Thoughts on Writing Groups

It’s been really interesting to compare my experience with the Quark writing group with the writing group in English 318.  There really is a lot of contrast between the two, and that’s helping me to understand what works and what doesn’t, and what writing groups are good for and not so good for…

Here are some of the major differences:

• In Quark, there is a lot of humor, whereas in 318 everyone is much more serious.
• In Quark, we start off with positive feedback, whereas in 318, people dive right into the criticism and don’t point out what worked.
• In Quark, we’re amateurs and hobby writers, whereas in 318 there are amateurs but also a lot of people trying to go pro.
• In Quark, we all know each other and are friends, whereas in 318 we’ve all be thrown together.
• In Quark, I usually submit stuff that I’ve already written on my own, whereas in 318 I’m writing with the purpose of submitting.
• In Quark, we have a lot of time to read over each others’ stuff, whereas in 318 we’re more rushed.
• In Quark, we’re really laid back, whereas in 318 a lot of people are really uptight and tense.

Here’s what I’ve noticed:

In any writing group, there’s going to be tension.  That’s understandable, given the fact that most good feedback is critical.  Because of the tension, a little bit of humor and an occassional tangent can really go a long way in helping people swallow the criticism without getting upset or anxious.  That, I think, is one of Quark’s greatest strengths–and one of the reaons why writing meetings are always so enjoyable and refreshing for me.

Because there are people taking the 318 group so seriously, it’s really hard for me to stifle the urge to respond to each comment.  It’s not so much that I want to argue with people, as much as it is to clarify what I was going for (which isn’t so great, but when they see as a flaw something that you actually wanted them to get, it’s hard to get that across). Questions and clarifications that start out innocently can quickly escalate because the tension hasn’t been released.  I’ve noticed that other people tend to get upset and anxious when their pieces go under the knife as well.

I’ve heard that writing groups become weaker when everybody becomes really good friends, but I think that the converse is also true: that groups are weak when nobody knows anybody.  It’s harder for me to take others’ feedback seriously when I don’t know them (especially when their own writing isn’t all that good), and it’s easier for others to dismiss me as well.  For example, when I brought up some concerns about the sexuality in one scene, the writer asked “are you married?” and when I said no, he moved on to the next person.  Maybe he took my criticism, maybe he didn’t, but the fact that that’s all he knows and cares to know about me makes me feel a little bit uneasy.

It also bugs me when people whose own writing isn’t all that great tend to monopolize the conversation and give you feedback that isn’t specific enough to be helpful–or, worse, spend whole minutes giving you advice.  In Quark, we’re pretty laid back, so it isn’t much of a problem–people jump in with their comments, and although it appears chaotic on the outside, we’ve got a good feel for when to let the other people speak.  When you’re relaxed, you’re not going to feel like you constantly need to fill space with your comments–and you’re not going to be uptight about not being heard.

Another big thing, for me at least, is that with Quark, I’m not writing my stories for the writing group–I’m writing them for myself and for the sake of the story.  In 318, it’s an assignment.  I know that logistically, there’s just no way to get around this (it is a class, after all), but the effect of this is tha it’s harder for me to pick and choose which criticism I’m going to implement.  Last week, I got criticized really hard for how stiff and formal my dialogue was in The Wormhole Paradigm, but this week, Brandon was in the group and he criticized me for how informal my dialogue was in the new beginning–that people who are socially underdeveloped tend to be stiff and formal!  So I betrayed the story based on what I thought the writing group wanted to read.  That’s not good.

What’s more, it’s hard to just spit out a rough draft when you’re getting tons of criticism every 2,000 words or so.  That’s another disadvantage to writing something specifically for a writing group.  It’s not something I can’t overcome–I’ll just have to acknowledge the criticism and put it off until I finish the rough draft–but that’s hard to do in such an environment.

One thing that is true is that I’m more in my comfort zone in Quark than I am in 318.  Does that mean that I’m making more progress in 318 than in Quark?  That the feedback I’m getting in 318 is better because it’s making me uncomfortable?  It might–but honestly, we get some really good feedback in Quark.  Every time I’ve submitted something, I’ve come away with an “aha!” feeling, and a clear idea of what flaws I need to fix, as well as the motivation to do it.  When I come away from 318, I tend to be more confused and demotivated.  Not that I haven’t gotten good feedback from the 318 writing group–it just remains to be seen which critiques are better.

So, which approach works better?  Right now, I’d say we have a really good writing group going in Quark, but I’m not quite sure yet whether the 318 group is better or worse.  Now, I’m leaning towards saying it’s worse, but it’s not totally useless, and besides that, it’s only been a couple of weeks.  I won’t really know which approach is better until the end of the semester.