TnT: writing circles.

[azuire]

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I've just moved to a new place and there's a local writing group recruiting.

Now, I know they say writing is a solitary art and most of us have taken to the internet to share our work (case in point: this community), but I've never been part of a group that meets up every week or so to discuss writing, and I've rarely met another writer in person. I have to admit I'm curious.

What do you think of these writing circles? Any stories to share?

Comments

[ex_pippin880]

I've only done that sort of stuff in creative writing units at university. It got weird sometimes, like when we were critiquing a girl's script, and this other girl in the tute kept going "do you think Orlando Bloom would play [dude character]? I think he should. And then you can [play [girl character] and get to make out with Orlando Bloom!" even though the writer had said she wasn't planning on those characters having a romantic relationship.

There was the tutor who'd claimed she loved all genre fiction, and welcomed genre fiction, and then when I presented a genre piece to the tute went "oh I don't know about genre, you'll have to find someone else to critique it, all I can say is I liked your use of italics" and the most pressing concern from my peers was that a lady character's underwear was not sexy enough, and then I went to one of the genre tutors, he told me it was terrible science fiction, even though it was actually fantasy-based.

There was the girl who couldn't figure out an ending to her story, and became annoyed when half of the tutorial started going "what if the old woman was a ghost?" "or the MC was a ghost!" "or a zombie!" "or a time-traveller!".

And, of course, the time that I mentioned a couple weeks ago, when after I had lambasted a girl's main character for being so obviously unsympathetic and cruel to her dying dog that the happy ending felt hollow and undeserved, I found out that it was an autobiographical piece, and she got really upset with me.

Then there was the time someone weaselled their way out of being critiqued because they were scared of me. Good times, good times.

[pipisafoat]

Just the university classes, really. The one I am in now, the poetry workshop, is great because the professor doesn't try to teach everyone and say nobody else knows what they're doing. She listens to us just as much as we listen to her - I mean, more, because there are more of us. She's got more street cred, but nearly every time we meet, she points out when someone says something she didn't know or hadn't thought of and whatnot. Which is extremely important imo.

I'd like to find such a group outside of a university in the future. The trouble there, as I hear (but have never experienced), is that there are all kinds of writers. Nothing against anyone, but in a group like that, it just works best if most everyone's on the same page. I'm not a novice at writing. I'm not a novice at critiquing. If you show up, hand me something you've written, and ask me to critique it full-blast, I'll do just that. Many novices can't handle it the way they thought they could, and that just ends badly for everyone. But if you get a group of more advanced writers - I'm not saying everyone has to be published, but this can't be the first short story you've ever written - everyone's on the same page, they've been through critiques before and know how to take it, know how to give it, know how to apply these critiques and bring back a more polished piece rather than saying "You're all wrong. This is perfect the way it is."

[betweenthelines]

I'd really love to join a writing group or circle in my area, but I find that living in Utah prevents me from doing many things I might like due to the more conservative atmosphere and group of people that live here.