Sep 28 2008
Are You Writing Today?
You dream about writing The Great American Novel–or The Great English Novel, or Australian, or Dutch, or wherever you’re from. I understand that.
You dream about the day you will see the cover of the novel you wrote just before it goes into print. And the day you receive your first check. I hear you.
And more than anything, I hear the disappointment and pain that you’ve gone through from writing a lot of fiction for a very long time… and maybe you’re not selling it. Or maybe you aren’t even sure what to write, anymore.
You can get somewhere, and I want to help. I can’t publish your work, or solve all your writing problems, but we can talk about what markets are making money, and even solve some Grammar Grief that’s been keeping you in the rejection pile. I write. You write. We love books, and we love writing.
And, um, you can take critique, right? Here’s your first assignment: you have to join a regular critique group, or at least find an experienced writer or editor who is going to read your work REGULARLY. And you’re going to read other writers’ work REGULARLY.
I’m in a group that meets every Saturday at 10 a.m. I have to post as much as 3,000 words every week by midnight on Tuesday. Check out Meetup.com, or ask in writing forums, or start your own group. It’s The Greatest Criticism You’ll Ever Love. See you tomorrow.
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All writer’s need to do– just what you suggested. Not only unpublished writers, but even those who have published.
I have belonged to three writers’ groups. Not all three have had a huge impact on my writing. A group that meets only once a month really doesn’t get you the feedback that you will get in a weekly group, plus weekly meetings are more conducive to attracting serious writers, with serious aspirations.
Second, the critiquing of your writing and others, teaches more than can ever be learned from a book, or even a class.
Great pointers, thanks, Msp