A New Forum
by Michael Matheny
Hi, people! This is the Mad Mick, aka Michael Matheny, sounding off in the first of a series of writing tips for new fiction writers. The reason I'm doing this is that in the past several years, many people - more than I can count, in fact - have showed up at my doorstep, either with incredibly bad fiction that they were quite proud of, or, conversely, some pretty good efforts that they didn't know what to do with or were unable to take pride in. So after repeating myself to these people over and over again, it was quite natural that I should complain to my lovely companion and publisher, Cantara.
She listened to me with saintly patience and said, "Why don't you start a blog?"
"A blog?" I cried (being somewhat computer illiterate). "That sounds like some sort of expletive that should be deleted."
She shook her head, sat me down, and explained to me that a blog, short for weblog, was merely a sort of online diary or journal that could be read by just about everyone on the planet.
"That's for me!" I said. "I'll write it, if you will make sure it gets out there into, whatchacall it, cyberspace." She agreed, and found me this space in the blogosphere that I'm writing in now.
So, for the last couple of weeks or so, having been given this new type of forum to be able to say whatever the hell I want, naturally I've been struggling with the problem - what the hell do I want to say?
I'll tell you what I came up with in my next posting.
[Transferred from howtowriteanovel.blogspot.com]
Cantara Christopher
1 Comment
Reader Comments (1)
I never thought I'd teach a workshop/class, but I will be doing a series of small ones in my small mountain town, and yes, for a small fee (very small - and part of the fees will go to the Friends of the Library) - the fee makes up for any costs in printing, etc, believe me, I won't get rich off this *smile* -- but, the goal is to encourage - to teach writers so that things they may be doing instinctively make sense: voice, tone, point of view, etc. To Just Sit Your Butt in the chair and Write!
I remember those AHA! moments when I took a couple of writing classes at Louisiana State University about 5 or six years ago - this AHA moment of: "so that's what it's called! What I'm doing has a name!" However, through those classes, and a year or so at a good writer's group, I learned more about myself as a writer-what I was instinctively doing, what I needed to stop doing (laugh-like too much alliteration!) and I became confident, strong - I realized I had a gift.
After that, the conferences, groups, etc, mainly came to be about mingling - spending time with other writers (writing is a lonely business) and I rarely attend at that. I learned that I didn't need those things anymore. Maybe I'd have learned that anyway, but without the support, without the feedback, without someone else(a professor, a fellow writer) looking at me and saying, "You have a gift..." it may have taken me longer...who knows.
I will push my own workshop/classes out of business because I will teach writers to listen to their own instincts, their voices, their talents and gifts - to practice practice practice writing - and to read, always read. I will teach them that everything is already waiting inside-they've only to believe, to write, to never give up, to find their own way, not the way of someone else.
Oh, I could talk about writing all day - here I've gone and written a novel in a comment *blush*
Kathryn