Writing Wrongs

October 26, 2006

Now, see, I almost hesitated posting yesterday since I worried everyone would think I was talking specifically about them. I wasn�t. What I really want to talk about is deliberate practice when it comes to writing.

Plain old writing: This is where you sit down and simply write--anything. Natalie Goldberg calls this writing practice. The whole idea is to put words on the page, not necessarily in any coherent form.

Here�s the thing. I feel that a part of writing is purely physical, be it typing on the keyboard or writing longhand. I�m not really familiar enough for other creative outlets, but I�ve never heard of anyone scoffing if an artist sketches, or a musician practices scales, a dancer stretches and does warm ups.

But when it comes to writing, people tend to think you plop down in a chair and brilliant prose flows from your fingertips.

Hardly.

I know a writer who dislikes writing �wasted� scenes for a novel. Thing is, I can�t look at any writing as wasted. How could it be? If something didn�t work, well, at the very least, you what doesn�t work.

The next hurdle is taking writing practice and turning it into deliberate practice. I also think in the realm of deliberate practice, the needs of the writer change over time. What complicates matters is sometimes it�s difficult to distinguish growing pains from a truly painful (as in damaging) situation.

Conventional wisdom says, if you can�t suck it up in a writers� group, well, you can�t suck it up in general. Can�t stand the heat, blah, blah, blah. However, not all critique situations are created equal--like any relationship, they can be dysfunctional. Some really put the �dis� in dysfunctional.

Figuring out what you need to grow and protect the work can be a long, hard road. Some people thrive in a workshop environment; some do not. Some writers reach a certain level and stay there. I�ve noticed this in particular at an online writing site I frequent. I�ve been there for enough years to see the same writers making the same exact mistakes.

It made me wonder what mistakes I was making (sure, you think I�m writing about you, but maybe it�s all about me, Me, ME). I�m not talking about oops, missed a comma type of mistake, I�m talking about the self-sabotaging ones that keep us from whatever it is we want.

I know I started the year feeling as though I was on a plateau with no hope of going anywhere, except maybe backsliding. What I did was sit down and figure out what I wanted when it came to writing. Then, I looked at how I both learn best and enjoy learning. Based on that, I charted out a path.

With a few minor exceptions, I haven�t strayed from that path this year. And, I learned from those minor exceptions--dude, don�t stray from the path.

Not yet, at least. Not until I reach the next plateau.

Charity Tahmaseb wrote at 10:21 a.m.

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