Not long after I started work on my novel I went out and joined a local writer’s group. It was one of the scariest things I’d ever done, as that first meeting was the first time I had ever read my own words aloud in public.
But it was also the best thing I could have done. A writer’s life is a lonely one. By its very nature the act of writing requires us to spend long periods of time alone, in order for our creative process to take place.
Many of us enjoy this; I know I do. I feel very comfortable by myself, with only the dogs for company, because I can relax.
They don’t judge, the way people do.
I don’t need to mind my P’s and Q’s when they’re around.
And if they annoy me I can throw them out and they won’t hold it against me.
The down side of all this time alone is that it is easy to lose touch with reality. I have these periods of almost manic activity, when it all comes together and I write with intensity and excitement that what I am writing is good, so good… and then the next day I read over it and wonder what the heck I was thinking.
These are the bits I read out at the meetings of my Writers Group. It keeps me grounded, and gives perspective. Sometimes I get so involved with a scene that by the end of it I am entirely unable to tell if it is pure gold or a piece of old rock. The members of my Writers Group let me know.
When you’re in a Writers Group, the most important thing is to be honest in your feedback. Not nasty, of course – it is important to keep it positive, for we writers can have fragile egos, at times. But if something does not work, I need someone to tell me. The feedback I have gotten on my work from my group – an eclectic mix, to be sure – has served only to improve my writing.
You don’t have to take all the advice offered. Be discerning in what you apply, because above all, you must maintain your own voice and style. But listen to all the different opinions, for they can give you valuable insight into what your readers might think, and point out things you may have missed.
The online writing community can help, too, but don’t underestimate the worth in sitting around a table with a group of people, having a good old-fashioned conversation about the good, the bad and the ugly of creative writing.
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