4 Reasons Why You Should Attend a Writers' Group Zadie Smith, an award-winning British novelist, has a list of 10 rules for writers. She’s got some pretty great stuff on there, such as waiting a significant amount of time between writing and editing something or disconnecting your computer from the internet while composing your novel. (I could have written 10 novels by now if I could only exercise self-control around social media!) But I have to say that I take exception to one of the rules, which is the following: “Avoid cliques, gangs, and groups. The presence of a crowd won’t make your writing any better than it is.” Of course, cliques and gangs sound pretty terrible, but a writers’ group just doesn’t belong in the same category. These groups are, in my opinion, indispensable. Smith has published five novels and as of yet, I have published none, so you can take this with a grain of salt, but in the year I’ve been in a writers’ group, my writing has improved tremendously, and I’ve even published a couple of short stories. Here are the reasons why I believe authors should attend a writing group: 1.) Honest, Constructive Feedback: This one’s the most important, so I’ll put it first. I wrote for a number of years before ever setting foot in a writers’ group. When I wrote in a vacuum, generally one of two things happened: A) I convinced myself that I was the absolute worst writer on the planet and was always on the brink of giving up or B) I thought my writing was flawless because everything made perfect sense in my head even if it didn’t translate well on paper. Both of those scenarios were not conducive to improvement. When you attend a writers’ group, you’ll hear things like, “Where’s the dialogue?” or “This part confused me” or “You use that word A LOT.” But you’ll also hear things like, “That was heartbreaking/beautiful/hilarious” or “I really relate to your character” or “Your description made me feel like I was there.” You’ll be able to understand how other people who are not inside your head see your story, and it’s an eye-opening experience. Sometimes it’s hard to even catch your typos after you’ve read your own work over and over, so you can make tons of improvements with the help of a dozen or so pairs of extra eyes. 2.) Support System: Writing can be fairly isolating. We have this romanticized notion that tortured, lonely authors are the best ones. This is probably because there were a number of tortured, lonely authors who produced high caliber work—Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, J.D. Salinger, etc. But really, there’s no reason why you can’t be a fantastic author and also have healthy levels of social interaction. It’s nice to know that you aren’t the only one trying to bang out a novel idea that has been haunting you for years. In short, you make friends, and really, who couldn’t use more friends? 3.) Networking A writers’ group puts you in contact with a lot of talented people. Not only can they help you hone your writing skills, they can give you the heads up about submission calls, help organize public readings, or share contacts in the publishing industry. Your writing should be stellar, of course, but having connections just helps you get your work where someone will actually see it. Any profession requires you to network, and writing is no exception. 4.) Accountability
Seven years ago, I interviewed Kirk Farber, author of Postcards from a Dead Girl. Farber has been very vocal about the fact that he owes a lot of his success to his former writing group in Wisconsin. When I asked him about how they contributed to his accomplishments, he said, “Being able to show up every two weeks knowing I’d get honest feedback really kept me on task.” Writers’ groups keep you accountable, and I can tell you from experience that when you show up at your meetings, you know you’ll be expected to read something or your group members will hassle you (in the friendliest way). This conversation with Kirk Farber has stuck with me all these years, so when I finally started to get serious about writing, I sought out my own writers' group. I have no regrets, and I can honestly say that “the presence of a crowd” has made my writing better. * Contributing Blogger: Miranda González got her writing start in corporate blogging but soon realized her true passion was writing weird short stories. She left her job as social media manager and content writer to teach college English online and focus her creative energy on writing fiction. A year later, two of her short stories were published in the Winter 2017 Issue of the GNU Journal. She continues to churn out short fiction while her husband and three kids are asleep, with only the nocturnal Texas geckos catching bugs on her window to keep her company. You can find her on Twitter here: @miranda_write.
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Okay. Blog post. Let’s do this. The laptop’s fired up. My text editor of choice is ready to go. And my generic brand diet soda is at the ready.
Blog post. Blog. Post. Bloggy blog, blog, blog. Sigh. If you’re a writer, or if you only dream of “joining the club” and haven’t yet put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, you’re familiar with writer’s block. That dreaded, intangible entity that prevents you from pushing that Next Big Thing out of your brain like salty red fries from a Play-Doh factory. If you’re not familiar with this and writing comes easily to you every time, feel free to briefly switch to another tab so my burning jealousy doesn’t melt your screen. Sometimes writer’s block decides to put in a little extra effort, and it digs a moat around your Castle of Future Fame and Accomplishment by slipping your brain a handy list of reasons to not even bother with sitting in front of the computer. You’ve had a long day at work, and you deserve to stop brain-ing for the evening. You’d sit to write, but the household chores have piled up and you really ought to get to those. Or maybe you’re just wondering whether or not that guy in the new Marvel series is the guy from Downton Abbey (spoiler alert: he is). I struggle with this daily. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that I don’t struggle with it, and I tend to simply roll over and play dead while my archenemy happily sets fire to my productivity before it’s even had a chance to be born. That’s not melodrama, by the way—procrastination and writer’s block are standing directly in the path of one of the single deepest desires of my heart. If it were a person intentionally preventing me from achieving that which I desire most to achieve in my lifetime, archenemy would sound a little less ridiculous, wouldn’t it? This is serious business. And it has to stop. But how? There are countless blogs and articles and musings online and in print to help you tackle this exact problem. But I’ve got my own take on the matter. I can sum up the approach in two simple words. Stop it. Not the writing, wise guy, I’m specifically referring to the not writing. You know all those valid-sounding reasons you do something else instead of writing? It’s garbage. I’m not saying that your kids don’t need you to pack their lunches for tomorrow or that you haven’t had a hard day working a full-time job. I’m not saying that those other things aren’t important or valuable. I’m saying that you doing those things in place of your passion is garbage. If you leave this post with nothing else holding onto the space in your brain between amusing movie quotes and a craving for ice cream, please hold onto this: If something is important to you, you will make time in your life for it. This goes for everything of value in your life. Your job. Your family. Your writing. I tend to be worn out by the time I am free to write. I can finally set my full-time job aside for the day, the kids are in bed, and the house is good enough to last until tomorrow. Do I want to write? Well… I want to say that I wrote, but I also want to blah with video games or Netflix. BFF, thy name is Instant Gratification. Tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow. But this is garbage! One day leads to the next, which leads to the next, and if you don’t stop the insanity, nothing changes. Listen to your buddy Daron on this. I know what I’m talking about. Are you hopelessly addicted to the Internet? Disconnect from your internet connection so you can focus a while. Are your eyes glued to your phone? Set it on the counter somewhere. If you have to be available for calls or texts, leave your ringer on so you’ll hear it if it happens. But get it out of your hand and out of reach. Do you have kids crawling over you constantly? See about getting your significant other or a friend or a babysitter to watch the kiddos, if only for a small writing break. I know it’s not easy and I understand the guilt or the fear that comes with leaning on other folks to pursue what is a desperate goal for you and sometimes viewed as non-essential by others. They may not understand, but I get it. I’m one of you. You’re one of us. But ask anyway. You may find them more willing or available than you think. The point is that if you don’t try to do what you can, then you’ve already given up. And you mustn’t ever, ever give up on this. I’m only saying this because I love you. Because I want to read what you’ve written. I want to see what you’ve created, and shower praise upon you not only for your brilliance and creativity but also because I know how damned hard it can be to make it happen. You’ve got this. Now close your browser and get going. * Contributing Blogger: Daron Shrode is an American author, who lives in San Antonio with his wife and daughters. He considers himself a fan of creativity in all its various forms, and he enjoys exploring it from multiple angles – from writing fiction, to composing and performing music, to software development. He may be reached at the following links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/DaronShrode Facebook Writer’s page: www.facebook.com/AuthorDaronShrode Website: www.daronshrode.wordpress.com Calling all San Antonio Writers
Writers. Now is the time to exercise those nimble fingers to ensure they’re ready for all the typing ahead of you. Wednesday, June 28th is a day you'll want to mark on your calendars. It's the official date for the Virtual Pitch Fest with Soul Mate Publishing Editors. Some editors will be on location; whereas, others will be remote. So, that novel you've been working on . . . the one collecting dust on a shelf, under your bed, in a box in the garage, or simply housed in a lonely folder on your computer . . . well, now's the time to pull it out and rework it. Make that baby shine. To join the pitch fest, you'll need these items: (1) a pitch (10 words or less) (2) blurb (25 to 40 words) (3) synopsis (2 - 4 pages) (4) three sample chapters ready to email upon request (5) a completed manuscript that’s polished and ready to email upon request The pitch fest will be held at the San Antonio Public Library on Wednesday, June 28th, 2017: Location: Tobin Branch Library (Meeting Room) Address: 4134 Harry Wurzbach, SAT 78209 Time: TBA For a listing of what the house is seeking, as well as what each editor is looking for, visit Soul Mate Publishing. If you have any questions or comments for the Tobin Writers’ Group, please send them using the contact form. |
The San Antonio Tobin Library Writers' Group is open to writers of all genres, any age, and all levels of experience. ArchivesCategories |