Recent Scribbling.

It's been a good month for writing.

Not only have I submitted four stories in the past two weeks, but I have started another story and written an article. This week I was commissioned to write another couple of articles which will be published shortly.

I love writing, when I can manage to make the time. And I wish I had more time in which to sit and focus my energies on getting words on the screen. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be a full time writer? Maybe not for everyone, but it's what I desire and should I win the lottery I think that's what would happen. Of course winning the lottery would actually require a great deal of luck; even more since I so rarely buy a ticket. But I can dream.

Writing these articles takes a great deal of research. A lot of time spent looking at documents, chasing links and leads, and formulating clear, concise paragraphs that are easy to follow. My feedback from editors suggest I succeed at delivering on this.

My fiction writing is improving as well. I plan on selling four or five stories by the end of the year. My Sherlock Holmes story is due for release in a couple of months, and I think I have another story out by Christmas. All I need is the confirmation and I'll be able to share those details with you.

It's time I found a writing group here in Lincoln. I need to mix with other writers. But finding the right group for you can be tricky. Ideally it should include writers at a similar and higher level than yourself. I've been in groups consisting of only beginner writers, and it was of little benefit to me. They don't have the experience and skills to critique your work as required. A mix is ideal, with new writers and some old hands.

I'll start looking around soon, see what's happening. There should be a group that meets my needs. After all, this is a university city. Surely there are fellow writers geeks.

It Never Stops.

In my last post, last Sunday, I questioned whether I'd ever be able to find the elusive 'X-factor' that pushes a story head and shoulders above the others.

A couple of hours after writing that, I went to SuperNOVA, my writers' group. I had submitted a story for crit, and was rather looking forward to it. Nobody savaged my story, most people seemed to like aspects of it, and everyone had advice that was pretty good.

But one of my fellow writers, who has previously read slush for a well know magazine, suddenly said "This is a good story. One that I would have pushed up to my editor. But not one that would have excited me enough to text him straight away." (or words to that effect.)

Had she been reading my blog? She did a pretty good job of explaining to me where the story was lacking, along with the others, and the scales fell from my eyes. I could actually see what they were saying, and damn them, they were right.

It never stops, this learning thing, does it?

Now to rewrite the story with what I've learned.

Say It With Kindness.

Offering your stories up for crit can be scary, although it doesn't worry me anywhere near as much as it used to. The first time I gave over a story for others to comment on is one of the most terrifying things I've ever done. Of course it didn't help that Sean Williams was in the group.

I've just sent off my latest story for a bunch of other writers to look at. There is, of course, the hope that nice things will be said and the nervous anticipation that they will think it's awful and you can't write and why the heck are you in this writers' group at all. 

None of us like to be told our work is dreadful. All of us secretly want to be praised. Mostly these days all I want is honesty. Fair critiquing and comments on how I can improve my story. Ideas on how I can develop as a writer. Signposting of weak areas in my work.

But whatever you say, please be kind. 

A Learning Process.

I had my first session with Tracy Hickman last week. I signed up for his Scribe's Forge course, as I'd previously threatened to do, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We had a 90 minute webinar, where he taught us via webcam, and we responded and asked questions by typing as we looked up pages in a workbook.

Obviously a face-to-face workshop would be better - it would certainly suit my learning style, but I'm limited here in Australia.

I've written on the dearth of Spec-Fic workshops in the local scence before. Writers Victoria runs them from time to time, and I've recently completed a good Jack Dann course there. I also did a two day workshop with Sean Williams a few years ago, and I spent three months being mentored by Paul Haines.

Most of these, however, were based on critting each others work and developing our own stories. The Tracy Hickman workshop is based around some writing theory and method, and this is something I've longed for.

Already it's given me better ideas on how to construct stories and characters, and that's only after the first session.

It's all learning, and that's something I continue to do. I look back at stories that I wrote even just a year ago, and can see how I could have improved them. I analyse elements of short stories I read, and see what works and what doesn't. But mostly I try to apply what I've learnt to my new writing.

I always learn a lot as I go. But a course or two in the basics never goes astray.

Pops Off The Page.

As an English teacher, I see a lot of student work. Not just writing, but work from other subject areas that tend to be displayed around the school - especially work from the creative fields.

I see their artwork, sculptures, photography, design items, dressmaking and sometimes their cooking. I see (and hear)  their musical and dramatic performances, and even hear their (often faltering and occasionally  amusing) attempts in German.

Last week I visited a gallery of students' photography. I was impressed by a number of pieces, but as I left I realised there were a couple of photos that stood out way above the rest. Photos that very obiously had a certain something. Not just good, but artistic. The difference between a person who takes photos and an artist. And this is something I see in my students' writing all the time. One or two pieces of writing that 'pops off the page'. The narrative may be immature, the grammar or spelling weak,  but I can see something there that draws me in.

I see it in other writers' work as well. And I see some writers who can barely string a sentence together.

Why are we so unaware of our own abilities? I know I waver (and sometimes swing wildly) between thinking I can write and then (usually after reading someone else's brilliant work) thinking my words are illiterate ramblings.

Maybe this is why, as writers, we need external endorsement and validation. Awards nominations, sales, a kind and encouraging word from a peer (or better yet from someone we look up to), and even positive feedback in a rejection slip.

I have some idea of my strengths in my writing. I'm also developing a discernment, an understanding of areas in which I need to develop. And I continue to work at improving all areas of my fiction.

And it is improving. I have external benchmarks that assure me of this. If only I had more time to write more frequently.

We wait.

I've had a good week's writing.

I finished my short story for the Jack Dann writing course I'm currently attending. I wrote it for the course when we first started, and had plans last week to write a second draft, but I just didn't have time. In the end I glanced over it, changed a couple of words and subbed it. Of course there's part of me that is looking forward to the critiquing, and a part of me that's completely terrified by the prospect.

When I was in Sri Lanka in January, I had a short story idea which I duly wrote down in my notebook. It was a basic premise, and needed a lot more to be developed before it was story-worthy.  Last week I realised that the premise fit an anthology to which I had hoped to submit. Of course the deadline was approaching faster than I'd thought, and so I had to work hard to get the story up and running. I still didn't know where it was going to go - even as I wrote the first three hundred words. And then a beautiful thing happened. As I kept writing, the whole plot and narrative fell into place.

I was able to turn out a clean first draft and send it to my writing buddy, David McDonald, for an emergency crit. I literally sent it seconds after I wrote the final word and hadn't reviewed any of the story myself.  David kindly read the story for me, making notes, and sent it straight back. From there I reworked parts of the story, tightened other aspects and subbed it with an hour to spare on the deadline.

Usually I leave stories for a while so I can go back in with a fresh mind and viewpoint and see all the little problems you don't notice when you're too close to it.

I just hope this story is as good as I believe it to be.

But now it's subbed and the market usually has a quick turnaround. I'm also waiting on news about a bunch of other stories that are out at the moment. I anticipate hearing on most of these in the next week or so.

And for now we just wait, wait, wait.

In Which Doris Gets Her Oats.

Phase one of the Jack Dann workshop at Writers Victoria kicked off yesterday morning.

There was a wide range of experience amongst the attendees, from those who may have scribbled down the occasional paragraph and have a few ideas, to those who have a publication history. It was great to see Gitte Christensen again and to trade tips, ideas and war stories with her.

It took me back to when I was starting out, three or so years ago. I'd written two quick, short stories - just to see if I could write, and then had no idea what to do with them. I signed up for a Sean Williams workshop with no real idea of what to expect. We had to sub 1,000 word sample to Sean, which in my naivety I presumed was only so Sean could see what our writing was like. I had absolutely no idea about manuscript formatting. And, I had absolutely no idea our work would be critiqued.

I was embarrassed by my writing, and very, very reticent to show it to anyone.

Yesterday, it was interesting to see those who are just starting to write. Some of the attendees were unsure of even how to start that first paragraph, and a couple seemed to find 5,000 words over the next month or so a little daunting. Me, I'll knock out something and sub it without too much worry, and look forward to the critiquing.

I must admit after the Sean Williams workshop, it took me a long time to find critters I could trust. I was confused by the range of comments, some from clearly inexperienced writers. I rewrote that story, trying to incorporate all the ideas - only to discover that I'd sucked all the life and soul from it. I threw that out and returned to the previous draft.

It's about discernment. By all means, listen to all critters - realising they are all potential readers, but also understanding that inexperience and enthusiasm may limit their critique value. Select carefully the comments you pay heed to, and then decide whether, and how, to incorporate any changes.

And it's always valuable to have critters who are either at a similar level to yourself, or somewhere you want to be. After all, I have a much better understanding of what makes a good story than I had three years ago.

Critters And Varmints.

Critiquing is a weird kind of thing for me. My first experience with having someone critique my writing wasn't too good, and I'm afraid it put me off critting for a long time.

I was at a workshop, and although people generally liked my story, there were lots of comments made about how the story could be improved. The biggest problem was probably me - as a newbie I didn't have the experience to discern which comments I should pay attention to, and which I should ignore. And so I tried to change everything that had been suggested. I did it, and then I realised I'd torn the soul out of the story and I went back to my earlier draft and revised it according to what I thought.

But fortunately I've grown through that, and now have a few regular readers and critters.

Firstly, it's your story. Pay attention to the readers and critters, but ultimately the story needs to be in your voice and you have to decide which, if any, changes you make.

Secondly, you have to find people you trust. I've had critters tell me things that were just complete nonsense.

Thirdly, some of your critters need to be peers, or writers that are more advanced than you. You need people to pull you up, experienced writers that know where problems lie in your writing, and how they can be solved. I've got some readers who can tell me the story doesn't quite work for them, but can't explain why. Be aware that readers (who are not writers) may well reflect your final reading audience, and so if they can't understand something then perhaps it's confusing for others too.

Fourthly, be prepared to crit in return.  Now this is where I always have a problem until I get to know the other writer.  How harsh do they want me to be? How pedantic? Some people get offended by comments that could be perceived as negative. I even saw a request for critting recently that said they didn't want any negative comments as they've had enough of those already and just wanted people who would tell him which parts were good. Hmmm - can't see that being much help.

But mostly, at least consider the crits. Be open to them. There's a reason comments are being made.  I had someone crit a story for me last week, and told me I needed to lose the first three paragraphs. I resisted for a while, and then  finally relented and cut them. And damn that varmint's eyes, the story improved dramatically.

Keep an eye out for that story - it should be available soon. More information when I can confirm it.

It's The Same Old Story... Or Is It?.

A while ago I wrote a story that I really liked. A few other people really liked it too.  I sent it out, and it received great comments, but no one picked it up. I was told it was well written, but basically lacked action. The protagonist is passive.

Which is true - he is. And that was how I wanted the story to be. Paul Haines, under the mentorship program sponsored by the Australian Horror Writer Association, has been workshopping it with me.  He's given me some fantastic feedback on the story and has caused my thoughts and ideas to head off in areas I hadn't considered.

And so now I'm rewriting parts of the story, introducing a new character, and just trying to tighten the thing right up.

But all this is flowing over into the story I'm currently writing. I've started applying these thoughts over there as well, and it's making for a much better story.

I've never been overly fond of critique groups - my minimal experience with them hasn't been great - but I definitely see the value in having readers who know what they are talking about. And I've been fortunate enough to build up a couple of them.  I just need them to get a little harsher with me.