Showing posts with label writing group. Show all posts

A Center of Gravity and the Power of Feedback Improves Your Writing

Early thoughts on writing better

We can improve our writing. I have posted a few little essays about that here. We can begin to identify processes whereby we can better our writing. Here is an early post with my attempt to identify such processes.

The following sentences point to ways to improve our writing which may be obvious:

~ Read my posts here.

~ Read for pleasure with some awareness of the writing process.

~ Read about writing.

~ Try to see how your favorite writer wrote.

~ Study under a good writing teacher.

~ Join a writing group.

~ Form a writing group.

~ Start writing.

~ Keep writing.

We can learn by practice. I hope to be learning as I essay this writing. I intend to pass on as much of what in seem to be learning as I can. I have tried to follow all of the suggestions above accept joining a group for writing and forming a writing group.

Participation in a writing group strikes me as being an agreeable and productive activity. I have read about writing groups and there is a special kind of group which I find attractive. A kind of group improved and practiced by a special teacher and writer, an Englishman by the name of Peter Elbow. One of his books is entitled Writing Without Teachers. The following is in large part my interpretation of some of this book.It is an accessible work which offers a variety of help for writers. A secondary title for that book might well be THE POWER OF GOOD FEEDBACK.

There are plenty of books about improving ones writing and some of them are very good, but this one by Mr Elbow is high in my consciousness. I have written more about this special kind of writing group in other essays on this site. I believe that we can learn a lot by helping others better their craft. I suspect that our learning can be better as members of a writing group.

Many find that our writing practice can be part of an important personal growth process. As our writing develops so do we. It seems a good deal As we grow and mature, our writing gets better. as our writing gets better, we grow and mature.

We may not be surprised to find that while while completing a single piece. the writer herself may be surprised that she grows grows and matures with her writing.

My Recent Experience:

I have found that I am now not surprised that I can find a "center of gravity" in a piece of work as I write it. I have found that it may move around as I write. But find it is most often the pleasant process of discovering the sharp short form of what what it is am really writing about.

The list below includes ways, I have gathered from Mr. Elbow, for getting a center of gravity or unifying theme around which I can organize my writing. I am trying to be helpful and this could my way of saying that you have my blessing to stray from your original outline. Even so, discovering your real unifying theme could be more useful than your outline or your original idea.

Okay, here's the list:

~ Starting with X because it seems more believable than Y; note that as you write about X, that you are beginning to understand about Y.

~ Continue your struggle with X and Y and see "A" come up.`

~ As you write along you may honestly say, "Ah, now I see what I have been getting at."

~ Finish what you have been writing about. Put it aside for a time. See useful implications as you look it over again.

~ See that your good idea is crap. Then see that part of the crap looks less crappy. You sort out the good parts from the bad. You do not have to throw anything. Some of it may turn out to be better than your favorite idea.

~ Your first writing may prove a good scaffolding for your next writing.

~ You find a powerful spark in a tiny digression. You keep the same elements of your work, but change the whole orientation for the better.

~ As you progress in your writing, be alert to emerging focus of theme.

~ If nothing emerges, sum up that which you have written, then sum it up again.

~ Push yourself a bit to keep getting some center of gravity or summing up to occur.

~ Work gradually toward moderation of extreme positions.

Don't try to do all of the above at once every time! In fact you may find other ways of doing things excellent for you. For example you may find it better for you to work allout in your mind before beginning to write. I understand that some do so very well. Many of us do something very like the above, turn out good work, and find out that we learn a lot in the process. You may benefit a great deal by rereading the items above and then comparing them to your process. I have found that at times just one of these items can be saver.

Peter is a great teacher and better writer. The entirety of the book I have mentioned is mostly about writing groups and the center of gravity for this book of his could well be The Power of Feedback.

Several of essays on this site deal with writing groups.

Thank you for reading.

You might want to save the address of this site.

RCS

Writing Group

Your writing group is a place to learn from each other to teach one another and to give and receive loving feedback.

Writing Better:

At this blogsite you can find some of my recent thoughts on our good writing and also on the use of a group to that same goal.

Many write for themselves and do not think much about readers. Many want readers and write for readers. So, the way one writes matters. If your writing feel good to you and for you, that is good. All writing benefits from that. Your view and feelings matter. You might not get much feedback from your readers, so you have to depend upon yourself. However, you can benefit greatly from your reading of published authors. You may learn best from the authors you appreciate the most.

Most writers seem to learn most about writing is by reading. Reading the best authors you most appreciate may be your best source of learning. If you really want to learn from them you might want to pay more conscious attention to the way they Write. You may want to analyze their writing. Your most solid way of learning to write is by writing. Later, it is helpful to look at your own writing and the writing of others to better see how it was done. Writers keep writing. Every developing writers seem to do most of the acts some of the time. Everyone does this with their own variations.

Many think about feedback. They would like some positive and specific feedback by people who have abundant experience with reading and writing. Criticism can be very positive and helpful and some experienced writers like it and appreciate, and find it useful. I still do not look for negative criticism. We like to hear people say "I really enjoyed reading that piece of yours." But, it is more useful to hear about the details. We feel the lack of details about how the reader felt as they read a specific page, paragraph, or sentence of ours.

Many writing teachers, even when they are helped by assistants and other students, haven't the time and energy to provide you with in depth feedback for much of the work you turn in.

Enter the Writing Group!

For you and me as serious writers, a writing group can be better than a good teacher. We can learn much from a good teacher, but we seldom get all the good feedback we want and need.

One of the best characteristics of a writing group is the quality of the feedback you can get. Along with that quality you can get from your group, there you may also get more feedback from a variety of interest writers over a longer period of time. From your writing group you have a variety of knowledgeable, and interested individuals tell you how the felt upon reading a specific piece of your work. Often one can have this done more than once a month,

You may attract more than one teacher to be a member of your group. They may need to be reminded that they are not there to teach. They, and each member of your group must focus on telling you about their experience while the read the writing you summited. These readers can tell you of the mood that comes through to them, the characters who come through, and which voices come through most tellingly. They can even tell you that they couldn't pay good attention because they were ill and had not slept well!

On this writing site you can benefit by reading several of the many little essays here and and be nicely surprised by the posting of a new essay. Simply scrolling down you can find other essays. To find many others you can be alert to a place were it says ''older posts" and clicking on that phrase and so encounter other useful essays. This is a site in progress, so new essays are on the way. Not all are about groups, but all are about writing.

Beneficial Actions You Can Take Now:

~ Start writing and keep writing.~

~ Search for an active writing group close enough for your use.

~ Try to sit in on a writing group meeting.

~ Check writing posts here and on other websites.

~ Consider forming a group of your own.

~ Keep writing.

Consider your options. You do not have to have a group to become a good writer. Some great works have been written with pen and paper and a pencil can do well.

When you are beginning a group you may consider asking potential members to consider the following points.

Consideration of the following points can benefit a group and potential members:

~ Find a time to meet and try to stick to it. It's fair to start a second group if there are several who can't attend at the selected time.

~ Help each other to become better better listeners and readers.

~ Consider how works will be presented. For example: Do you want to hand out individual copies to be read later? or Do you want a work to be read aloud couple during a meeting?

~ When you read a short piece for consideration during a class, try reading it twice. You may find a second reading importantly useful.

~ Show up at your meeting.

~ Continue to write.

More to come.

Thank you for reading.

rcs

Writing Without a Teacher

This essay has been enjoyed by many readers at our Mago Bill Blog.

Learning to write without a teacher may be effectively done and enjoyed.

It has been done in groups of from 5 to 17 participants. Basically, the members each commit to reading the writing of a member then to coming together with the other members to share their feelings about what they have read.

Hearing what others have felt as they read your works has proven a great help to improving one's writing and a powerful experience in itself.

Its fair, and often useful, to ask questions here.

Every member reads one specified piece of writing of one member of the group. Then in a gathering of all the members each member tells about how she felt as she read the piece.

This telling of feelings is done at nearly every meeting of the group.

The bit below is about what I have learned from my experience and from Mr. Elbow. It is something that I might offer at an appropriate moment in the gathering of my group.

On the horizon, a Final Draft

Once you have some writing from which it seems you can coax some coherence, you may be close to the point at which to edit and turn out a final copy.

Take 15 minutes to make your meaning clear to yourself.

You might let yourself consider an outline or plan.

Sum up what you have into a genuine single assertion of what your meaning is. Not easy, but possible. Remember that your assertion must actually assert something that can be quarreled with.

You have grown your meaning and specified it to yourself clearly. Good for you. Your efforts and good thinking will give you a good chance to do some truly powerful writing.

Let me add that a very great deal of writing skill can be learned without a group. Even so, groups have often proven a great aid to great writing.

As I am doing some reminding, let me remind you that this blogsite is meant to be interactive. There are connections here to other sites. Also from here you can connect to me and to other readers here.

Thank you for reading.

by Richard Sheehan
for you.

It's Called Writer's Block

Write RCS: We get stuck. I get stuck. Writers get stuck. Writers get unstuck.

Writers get unstuck! We can get unstuck with better feedback. An excellent source of good feedback is a writing group. Your own writing group like the ones I've written of in other posts, is more helpful than most casual conversations and usually less threatening. A search for "writing" and "groups" and "writing groups" may come up with something interesting.

If you have writers block right now, try :

thinking about the meaning, not the words, of what you are about to write helps. Think about your meaning, then find the best words.
taking some time to consider what is going on with you
just resting a bit.
completing some business.

Doing the following has gotten writers unstuck:

~ Look for contrasting or conflicting elements in what you have written or about to write.

You can interact with those elements when you find them. Just finding an example of one such element and naming it can help.

~ Try just babbling on in you writing. You may find yourself being not so nice or less agreeable than usual. You might even begin talking back to yourself. Try not to shut yourself down too fast. Let each voice say what it has to say in your writing. Let each argument build a bit. Don't stop yet. Let each voice make it's point.

~ I get frustrated and imagine that you do too. Let their movement, some movement. Again let let each and every voice have it's say before you shut it down. No one is looking. Some writing may occur.

~ Try more meaning before words. Develop the meaning of the words you are using. Clarify those meanings. Fit word to meaning.

~ Keep writing even if you only write why your writing doesn't make sense. Keep writing for 10 or 20 minutes. Then try to get yourself to step back and look at what you have written with some perspective. You may discover that you have written verbless phrases or that nothing you asserts anything. A few verbs and a couple of assertions may improve your writing.

~ Sit back. Look at your writing and try to see what it adds up to. Going back and forth between immersing yourself in your writing and then sitting back to gain perspective is writing. As Mr. Elbow says, "You are cooking."

~ At times it is good to let yourself get a bit extreme, to be emotional. Let each impulse have its day. Sometimes it seems that one has a cycle to go through before you get down to better writing. Such a time may well be the time to take to extremes for a while. Take it to the limit one more time. Later you can be the ruthless editor with a sharp knife.

I get stuck less these days. When I do get stuck, I know what I can do to get unstuck pronto.

Write us a comment below. Bye for now.

by R. Carroll Sheehan

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Feedback for Writers

Write With RCS: Find out more about a writing Group and feedback. We may not need it but, it sure can help.

You can see that I have posted often about writing, writers and writing groups when you review the labels list in the column to the right of this post.

You may have already come to see that I believe that a teacherless writing group is a great way to great writing.

A main purpose of such groups is the providing of appropriate feedback to writers about how their writing effects readers of their work.

           I intend to write more about developing and providing useful feedback to writers in the future.
               However, while I'm here I'll try to write something about better reading and more useful feedback.

               In your writing group you can become a better reader and perceiver. No one is truly able to tell you that your perceptions are right or wrong. However, as a reader in a writing group you can be honest, can practice, and can learn.

By using your perception, your perception can become more accurate and more useful.

               Your job as a reader of the works of others in your writing group is, to tell the writer what you really see and how you really react to his writing(I could say "her"rather "his," for a writing group may include female writers or may be made up entirely of female writers, but I will not). You as a good reader will know that you can learn to see better and to experience more fully.

               As you help the writer become a better writer, you become a better reader. As you become more of an expert you may begin to feel that you are always right. I my experience, that is never true. What seems true to me is that as you continue to practice you can become a more agile, flexible, refined reader, and a more honest one.

               Learning to be a better reader is a process of character building. You may find yourself becoming both more sure of yourself and more humble.

               I have a lot to learn about my writing. I can benefit from good feedback. You can offer me some in the "comments' section below.

                                                       by Richard Sheehan

A Writing Group

Write With RCS: One of the top values of a writing group is the variety of great feedback it often provides.

The developing, growing, maturing writer learns to value the feedback of one's peers. Such feedback is precious and very often rare. Your writing group will be made up of fellow writers. In such a group you can have several knowledgeable readers telling you about the feelings and thoughts your writing stirred in them. They can tell you what they felt as they read a specific piece of your work. You can get regular feedback of several kinds from the members of your group.

I hope to post more about feedback and other benefits of a writing group in future posts. This particular post is a short wide-ranging introduction to the subject.

A writing group is usually about writing better without the use of a teacher. However, a writing group may attract more than one teacher, including teachers of writing. Don't be surprised if that happens, teachers are often learners who want to learn more about their subject.

They might, however, need to be reminded that they are not there to teach. They are there as a learning reader and writer. They are there to be good readers ready to provide their honest reactions to that which they read. Each of your group members focus on telling you how she experiences the work you submit. Just as you will tell her how you experience your careful reading of her work.

Quickly moving forward, I here add actions you may consider taking before you choose a writing group or before making one of your own.You can:

~ Start writing and keep writing.

~ Find a writing group in action close to you and check it our.

~ Sit in a a couple of meetings to see how it may benefit or suit you.

~ Check out online posts here and elsewhere about writing and writing groups.

~ Talk with a writing friend about forming a group.

~ Consider that most better writers have been good readers.

Once you better know your options and better know the kind of group you want, you might consider thoughts you would like potential members of your group to consider.Here are some sample points of the sort:

~ Find a time for your meeting and stick to it. Its fair to have have two writing groups each meeting at a different time.

~ Help one another to become better listeners and better readers as well as better writers.

~ Help each other to better know the kinds of feedback most needed and most wanted.

~ Decide on whether you want to handout your work to be read at home, to read your work aloud at meetings, or both, or what.

~ When you read a piece in group, read it twice. You will find that two readings are much better than one.

~ Show up at meetings.

I enjoy and appreciate your comments about specific parts of the content of my posts. There is, I hope, a "comment" window just below. It may sometimes be marked with the words "no comments!"

RCS

A Writing Group

Write With RCS: Writing Group Feedback from your group.

Giving and receiving feedback may be the top purpose of a writing group. Here I will emphasize the job of receiving feedback. It need not be a job; we could call it the process of receiving feedback, but "job'" is shorter. Your job as a receiver is listening. Not volunteering comments or asking questions. You are the receiver of greater benefits than you may fully grasp just now.

In your group you practice listening. This is not a law but rather a suggestion and what I know of how to benefit from such groups. Listen with great attention to how your words affect others. You do what to have your words to have an effect, right? You may have bee trying for a specific effect. You want to know how this group of fellow writers are responding to that which you have written. You want to know what each felt or thought as they read your work. This process is not deadly; it will help you to grow and develop as a writer.

You are learning to be quiet and listen. So, be quiet. Do not tell those who read your work anything until much later. let them be uncertain of what of what you wanted your work to convey or at whom it was aimed. Let them suffer. Maybe they will notice more and be able to give you a more full and honest response. It is your task to become a better listener, and not to be a teacher or a question asker. Try changing the word "task" in the previous sentence to "pleasure." You want to know how your words in a specific piece of your writing led them to feel or think.

Neither giving nor receiving feedback is easy. In both it is possible to come to feel, for a time, that you are always right or always wrong. An important activity of the imparter of reaction is is to become as honest as possible. A bit of a job. The task of you the listener/writer, is to attentive and quiet. Telling nothing and saying nothing may not come easily to you, the receiver of this treasure of feedback. But you can remember that you best teacher could probably not have given you the feedback treasure you receive from the members of your writing group. That treasure helps you to be a better and better writer. This group response of fellow writers can better inform you of how the world will receive your writing than can many an excellent teacher.

Some readers of your writing may be good at tricking you into telling them more about the intentions you have for the piece in question than you intended. But you, as its writer, want only to know what your writing did to them, with no ''helpful'' hints. When you tell the readers in your group what you wanted your writing to do to them, you hinder their fresh and honest response.

You, as the writer, want to know how the reader perceives and experiences your words. You want to know what it was what it was like to be him reading your words. Never stop a reader from from giving you her reactions. You very much need her feedback and she is will to give it. Let her.

You can look to members of your writing group to find out what your words caused to happen in their consciousness. The better you get at the uncovering of feelings in your group and how your words effected consciousness, the better you will be at deciding for yourself when your words are most likely to be doing what you want them to. or not.

It may be helpful to remember that members of your group are neither gods nor teachers, telling you how other words will work better if either this or that were changed in thus and such a way. What they can tell you very well is how they experienced a specific work of yours; how they experienced your words there, how they reacted to them.

Your readers job is to provide you with a kind of movie of his mind as he read your work, and it is not your job to tell him how to do so. And it is certainly no one's job to quarrel with another's experience.

You do not need writing group to write well, but one can truly help. When you would be a writer write.