Every time I try and explain the mechanics of writing to someone else I learn something. Yesterday I chatted with the writing group at the local intermediate school - bazinga! I learnt something (about the benefits for your plot in knowing your main protagonist). Today I gave a one-on-one workshop with a keen writer and - bazinga! I learnt something (about knowing your main protagonist and achieving the right voice for your story). If you are serious about making writing your career you should be talking about it with other people. You will learn things, make discoveries, have epiphanies quicker and more frequently if you are sharing your experience with others (ideally other writers!!). Sometimes it's merely confirming something you already believed. Sometimes clarity comes when you try and explain something to someone else. Sometimes you see something in a new light when someone else shines their metaphorical torch on it. I have leapt forward with my writing by making writer friends and keeping in touch with them. You can too.
Loved this juicy link courtesy of someone who exemplifies my point above. I love belonging to the children's writers and illustrators community in New Zealand and around the world - they really are a quality brand of folk.
5 comments:
Oh gee (blush)
Thanks for the shout out! You are right tho on the benefits of fellow writers... you can learn more over a coffee or a wine from them than from a shiny new book on writing. Talking a problem through with another writer helps to find a solution or makes you feel that you are not mad. Try talking to your mother about a problem with your main character...lol...I know what my mother's reaction would be...
word verification exultims....the feeling you get when you sneak daughters shiny new mac to read melindas blog on....
Thanks for such a fab word! Bazinga to all and sunder is what I say!
:-)
Thanks for the link to Authorculture on 7.5 lessons we'll ever need oh how to write!! There are simply no excuses for procrastination! LOL!!
Lots to read on Maureen Crisp's blog - thanks for the link! Take care
x
well Maureen - what about your mother-in-law's reaction to a character question eh??
Kitty - I owe the delicious word Bazinga to the most fabulous Sheldon from 'Big Bang Theory'. If you have not watched this tv programme you should :)
My mother in law wrote a huge historical novel on and off (among all the other writing projects) while her kids were growing up. My husband said the main character was like another brother...that had just left the room...For twenty years that brother was left out of all the family photos...The whole reason they went overseas was to see where 'Joss' grew up...
Thank goodness I don't obsess about my characters to that degree...hang on a minute...my kids know all my characters names...hmmmmm
This is soooo true. I love to yak about writing. We're always learning and there's so much we can learn from each other about our own writing and inspire us to keep growing and improve at our craft. :D
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