Perhaps the most useful aspect of a workshop—more useful than the critiques, which are often all over the map—is the irreplaceable and salutary terror of public performance. Putting up a piece before a workshop is in effect publishing it, and the workshop offers many new writers their first exposure to the very best teaching tool, which is one’s own self-recrimination after putting up a piece that the writer knew in her/his heart wasn’t quite ready.

– Fenton Johnson, in VQR’s “Thoughts on the Process: a Conversation about Writing with Fenton Johnson”

This excellent reminder comes from the post “Critiquing” is not “Editing”:

Critiquing is not the same as editing. If the friend is “editing drastically,” the result is no longer a critique but a rewrite.

Sometimes we can forget this, eager as we are to accept help from others, and lose our voice in the process.

I encourage you to visit Daily Writing Tips every day for insightful advice like this.

Where I Write is a collection of photographs of fantasy and science fiction authors’ “creative spaces”. I wish my creative space were as marvelous as some of these!

Where do you write? What do you like about it? What do you wish you could change?

(Thanks to my writing group leader David for the link.)

To live in this world

you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.

Another period of grieving is upon us. When I read Mary Oliver’s words, my heart is momentarily lighter.

“What” is used for topics of unlimited or unspecified number. For example, if you knew that your friend heard live music last night, but you had no idea which band it might have been, you would ask him: “What band did you see last night?”

On the other hand, “which” is used for topics of limited number. For example, if you knew that your friend went to a specific live music event put on by three bands, you would ask him: “Which band did you see last night?”

The difference between the two is minimal, but precision makes your writing — and speech, for that matter — all the more effective.

This fact about me is why it is so strange that soon I will celebrate my third anniversary with my writing group. Although it is not so strange; I love being anywhere near these other writers, now that we have become friends, and it is a great pleasure and honor for me to help them with their stories.

We get together every other Wednesday night, and either critique each others’ drafts or write our own. One of the main reasons I have not given up after so many rounds of rejection is because of our little group. We all experience similar trials, and we all understand the necessity of these trials. We can rely on each other for honest feedback and solid support. Most of all, we genuinely enjoy working together and want to see each other succeed.

As you navigate your own way through the turbulence and frustration, I cannot stress enough the importance of fellow writers. I found my group through craigslist, but there are plenty of other ways to connect with other writers. You can search social networking sites like Facebook for groups devoted to writing, or event-sharing sites like Upcoming for writing-related tags. If you have an online presence, it helps to share excerpts of your work when appropriate; please note that some periodicals may count these excerpts as “prior publications”. I will address this topic, and others, in upcoming posts.