Mused
January 2017 ~ Mela Saylor
January
is always a good time to take stock of our situations and make a plan for
improvement in all things – and of course I mean writing or any creative
endeavor. Practice makes perfect, but if we’re practicing our craft wrong in
the first place, continued practice is not going to help us at all. In February it will be three years since I
have picked up a crochet hook and a ball of yarn. I can look back and visibly
see the improvement in my crocheting. I
found good teachers on the internet and watched them until I understood and saw
exactly what they were doing. There are
many people on Youtube who have tutorials and some of them are not good. They’re confusing and shouldn’t be there in
the first place, but hey – it’s a free country.
It’s left up to the viewer to discern the difference between good
teaching and bad. And now after three
years I understand a lot more than I did when I first started.
And
so it should also be with our writing, for that also is a craft. Some would argue that writing is a talent
that many are born with. I don’t
disagree. Some people have a natural affinity toward writing, many of whom
write “by ear” – not exactly knowing the rules of grammar and composition but
knowing what good writing is by hearing it.
However, for the majority of people, writing is and can be learned. To all who read this – please assume you are
one of the majority until you are told by someone who actually knows something
that you are not. This is not said as a
derogatory statement, but one from a teaching standpoint. In order to learn, one must be teachable.
To be teachable, one must never argue or make excuses when a correction
is suggested. That is one standing rule of critique group – to listen and not
argue your point. Besides, your words
must stand without any explanation. If
they can’t stand alone, you’ve some serious work to do.
I
have spoken to a writing mentor of mine and asked what one thing should I be working
on that will help improve my writing. I
plan on concentrating on that this year. No matter where we are as
writers, we have room to improve. The point is that we grow in our writing. Don’t go to family members for feedback. Your
family and friends aren’t going to be honest, really. There is always room for correction and even
if they knew anything about writing they wouldn’t hurt you for the world. Flattery
isn’t going to improve anyone’s writing. Whose mother doesn’t think they’re a
genius?
Find
someone who is more experienced – and published
in the area in which you are writing and ask them what you should be
working on. Don’t go to a novelist for
advice if you’re writing poetry – and don’t go to a poet if you’re writing
essays, articles or even short stories. Even
within the realm of poetry there is a wide array of opinion and disagreement on
style and form. Sometimes there are no
rules to be found in poetry. It may not
be so, but many times it seems to me like there’s an “anything goes” attitude, much
like a “personal truth” Find a person in your niche that you can
trust for an honest educated opinion.
