem. Sometimes a reviewer may have a preference for certain parts of story writing, or they just do things differently than you. Write their advice down, then determine later if it is actually something you need to be concerned about. A good indicator that a problem most likely exists is when multiple reviewers mention it.

The rules of a writing group for when you submit something for review:

1. Close your mouth and take no part in the process.

2. Take notes.

3. Realize that not all feedback is an accurate solution to the problem, but can be an indicator of it.

4. Realize that some feedback may be more preference. Learn to pick and choose what needs to be repaired. If you incorporate everything, you may lose your unique writing style and it may just become a tried-and-true, bland version of your story without that special thing that makes you unique.

5. Thank those who gave you feedback. They could have just saved your book from complete failure!

The process isn't a negative one. This is all good and beneficial. Not all feedback will be critical, either. The jobs of writing group members are to check for issues, share their interpretation of mood and plot, and tell you what really works for them, what they appreciate and what excites them.

Nothing feels better than getting praise for your hard work! Well, getting paid for it would feel pretty good, too, but praise is always very nice and motivating.

The last rule is simple: Swap roles. Your writing group likely consists of more writers than just yourself. If someone else has something to offer for critiquing, help them out. You may learn a lot from seeing how someone else goes about building up a story. Things you find they were missing may open your eyes to similar problems in your own work.

I'm in a writing group. The group is named Reading Excuses and can be found online here. Earlier this week, I submitted a short story I posted on this blog (here), for some workshopping. I received excellent feedback on it and, with permission, would like to post some of what was suggested:

Mandamon said:

First off, I enjoyed this, even though it left me with more questions than answers.

Pg 1:  I'm interested already by the rain searing, and what cost it entails.

Pg 1: "dismissive" might not be the right word here?  She would be dismissive OF the pain.

Pg 2: I like that the light is playing with her.  It reminds me of a cat playing with a patch of light.

Pg 3:  While she's chasing the light around, is it still raining ?  You don't mention it, or the pain, again (edit: you mentioned it right after I wrote this).  Also, is the sun peeking through clouds?  Why is it disappearing in one spot and appearing in another?

--I think you address this point later too.  It might just be there's not enough mention of it at the start.

Does the rain make any physical mark on her?  Does she actually get burned, or is she just feeling it?

You make the sun a character as much as she is.  Does the rain have as much of a personality?  Do other objects or natural forces?  Does the sun make the wind blow, or did it talk to the wind?

I was a little confused at the end as to why a handful of gold dust would make the whole land fill with light.  Didn't her mother bring back handfuls of dust before?  Or did she bring something else?

Overall, a cool story.  I still had some questions on: why the rain hurt, what the sun was, and where the new sun came from (though I assume that was Sare, somehow).  Still, for the length of this, it works.  You never really answer any of the worldbuilding questions, but it kept my interest throughout.  There were a couple places where the sentences got a little wordy, but aside from that, well written.  I didn't have a problem with the new POV at the end, as I assume Sare isn't around any more to be one.  You could do the same thing through narration, but it wouldn't have the same connection to people like Torin and his father.

Mr. Wednesday comments:

Nice story! The main thing that concerns me is that the writing is a little vague in certain places. With something that is primarily action-based, you could probably tighten it up just a little bit in some of the ways Mandamon mentioned above. I'm really curious, is this a standalone short story or the beginning to a novel? Either way, assuming it is the very beginning of something rather than a later chapter, I would have liked a little more motivation for her actions from the beginning. I feel like it starts with a lot of action and it takes a little while before we understand what she's doing and why. 

Pg 1: I agree that "dismissive" isn't the right word in this context. Maybe "negligible"?

Pg 2: "Trying to stay in the largest patches, she soon realized it would soon disappear."  You use the word "soon" twice back-to-back and it makes the sentence a little awkward.

Pg 6: "She bore with the pain almost to the point of losing consciousness" I feel like you don't necessarily need the "with", "she bore the pain" seems a little bit more direct.

Pg 7: "Its comforting glow warmed her each time, yet she was feeling an odd emotion from it now." Going into the past progressive tense with "was feeling…now" makes this sentence a little awkward. You slip into the past progressive a lot throughout the story, and to me it gets a little murky. Also, I feel like you could be more specific about her odd emotion. What emotion is she feeling, exactly?

I kind of agree with RD about the abrupt shift in POV at the end. If this is a short story, I think it's a little dangerous to do so. I get what you were going for, I just feel like it's a bit too stark in this draft. It might work if you smooth out the transition a little bit, although I don't really have any recommendation for how you would do so.

Very cool concept overall! Keep up the good work!

So there we go. See any common trends throughout? It sounds like I need to work on my voice, for one, which is what lead me to write the post on that. It has also been pointed out several times about how the swap between point of view characters is disconcerting. One mentioned how it played a stylistic role.

All of the advice I received is excellent and priceless. I actually agree on everything that was said. On the differences of opinion, I need to weigh my options and determine if there is possibly a way to retain the stylistic effect without shaking my readers out of their immersion.

I am definitely going to continue submitting work, like all writers should. Most of what was said covered things I thought I explained, but definitely did not explain well enough, if at all. Now I know to be more careful in putting my ideas down more clearly. I even learned new techniques.

The last rule of writing groups?

Do it!