To critique or not to critique, that is the question; Mara's view

I'm going to weigh in on the side that says critique partners or critique groups are very important if a writer is going to grow their craft. Without the advice, support and help offered by my critique partner I would never have been published by Harlequin. 

The main thing my critique group does for me is to keep me accountable to keep writing in a very busy world where distractions are rampant. When we meet there's an expectation that everyone will bring something new and three weeks goes by very quickly. 

If I'm not sure what I'm going to write next, then I can bounce ideas off of the group. Brainstorming is very helpful exercise at different points in the evolution of the story. Yeah, you can brainstorm on your own but your critique group has heard your story, and they are aware of nuances, and subplots-ideas that are already woven into your creative process that you may not have brought full circle or fleshed out enough.  

 

The third most important thing my critique group does for me is give me an opportunity to read my story aloud. Some authors say that they read most of their novel aloud to themselves. I challenge that technique. It's just not the same to read your work in progress in the safety of your office. Put it out there--if putting your work out in public is the goal. Make sure that you read it aloud for an audience. There's no better way to discover the rough spots, the flaws, and to enjoy those golden moments when you’ve really nailed it. 

 

And the last reason to join a group to group is the exchange of information. There's so much information out there about writing and publishing that one the writer can't possibly absorb it all, but a group of writers can share pertinent information and bounce ideas for marketing, and publishing, blogs, and all the other new widgets available. You can share articles and even ‘assign’ writing exercises so everyone grows in their craft.

 

Some people get a negative taste of critique and they want to quit. Believe me, I understand. I've been there. I've thought that a piece of writing was something amazing and polished, and I've been seriously hurt by feedback that pointed out the many flaws. Writing is intensely personal and it can feel like someone is reaching deep inside of you guts, wrenching them out, and leaving you bleeding on the floor.

Get over it. 

Writing is like exercising or anything that you practice on a regular basis. If there's no pain at all, there's typically no gain. If you're already a perfect writer then definitely don’t go for a critique group.

 

And don't forget the wine and comradery that should always be available at your critique group. Gripe, commiserate, share your dreams and goals, and always help each other. Be as positive as you can, keeping the other writer’s goals in mind when you are giving them feedback. Serious writers who really want to sell might need more constructive, deeper criticism while someone writing memoirs wouldn't need much. And now my friends feel free to offer your own critique . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

To learn, or not to learn, that is the question.

Some friends and I attended the Texas Writers Conference event on Monday night at Schreiner University.  The keynote speaker was Bret Anthony Johnston, who is from Corpus Christi but is currently the director of creative writing at Harvard University.  Bret read for us and took questions.  He was funny and charming and complimentary of the questioners.  I figured he had to be pretty damned smart to be teaching at Harvard.  I wasn't disappointed.

Bret's writing is character-centric, which now seems different to me than storyline-centric.  The action in his stories is inside the characters.  I think this might be the way to write the Great American Novel; I am still trying to write a story as good as Last of the Mohicans.

My question for you is, can creative writing be taught?  There are a lot of classes which offer this.   My friend Tom learns well by reading and in classroom settings.  I learn best by doing.  What about you?  Your comments are invited.

  Bret Anthony Johnston

The Tractor

I talked with my friend Robert Schwarz last night on the telephone.  He lives about as far out in the middle of nowhere as one can get these days and still be in the hill country.  He has written most of his two memoirs in a spiral notebook with a pencil on the hood of his old ranch truck in a pasture in that middle of nowhere.  He told me of a time he spent struggling with a paragraph, and when suddenly, there it was, clear as day, while he was baling hay, he stopped the tractor and wrote it down  with a pencil from the toolbox on a feed sack he was using as a seat cushion.  Here is an excerpt from "R L and Other Stories"

Tall at slightly over six feet; slender maybe 160 pounds, muscular with the long, thin untiring muscles of the fields and cedar brakes; sharp features; large intense brown eyes, short scissor cut brownish hair; smooth faced without even a hint of a beard; short upper body with long legs; floppy battered grey felt hat with a high crown and wide brim turned downward all around; work worn scarred calloused hands with long fingers liberally coated with the blackish tar like cedar resin; leathery skin - Ben was the archetypical cedarchopper.

Robert has been to a couple of Conference meetings, and one of these meetings we'll get in a discussion about writing.  For me, the Conference is about just that - talking about writing with other writers.

Talk up our short story contest, tell your friends about the Conference, and if you have a really good paragraph you would like to share, send it to me.  As always, your comments on this blog are invited.

Me?  I'm still trying to write a paragraph as good as Robert's.

Writing Critique Groups? Who says you need one?

In my recent email to the members of the Fredericksburg Writers Conference, I said, "If you aren't in a writing critique group, you probably aren't a very good writer."

Member Jack Swanzy objected, quoting an article in the New York Times (I think this is it, but I'm not sure, let me know if not).  Jack said (reprinted with his permission):

I am intrigued by your insistence on participation in a writing critique group. Especially the notion that “if you aren’t in a … group, you’re probably not a very good writer.” There are too many examples of great writers who weren’t. And too many examples of people in groups whose writing falls very far short.

The following is from an essay in the NY Times today. Writing critique group? How passé. You really need an MFA. 

“That’s not necessarily a negative notion (we are all MFA’s), according to Dr. McGurl and Mr. Harbach (who received a $650,000 advance for his first novel, “The Art of Fielding”). But it seems to trouble many others, especially aspiring novelists and poets. With so many highly tutored creative writers already out there, is success possible without the instruction and literary connections that are cultivated in M.F.A. programs and that a volatile publishing industry — now evolved around program graduates and sensibilities — has come to look for and expect?"

In defense I consider my own participation for more than ten years in a critique group; I have done a good deal of writing which I thought was brilliant, but when read in front of the group appeared less so.  The simple process of reading your work in front of other writers is all by itself instructive, and the heart-felt, sometimes harsh, always thoughtful critiques more so.  Our Conference speaker from a couple of years ago, the delightful local author Anointette Van Heugten, detailed her long journey to becoming a best selling writer, and she didn't mention being in a writing critique group.  However - she did explain a close relationship with her New York agent, who critiqued her story every step of the way, and I would say that is a critique group.  

What is your experience?  Lets hear about it.