Realize Your Book’s Potential: Join (or Form) a Writer’s Group
by:
Seth Mullins
It’s a long road we writers travel between our initial ideas and a fully realized novel or even a short story. Few of us possess the genius to fully flesh out every aspect – from character development and plot weaving down to the gritty details of setting and action – which is one reason why the critics can point out flaws even in books that are considered to be classics.
Every writer has his or her own areas of expertise. Consider the benefits, then, of joining forces with others who are apt to have different strengths and weaknesses than you. This is what I find appealing – and, sometimes, even essential – about writer’s groups.
The first benefit of being involved in a critique group is the simple encouragement. If you and your fellow members agree to meet, say, one evening a week – and each bring in NEW material to read – then that keeps each of you motivated to write. Completing a novel can feel like such a nebulous goal. The end could be years down the road, provided we aren’t de-railed at any point between now and then. It’s a much more feasible ambition to churn out another ten pages to read next Tuesday at your group meeting.
The input of fellow writers can be invaluable in pointing out strengths, weaknesses, and inconsistencies in our work. If you’re a novelist, then you’re probably aware of the degree of concentration that’s necessary to hold a dozen characters and as many plot layers in your mind at all times – and how easy it is to overlook smaller details in the midst of that.
Thanks to the feedback I received in my own group, I was able to identify the “shin busters” in my first novel – like when I had a single character dragging a moose across the plains, or my heroine’s eyes appearing as differently colored between chapters three and eleven. It’s best to find these problems early on before we submit our books to those less forgiving editors and agents.
For shorter works, like stories, articles and essays, the feedback we get from our group lets us know how effectively we’re communicating our basic ideas. If we can “sell” our argument to everyone in our group, we’ll be that much more likely to sell the piece to a magazine or e-zine editor.
A couple of tips for running your group smoothly: (1) Stick to a time limit for each member’s reading and response time. When one person dominates the discussion for too long it can provoke the others’ resentment. (2) Discuss only what members have WRITTEN, not what they PLAN to write. This is a critique, not a collaborative writing session. We can talk about the merits of this idea or that indefinitely, but if nothing is put down on paper then it’s really just a fancy form of procrastination. We’re here to help each other with revision, not brainstorming, and to motivate everyone to stay productive.
If you’re still not convinced about the merits of this approach to polishing your craft, then consider these two works, now both blockbuster films, which sprouted out of a single writer’s group: “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Chronicles of Narnia”.
“The Inklings”, in England, once boasted both J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis amongst its members. Lewis’ space fantasy, which began with “Out of the Silent Planet”, was the result of a gentleman’s bargain he made with Tolkien. And Tolkien acknowledged more than once in his correspondences that he would probably never have finished his own masterpiece if not for Lewis’ encouragement.
Consider that for a moment. “The Lord of the Rings” wouldn’t exist if J.R.R. Tolkien hadn’t belonged to a writer’s group.
Seth Mullins is the author of “Song of an Untamed Land”, a novel of fantasy in lawless frontier territory. Visit Seth at http://authorsden.com/sethtmullins.
This article is free for republishing
Seth Mullins is the author of "Song of an Untamed Land", a novel of speculative fantasy in lawless frontier territory. His nonfiction includes dissertations on the craft of writing, as well as the inner meanings of mythic and fantasy stories.
I love essays! I enjoy reading them, checking them, teaching my
students how to generate them, but most of all I enjoy writing them! You
want to ask why. I hope after reading my article you will understand. And
I so much believe that you will also fall in love with the incredible
world of essays. Let’s start our trip from a short background. The word
“essay” originated from French word “essai” which means “attempt, effort,
sketch”. And this translation reflects the essence of the task you are
assigned at your college. Really, it is your personal attempt to give a
challenging sketch on some engrossing issue. Unlike other academic
assignments, essay suggests freedom of your creative work. Its main
advantage is that you can write it on any topic, in any style. Essay is
your own point of view on something you have heard, read, seen etc. The
forefront of the essay is your personality, your thoughts, feelings and
your life position. You have a unique chance to enter a reasonable
controversy with other authors, as the teacher expects you to show your
erudition in the subject. However, you should remember that regardless
freedom of the writing process, it is not that easy at all. Because you
are expected to find an original and capturing idea (even in the
traditional context) and exceptional opinion on some problem.
The title of essay does not strictly depend on the essay topic: the
title can also serve as a starting point in your reflection; it can
express the relation of the whole and the parts. A free composition of
essay is subject to its inner logic, it is an emphasized position of the
author.
The style of the essay is marked by its aphoristic, paradoxical and
figurative character. To convey your personal perception of the world you
should: employ a lot of capturing examples, draw parallels, choose
analogies, use various associations. One of the characteristic features of
essay is the wide usage of numerous expressive means, such as metaphors,
parable and allegoric figures, symbols and comparisons. Your can enrich
and make your essay more interesting if you include in it: unpredictable
conclusions, unexpected turning points, interesting clutches of
events.Essay presents a dynamic interchange of author’s arguments,
supporting evidence and questions.
Be brief, but at the same time avoid absolute simplicity. No one will
like reading a monotonous narration. Completing the draft of your essay,
read it aloud, yes, aloud. You will be struck by the number of rough
details in your essay. You should get rid of them with no regret. If you
have to say something new, original and exclusive, then the genre of essay
is your genre. Be creative, free your mind and may be you will reveal a
great essayist in yourself.
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