Hi friends,
The short story showed up again, in glitter and sparkles, enticing me with a character that I’ve wanted to write for years. So, what the hell, I gave in. It’s almost finished now, so I’ll be able to focus exclusively on the novel from tomorrow.
It got me thinking, though. I don’t typically write short stories (I’ve only ever written one before this) and I’m not a reader of short stories, either, though I am beginning to warm to them. When I finished mine, I felt as though I could do with some feedback, a critique from a fellow writer, perhaps.
Now, I’m typically not a fan of this approach. In fact, even when I pay to work with people, I make sure to send them my very best. No one, not even my editor husband, sees my first drafts. I get my work into excellent shape, take it as far as I can, then I get professionals to come in and help me take it from good to great. When I’m having issues with characters or plot, I will typically get on the phone to discuss it with my editor (or go in-depth with it over a glass of wine with Sam). I don’t send unpolished pages.
But it wasn’t always this way. (And it’s not the only way.)
When I first started writing in 2003, I had no idea what I was doing and I had no money, so I joined an online critique group and sent pretty much everything I wrote to the members. I was part of that critique group for many years, and it was instrumental to my growth as a new writer. What was important was not just getting the critiques, but giving them. Looking at someone else’s writing, writing that I had no personal attachment to, and being able to say this works for me, or this doesn’t and here’s why. I left that group reluctantly after many years because I’d started traveling a lot and writing news and features on short deadlines, and couldn’t keep up with the requirements of the group.
For my novels, I didn’t get any sort of early critiques. For one, I was a much more confident writer when I started writing my first novel. Despite the many, many things I still had to learn about writing fiction, the writing itself was good and not something I needed help with. But two, I understood that novels cannot be critiqued in parts. The writing can. But the story, the narrative, the flow, the plot, all of it has to be seen as a whole. You can write an excellent scene that your critique group loves, but it may still be completely pointless for your novel. Unless someone knows the entire story or character arc for your book, it’s hard for them to give meaningful feedback.
But, I’m writing a short story now, and I suddenly really want to be back in that old critique group. (It doesn’t exist any more.)
I’m reminded that this writing life and this journey is not one of absolutes. Some days, some years, for some projects you need one set of tools, and for others you need something entirely different.
There is no one way to do this writing thing.
That’s the struggle of it.
But it’s also the joy.
Cheers,
Natasha