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The Top Ten Rules of a Successful Writing Group
- University Press of New England
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The Top Ten Rules of a Successful Writing Group W. Somerset Maugham reportedly once said, “There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.” I’d like to add here that there are also rules for writing groups . . . and I think I’ve figured them out. We come together in a workshop to do important work, but little things can get in the way, like misconceptions about what to expect or what is expected of us. That is why successful writing groups establish parameters up front, from how frequently participants can submit their work to how many pages for each submission. Successful groups also abide by a set of rules, a code of conduct, if you will, that helps keep everybody honest and raises the quality of the discussion. Below are my personal top ten rules of a successful workshop. You can bend them, but don’t break them, and I promise your group will thrive. . Make a point to show up. Absenteeism is demoralizing to the writer whose work is being discussed, and it undermines the energy and collective commitment of the group. Plus, if you don’t show up, how can you learn from the story discussions? . Be prepared. Read the manuscripts and prepare your critiques before the meeting. Otherwise you will be playing catch-up in class, reading when you should be listening, or scribbling down comments when you should be contributing to the discussion. . No whining about the in-class writing exercises. It doesn’t matter if they make you nervous or you think they are dumb; do them anyway. It is only ten or fifteen minutes of your time, and one of these days you are bound to get something out of them, like maybe a plot breakthrough or the start of a great story. . Don’t submit anything that is non-negotiable. If you have no intention of changing a word of your manuscript, then perhaps you would be better served by a copy of Writer’s Market than a writing group. . No bystanders allowed. It is important that every group member submits something for critique on a regular basis. If you don’t, it is too easy to sit in judgment when critiquing the other writers’ efforts. Plus, you’re missing the heart of the experience. . Put yourself in the writer’s place. When providing feedback, your best guide is to remember what it feels like to have your own work critiqued. . Avoid comparisons. Maybe the novelist next to you can’t write like Tolstoy, but then again Dostoevsky couldn’t write like Tolstoy. Comparisons within the group only get in the way of helping writers hone their own voices. . Don’t assume the characters and events in a story are true. Writers are more likely to be guarded if the other members of the group have a habit of asking intrusive questions like, “Was that really true?” “Did that really happen?” Accept and discuss each work as fiction, not personal history. . Don’t plagiarize. No matter how much you love someone else’s plotline or concept or language, don’t lift it for your next work. And especially don’t lift it and then present it to the group for critique. . Respect each other’s privacy. Don’t show a comember’s submission to anyone outside of the group, unless the writer has given you permission. V Julia Alvarez “My dream of becoming a writer was a fool’s dream.” When she was a little girl living in the Dominican Republic, Julia Alvarez loved to make up stories, but her “lying” wasn’t always appreciated by her family. When she came to America at age ten, she faced language barriers and name-calling, but she knew by the time she was in high school that she wanted to be a writer. When she finished a graduate program in creative writing, mainstream America showed little interest in Latino literature, but still she was determined to tell her stories. To make a living, Julia taught writing in schools around the country, eventually earning a tenured position at Middlebury College in , the same year she published her awardwinning first novel, How the García Girls Lost Their Accents. At the time of her debut success, she’d been writing for twenty-plus years. A genre-defying author, Julia has published poetry and children’s books, short stories, essays, and novels for adults, including In the Time of the...