Don't Listen to Dummies

FICTION WRITING LESSONS, December 2006

DON'T LISTEN TO DUMMIES
by zentao

Writing is a lonely pursuit, and feedback is in short supply. Rejection slips don't usually tell you much about why an agent or editor refused to take your work which, if you receive enough of them on one work, then another, then yet every other you submit, can prove terribly disheartening. Those writers who survive the first and second rounds of rejection will sometimes seek out a local "real world" and/or an Internet writer's group with which to interact in the hopes of gaining feedback about what's "wrong" with their stories and to share their experiences in a sort of "misery loves company" commiseration-fest.

That is all well and good. Support groups and critiques by other knowledgeable writers can and do often benefit you IF YOU KNOW HOW TO USE THE INFORMATION — WHAT TO THROW OUT AS NOT APPLICABLE TO YOUR STYLE AND STORY, AND WHAT TO KEEP. Sadly, however, it's a catch 22. You have to own the knowledge in order to know which knowledge applies to your writing, and finding knowledgeable feedback can be like trying to find teeth from a hen — very unlikely. Best bet? It certainly isn't Sally-Jo's writer's group that meets at the local library once every week or two. Nor is it some wide-open Internet venue where anyone can participate and/or access your work for the paltry limitation of a wide-open registration of valid email address and/or user name/password (First Rights violation right there according to the more persnickety of publishers). But it isn't just the problem of Sally-Jo or first rights to which you need pay attention. You as a beginning or intermediate writer are vulnerable to everyone's suggestion of "fix." Even advanced writers and pros will suffer damage to their writer's psyches, their styles, their method, if someone manages to say just the wrong thing which they take to heart, manipulating them away from what works best for them.

As a creative writer, you very much need to understand that, just because someone may know something about the craft, doesn't mean that what they know is what you need to hear. And, quite honestly, most writers who spend a great deal of time on the Internet aren't knowledgeable. Otherwise, they would be writing, not surfing open writer's forums, perpetually posting as evidenced by their post count. In point of fact, most who do are simply parroting back what they have heard another say to them or read in a book, having assimilated it without actually understanding deep underlying principles and their significance in application. Oh, yes, they'll stand on their memorized knowledge, pounding the pulpit until you either succumb to their perspective or move elsewhere. They must. It's all they know and it's what keeps them in good standing with their resident clique. Especially damaging are those who tell you, "You can't do it that way!" Ummm...yes, you can...if you know how to do it so it works. So what to do? Read books, read articles, keep thinking and making decisions that work for your work, and, finally, keep writing and submitting to markets. Sooner or later something will break for you, or some editor or agent, familiar with your name and impressed by your persistence, will offer you a tidbit of advice.

Desperately need feedback? How about looking up your old high school English teacher, or maybe a college prof who took a shine to your work?

Lesson TOC (Table of Contents)...4

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