I've just spent four hours with 13 other writers, immersing ourselves in a workshop that involved 'prompt writing': exercises that you get entirely fresh, no preparation, and with a time limit.
The goal is to generate as much material as possible – first draft writing – and the emphasis is on the act of generation, rather than grammar, spelling, or the tasks that come with revision.
This is the fifth such session I’ve organised for the writers’ workshop I run. Despite it being the first day of the weekend (here in the Middle East) we left more energised than when we straggled in at 2pm.
After the 15 or so minutes of writing (or typing) as fast as you can, you have the opportunity to share your work out loud. The electricity felt as people read and heard fresh comments on what stood out from their particular pieces was palpable; if only you could bottle this kind of energy up and have it on hand when you trudge to your desk, alone, at home.
But this energy can be replicated. Perhaps not every day, but by joining a bi-monthly or weekly writers’ group you could get the sustenance you need for those hours of solitary work at the kitchen table or in carefully planned study.
For my next few posts, I will trace how I established the Doha Writers’ Workshop, out of sheer desperation for a writing community in an often physically and then artistically arid landscape. Hopefully you will glean some ideas of how to start a group of your own, or chime in to offer suggestions from groups you have participated in.
For now we will start with founding rule number one: writers may create, rewrite, and edit alone, but every writer needs readers.
Readers who give you feedback or ask clarifying questions are necessary; those who engage your story and offer suggestions are a goldmine. Often it’s best if this group isn’t your mother or Aunt Sally and if you are interested in being published commercially, an established readership is paramount to getting an agent or publisher interested in your work.
Who are your readers? How (and how often) do you receive feedback on your work?
Best wishes,
(Reading & Writing Development Director)
Tonyl, you started writing in your mid forties - why you were practically a foetus! I started mid fifties, and am still thrashing around waiting to take that first bellowing breath to tell people that I HAVE ARRIVED. Sorry about the upper case, I know it's bad form and all that. Next week I get my bus pass, and the words 'Mary Wesley' have become my mantra. Not that anyone would ever confuse our writing, you understand. A thought has just occurred: instead of blogging, I should be writing...
Thanks Mohana, its funny, a friend asked me last night whether I wished I had started writing when I was younger because I may have made a career out of it by now, and I said that personally I don't think I'd been round the block enough times (to coin yet another expression), to write like I do now. Thats not to say other young writers can't do it, I'm just a slow learner!
I've had a really interesting day in the Library at Loughborough Uni, looking at some of the literature journals there, reading stuff I wouldn't normally look at for inspiration. Its been fascinating and I've some great new ideas, and also can see aspects of my own writing in some of these published authors' work, which is very encouraging.
Thanks for you nice comments Mohana .
I'm very new to writing as well (short stories to hone my skills), and it took a big step for me to show anybody my work. I started with my wife, who is not backwards in telling me how it is. She gave me some positive feedback, and mentioned it to a friend who is lecturer in romantic literature at a Uni, and she gave me positive feedback too. I have subsequently started showing my stuff to about half a dozen people that I know will give me constructive comments, because they all have! I have experiemented with different styles and have already experienced mixed reactions, which are often pretty predictable ie I can tell who will like something and who won't. I think the big thing to take into account here is that when you first show somebody something you've written, a certain amount of their response will be due to the surprise that you've actually written anything, and that you are capable of expressing emotion etc on paper. Well, thats how it was for me anyway, as a man iin his mid-late 40's who'd never done anything like it before. It was interesting also to learn how others saw me based on their surprise about my understanding of emotions and sensitivity. I've been sending some stuff out lately to other people and organisations, to see what kind of feedback I get. I have worked in Sales for donkeys years, and we have this saying about "needing to kiss a lot of frogs before you get a sale", I think this "getting published" mullarkey is a lot like that too.