Some Writing Thoughts
Feb. 14th, 2007 02:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mmerriamMy membership with the Online Writer's Workshop expires on Sunday.
I'm not going to renew.
There are a variety of reasons for this, starting with the not inconsequential financial ones, but the primary reason I'm leaving is simply that I'm not using it anymore.
OWW has been good to me. It helped me reach a certain level of writing skill very quickly. But it hasn't really helped me move past that level. I've hit a point where I don't feel like I'm getting useful crits. I write at a solid semi-pro level these days, and too often that seems good enough for the reviewers.
What I need is a group with a merciless eye who will whack me with the Nerf Bat of Tough-Love and help me reach the next level. Most of my old OWW crit buddies have moved on to other things, either joining local in-person groups, or reaching a level of skill where a small dedicated core of beta-readers is what they use.
There have been a few other little problems with OWW for me as well, including the fact that it does not reward a writer for trying something different, be it POV, structure, or some other experimental venture. There's a certain norm that most reviewers expect and if you step away from it, they will happily lecture you about how a story "Should Be Written Like This." Now it may be what I was trying do was not working, but it was hard for me to tell from all the "You Must Construct A Story Like So" reviews I received from people I had never worked with and had no trust in.
I stayed with OWW for the last year more because I felt I needed to do some paying forward, working with new writers who are at the place where they're close to being able to write sellable work and just need a little help.
OWW, you've been good to me and I will always love you, but it's time for me to move on to other types of crit, workshop, and review groups.
I suppose now would also be a good time to let people know that I'm stepping away from the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
novel_in_90 group.
I could flog myself and say that by leaving I'm failing at the entire purpose of the community, but frankly, I don't feel that way. It could be argued, and argued justifiably, that if I succeed at what I'm trying to do and I'm veryvery lucky, I'll need to learn how to write a first draft while polishing a final draft while working on a cem while writing a promised short story, all to a deadline.
I proved I could write a first draft in 90 days or less with the Phantom Streetcar novel. I've made some pretty remarkable headway on Into this Land over the last couple of weeks, but I need to set my Not a Milkmaid of Destiny story aside for a little while. I understand that if things fall into place for me and I write the right novel and get it to the right editor and the stars align just so, the above will be my life. I am quite aware that things will change should I write a sellable novel or three and make a break-out.
Here's the thing: first I have to write a sellable novel. I really need to bear down on the Phantom Streetcars rewrite. I feel I have a sellable novel here, given a little hammering and sawing and sweating at the anvil. I'm sure with some hard work and focus I can make this a novel a publisher will want to buy.
I also think I might be able to go back and fix Old Blood's Fate now that I have a better grasp on constructing a novel length narrative, but that's another matter.
A lot of this has been precipitated by the fact that I need to restructure my time. There are some things coming up that are going to change the way I work and the amount of time I have to write (more on this tomorrow), so I need to pick a direction, put my head down, and charge.
I just need to rethink what I'm doing, because while consistently selling fiction at the semi-pro level is perfectly fine (and if this is as good as it gets for me, I'll smile and be happy, because hey, published), it's not where I want to be long-term.
I'm not going to renew.
There are a variety of reasons for this, starting with the not inconsequential financial ones, but the primary reason I'm leaving is simply that I'm not using it anymore.
OWW has been good to me. It helped me reach a certain level of writing skill very quickly. But it hasn't really helped me move past that level. I've hit a point where I don't feel like I'm getting useful crits. I write at a solid semi-pro level these days, and too often that seems good enough for the reviewers.
What I need is a group with a merciless eye who will whack me with the Nerf Bat of Tough-Love and help me reach the next level. Most of my old OWW crit buddies have moved on to other things, either joining local in-person groups, or reaching a level of skill where a small dedicated core of beta-readers is what they use.
There have been a few other little problems with OWW for me as well, including the fact that it does not reward a writer for trying something different, be it POV, structure, or some other experimental venture. There's a certain norm that most reviewers expect and if you step away from it, they will happily lecture you about how a story "Should Be Written Like This." Now it may be what I was trying do was not working, but it was hard for me to tell from all the "You Must Construct A Story Like So" reviews I received from people I had never worked with and had no trust in.
I stayed with OWW for the last year more because I felt I needed to do some paying forward, working with new writers who are at the place where they're close to being able to write sellable work and just need a little help.
OWW, you've been good to me and I will always love you, but it's time for me to move on to other types of crit, workshop, and review groups.
I suppose now would also be a good time to let people know that I'm stepping away from the
novel_in_90 group. I could flog myself and say that by leaving I'm failing at the entire purpose of the community, but frankly, I don't feel that way. It could be argued, and argued justifiably, that if I succeed at what I'm trying to do and I'm veryvery lucky, I'll need to learn how to write a first draft while polishing a final draft while working on a cem while writing a promised short story, all to a deadline.
I proved I could write a first draft in 90 days or less with the Phantom Streetcar novel. I've made some pretty remarkable headway on Into this Land over the last couple of weeks, but I need to set my Not a Milkmaid of Destiny story aside for a little while. I understand that if things fall into place for me and I write the right novel and get it to the right editor and the stars align just so, the above will be my life. I am quite aware that things will change should I write a sellable novel or three and make a break-out.
Here's the thing: first I have to write a sellable novel. I really need to bear down on the Phantom Streetcars rewrite. I feel I have a sellable novel here, given a little hammering and sawing and sweating at the anvil. I'm sure with some hard work and focus I can make this a novel a publisher will want to buy.
I also think I might be able to go back and fix Old Blood's Fate now that I have a better grasp on constructing a novel length narrative, but that's another matter.
A lot of this has been precipitated by the fact that I need to restructure my time. There are some things coming up that are going to change the way I work and the amount of time I have to write (more on this tomorrow), so I need to pick a direction, put my head down, and charge.
I just need to rethink what I'm doing, because while consistently selling fiction at the semi-pro level is perfectly fine (and if this is as good as it gets for me, I'll smile and be happy, because hey, published), it's not where I want to be long-term.
