"Anything to share with the Group?"
May. 1st, 2021 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
captainsblogI began a new writing adventure of sorts today. A friend from these parts invited me to join a Saturday afternoon writing group that's been going for some time. Once I got issues straight over time zones and Zoom links, I got in just as the first author was getting up to speed.
The premise is: you submit your writing ahead of time. The group goes through them in the order submitted. Each author reads for up to ten minutes, most doing a chapter from a continuing fiction piece; each other author then gets two minutes on the clock to praise, question, critique, whatever. I believe there were eight of us for most of the session, with a ninth fellow n00b who didn't make it. Cue the Brady Bunch and Paul Lynde homages for the Zoom screen.
The genres were mostly sci-fi/ fantasy, and all were in medias res as far as me coming in was concerned. But I enjoyed the chance to give that perspective to writers of how things play for the reader or listener/viewer who, for whatever reason, "comes in late."
I had no pending fics to share. My two completed NaNo novels haven't been cracked for any updating in ages, and other than some very stray ideas from a couple of later years, there's nothing pending in the proverbial drawer. So I decided to go with a personal piece in progress: a meditation on some experiences Eleanor had at work this week, with some echoes from both of our recent and even distant pasts. I will likely add it to this journal at some point, but the overwhelming reaction was that it needed to be seen and/or heard somewhere outside the relatively unread walls of this particular garden. One option is a journalistic destination: despite the decline of the medium and my being mostly away from it as a bylined writer for going on 40 years, I still know a guy here. And a gal there. It probably would pass editorial muster, but it would also likely be shortened and homogenized and made into something that it is not and, in the reading today, it was not. At least one participant made specific reference to the effect of hearing my words (many of them, I freely admit, coming from or at least inspired by Eleanor), and the idea of making it a podcast submission hit me and them at just about the same time.
So that's to think about in the next couple of weeks. Maybe reviving the old NaNobots will happen before the next session two Saturdays from now. Or I'll just take one of the dormant ideas and start running with it. A three-hour commitment on a weekend day is a bit much, both for me and I think for others; I won't be surprised if the group becomes groups plural in some form, or if the reading and critiquing time is either reduced or rotated. I did manage to get some of my usual weekend office work done during the session when I wasn't "up" for listening, critiquing or reading, though I would love to give 100 percent attention to everyone's comments.
The report Eleanor made which was the inspiration for the piece has been submitted, and not yet responded to. That's not surprising given that it's the weekend. If she gets good results from her efforts, that will be way more important than me getting recognition for mine. But both? That would, shall we say, be better.
The premise is: you submit your writing ahead of time. The group goes through them in the order submitted. Each author reads for up to ten minutes, most doing a chapter from a continuing fiction piece; each other author then gets two minutes on the clock to praise, question, critique, whatever. I believe there were eight of us for most of the session, with a ninth fellow n00b who didn't make it. Cue the Brady Bunch and Paul Lynde homages for the Zoom screen.
The genres were mostly sci-fi/ fantasy, and all were in medias res as far as me coming in was concerned. But I enjoyed the chance to give that perspective to writers of how things play for the reader or listener/viewer who, for whatever reason, "comes in late."
I had no pending fics to share. My two completed NaNo novels haven't been cracked for any updating in ages, and other than some very stray ideas from a couple of later years, there's nothing pending in the proverbial drawer. So I decided to go with a personal piece in progress: a meditation on some experiences Eleanor had at work this week, with some echoes from both of our recent and even distant pasts. I will likely add it to this journal at some point, but the overwhelming reaction was that it needed to be seen and/or heard somewhere outside the relatively unread walls of this particular garden. One option is a journalistic destination: despite the decline of the medium and my being mostly away from it as a bylined writer for going on 40 years, I still know a guy here. And a gal there. It probably would pass editorial muster, but it would also likely be shortened and homogenized and made into something that it is not and, in the reading today, it was not. At least one participant made specific reference to the effect of hearing my words (many of them, I freely admit, coming from or at least inspired by Eleanor), and the idea of making it a podcast submission hit me and them at just about the same time.
So that's to think about in the next couple of weeks. Maybe reviving the old NaNobots will happen before the next session two Saturdays from now. Or I'll just take one of the dormant ideas and start running with it. A three-hour commitment on a weekend day is a bit much, both for me and I think for others; I won't be surprised if the group becomes groups plural in some form, or if the reading and critiquing time is either reduced or rotated. I did manage to get some of my usual weekend office work done during the session when I wasn't "up" for listening, critiquing or reading, though I would love to give 100 percent attention to everyone's comments.
The report Eleanor made which was the inspiration for the piece has been submitted, and not yet responded to. That's not surprising given that it's the weekend. If she gets good results from her efforts, that will be way more important than me getting recognition for mine. But both? That would, shall we say, be better.
Great!
Date: 2021-05-02 10:43 am (UTC)Sarah and I started that group a couple of years ago when we were both in a different group where the leader allowed someone to stay a member that was actively nasty to the participants. I mean REALLY nasty, like saying "your work is so bad I want to set fire to it". She never submitted any of her own work for critique, either--just loved to show up and be hateful to everyone else. What a sociopath.
I remember Steve, in particular, was super angry at the group leader for wimping out on talking to her. She never confronted Sarah or me, probably sensing we would have shredded her in a hot minute. She did maul Rachel and Sheralynn pretty badly before it was all over. But we'd had enough and decided to form our own group.
After that, we started to draw in more members and have a generally great time with each other! Now we've gotten so big that discussions have started about creating breakout meeting rooms each session so we're all not there for 3 plus hours, like we were yesterday. :) We used to do that at the last group too, but it was generally disliked that the leader divided us all up like little kids and then popped into each group to scold us all periodically.
Really, she was a piece of work, that woman. A wimpy shrew, if you can imagine that. :)
I'm planning to put up a poll soon to get a more fair read of how to divide the group for larger sessions. I think it will likely be by genre, though.
In any case, your piece was AMAZING and I think you might consider guesting on a podcast, then possibly starting your own. You're very articulate and passionate in your writing, plus funny sometimes--what's not to love? :D