Chloe Cocking craft, Writing groups

COUNTDOWN: 5 “Red Flags” in Writers’ Groups

 

red candle
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I can only share what has worked for me and my personal opinions. Please take the following in that spirit. I am aware that one writer’s red flag is another writer’ NBD (‘no big deal’).

5. Lack of group structure and leadership
It doesn’t matter to me who is ‘in charge,’ but someone should be. When it comes to writing groups, I dig benevolent dictatorships.

4. Poor self-management
We’re writers, we want to be heard and seen. But your special snowflake ass is not somehow more worthy of airtime than the ass of any other schlub at the table (me included). For example, if you are meant to have 15 minutes for reading aloud + group discussion, do your best to stay within that. That means you should not bring 20K words to read. FYI, most people can read about 800-1200 words in about 8 minutes, which will leave 7 minutes for group discussion. Use a timer.

3. Trying to get not-writing needs met
Some people need to be right. Other people need to be the one who knows. Some need to claim the moral high ground. All of these things are a pain in the ass in writer’s groups. Try not to bring these needs to your writer’s group. Plenty of other places to be a perfectionistic, know-it-all, self-righteous Drama Llama. Like Starbucks. Go there, get revved up on caffeine, and annoy the people there. Go home and bother your family and friends. Just keep it out of the writers’ group. If we all make an effort to be congenial, professional, and helpful at our writing groups, we’ll enjoy them more.

2. No skill at constructive criticism
If you are negative, snide, or otherwise mean and disrespectful of other writers’ work, you drag the whole group down. This is a good read on how to do critiques properly.

1. Not prepared
Some writing groups distribute paper copies to everyone present so that comments can be written on the pages as the writer reads aloud. If that’s the case, bring enough copies on paper so everyone can read along with you and write their comments. You’ll get deeper feedback and won’t have to rely on your memory of what was said during the discussion.

Other writing groups distribute the work before the meeting and participants read it and prepare their critique before hand. If that’s the case with your group, do your homework!

What about you? Any obvious writing group red flags that you can see?

Chloe Cocking craft, writing is weird, writing process, writing sucks

On writing even if you don’t think you’re “ready.”

CC retro typewriter image without attribution requirement
CC image without attribution requirement

When I tell people I’m a writer, sometimes they say “I want to write a book one day, and I will, when I’m ready. ”

Here’s the thing, though: it’s unlikely that you’ll ever feel “ready”.

The only folk I have met who felt ready to write had two things in common:

  • they wanted to write a memoir
  • they were overweening narcissists

Now just so it’s been said:

#notallmemoirwriters
#narcissistsarepeopletoo
#chloeisn’trightabouteverythingyaknow

If you wait until you feel ready you might end up like me, a dummy who took 12 years to write a novel. Don’t be a dummy.

So even if you choose to disregard everything else I say, consider this:

You are mortal. As you are dying, do you want to regret all the books you didn’t write? 

Chloe Cocking craft, day job, ideas, interruptions, novels, personal, writing sucks

COUNTDOWN: 12 Reasons It Took Me 12 Years to Write a Novel

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These are my reasons, they may or may not resonate for you . . .

12. Not certain about what I wanted to say, at least at first

11. Stuck inside the tropes and cliches of urban fantasy, not sure how to write my way out of them

10. Writer’s block (aka panic, anxiety and so on)

9. Not having a writing schedule

8. Not sticking to my writing schedule

7. Going more than three days without writing

6. Certain about opening, certain about ending, uncertain about the mushy middle.

5. Allowing myself to get distracted by Life (secret belief: if I sacrifice my writing practice on the altar of the problem of the moment, the problem will go away and I will *finally* have time and peace of mind to write.) Nope nope nope. Wrongo. The truth is is that life is life, I am me, and those facts are immutable. So write or don’t-write, but forget about me trying to change Life or trying to change my essential nature.

4. Trying advice from all kinds of writers, let them get inside my head such that I thought I was “doing it wrong”. That slowed productivity to a mere crawl.

3. Working 80 hour weeks from 2009 – 2016. stupid stupid girl.

2. Over-ambitious timetable and scheduling leading to overwhelm, overwhelm leading to procrastination, the gnashing of teeth, and yet more writer’s block.

1. Loving writing so much I thought it had to be perfect. Then I found out that “perfect” kills dreams.

Chloe Cocking craft, holiday

“I Should Be Writing” Retreat 2018

I went to the “I Should Be Writing” Retreat last week: three days and two nights at gorgeous Loon Lake in Maple Ridge, BC.  It’s secluded and quiet as it’s located in the middle of a research forest owned by one of the local unis.

A grab-bag of my reactions and thoughts:

  • Loon Lake is near-ish the top of what the rest of the world calls a “mountain” and what people in BC call “a hill” (It’s only “a mountain” if you’ve never seen the Coastal or Rocky Mountains).
  • Regardless of what you call it, it’s above the snow line, so there were still some patches of snow on the ground. There were a few moments of decidedly chunky rain as well.
  • I might have a death wish, because when I saw the swimming dock from the balcony, I was tempted to jump in. My partner has anticipated that I might feel that way, so gave strict orders: “NO SWIMMING”. We joke (?) sometimes that I should have “LOW IMPULSE CONTROL” tattooed on my forehead (as does a character in Neal Stephenson’s Snowcrash)
Swimming dock of the lake, shot from the balcony of my room.
The Swimming Dock at Loon Lake
  • Before I could work up a nice foamy head of oppositional defiance, I remembered that I actually loathe swimming in lakes.
  • I am not really “a nature person.” Probably because everything in nature is trying to kill me. (I wrote a poem about that a few months ago).
Tuesday- dining hall inside
Dining Hall at Loon Lake 
  • The chalets where we slept and the communal dining hall were comfortable, with all mod cons. Food was good, too.
  • Somehow I neglected to bring towels, but the lodge staff were very kind and hooked me up with a towel and washcloth. I’m sure my chalet-mates were very grateful I wasn’t a disgusting stinky beast the whole time.
  • I slept in a sleeping bag for the first time in fifteen years! I was worried about doing it because I’ve been known to have panic attacks when zipped into sleeping bags, esp. the “mummy” style. My friend Garnet gave me a hot tip re: zipper head co-ordination that allowed my feet the freedom I need to keep all my mental marbles where they belong. (Fun fact: I’ve had panic attacks in MRI machines, teensy-tiny bathroom stalls, and because my broken elbow was in a plaster cast and I thought about it just a little bit too much. Apparently it’s not just nature that is trying to kill me, it’s enclosed spaces as well)
  • I didn’t get any “writing” done, but I’m not in “writing” mode (which is to say “drafting chapters”). I’m in “story generation” mode, with the colour-coded index cards, notebook, and fifty-seven open browser tabs reading up on the Plague of Justinian in 541 CE and the cultural beliefs of the Coast Salish peoples. Believe it or not, in the sequel to Blood Rain (working title: Blood Down the Bones) both of those things are germane.  Your mileage may vary, but I need a ten-scene outline on index cards and some character mood boards before I can get any drafting done.
  • I spoke with someone on Sunday about certain ideas I have for the next book, and she said, “That’s gross and creepy. Perfect!” I was so pleased!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chloe Cocking Countdown, craft, personal, Writing groups, writing sucks

COUNTDOWN: Five Reasons I Love Writers’ Manuscript Groups

I’m not much of “a joiner” nor am I a person who loves group activities.  I need a certain amount of “leave-me-alone-to-brood” time.

Nevertheless, I attend two different manuscript groups and I love them. Here’s why . . .

5. No one minds if I attend meetings in my pajamas.

4. Saturday morning cartoons are not what they used to be.

3. Critiques– even unkind ones– are helpful. Hard-to-hear feedback can lead to deeper insight into one’s own work (and save you loads of time when it comes time for the second or third draft).

2. The feedback is immediate.

The number one reason I love writers’ manuscript groups?

1.  Deadlines. Organized structured groups provide deadlines. You know the old saying “if it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would ever get done”?  The person who coined that must have had me in mind. With a deadline, I can move mountains. Without one, I can’t move at all.