Tuesday Writing Essential Creative Writing Project - Take 2

Warning: This will be long. The good news is that you have as long as you want to read it. Feel free to take lunch and dinner breaks, and to come back tomorrow if you don’t finish today.

This week will be open fiction. I will accept any fiction that shows consideration for writing technique and feature posts that involve WeeWE characters.

When I started the Interactive Writing Project, I didn’t know what to expect. Would I have two takers or two hundred? Would they be experienced writers, new writers, or a mix? Would they be people who know me or had never heard of me and would they like or hate me? Would they want to challenge me or hope I would challenge them? How many hecklers would show up and could I deal with it? Which would people want more, instruction or fun? How much time would people be willing to put into this?

I started with an idea but there was no way to define the plan; it would be a learn-as-you-go project for all of us. In watching how things unfolded and reviewing the comments on my last post, I think I know what went right and what went wrong.

In short, you guys succeeded but I failed in a few areas. The successes were the overwhelming response and eagerness I saw in others to not only create and develop characters, but also to write stories, the way different groups had come together and were motivating each other, and the writing.

People were writing and reading, and enjoying it – on Gather! I was ecstatic.

My big mistakes were in not being prepared for the overwhelming response and in not clearly defining goals and procedures. For those who weren’t here the first week, I have panic attacks when anything feels like work. Writing goals, policies, and procedures is dangerously close to job description details for me. However, I understand now that a little work on my part will make this more fun for everyone else, so I will bite the bullet and post this ‘for the record’ guide to use as reference.

I have decided to continue this project with some fine-tuning and explanation. Those who were involved before may continue with the same characters, start new characters, or both. (Several readers expressed sadness over the loss of characters they had come to love.) You might want to keep several characters and use the one that will best fit, or be the most fun with the week’s exercise.

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For the Record Guide to Interactive Creative Writing Project

The goal is for people who are serious about writing* and learning together to have fun while doing so. In order to protect the goal and all members, Rule #1 is that open, honest critique**(see house rules for critique below) is welcome. Anyone not willing and able to accept critique should not join this project.

Rule #2 - NO PRESSURE. There are no deadlines, no requirements for reading or comment reciprocation, no minimum or maximum word count (other than no one-liners), no sugar-coat critique clause, no obligation to read everything posted, no expectation to like everyone involved or everything posted.

Rule #3 - anyone who agrees to Rule #1 is welcome, regardless of writing experience, genre, age, sex, sexual orientation, sexual deviation, race, friends, location, and, (this is hard) political or religious affiliations. However, you enter this project with the understanding that people who do not share your beliefs or interests are under no obligation to read your work.

Rule #4 – since this is a writing group, discussion will be limited to comments about storylines and writing technique. For example, if I decide to read a story in which the character is Sarah Palin’s best friend, I should refrain from political comments about what a loser I think Sarah Palin is and stick to comments about spelling, grammar, characterization, punctuation, plot, etc. If I divorced or disconnected from the writer last week, I should not discuss child support or talk about our personal problems in this group. (Post all the articles you want about this person outside the group.)

Rule #5 – Any ideas?

Several people requested more focus on technique. I will try to incorporate more in my posts and ask you to bring lessons to the group also. Let us know which writing books you like, where you find the information you use in your critiques, your favorite links, why you prefer one style over the other. Tell us about your favorite genres and the trends you are seeing in books you read. Share what you learn in workshops, classes, and local critique groups.

Some people wanted deadlines and others said real life got in the way of deadlines. The only way I can work around this is to allow each person to do what works for him/her. Assume a “more people will read if I get this done soon” deadline but know that we all understand that real life comes first and will welcome your work when your schedule allows.

I did not coordinate or explain one important component of the ‘interactive’ part of this project well in the past. The idea is to have you place your character in someone else’s scene. My failure to explain led many to believe they were to place someone else’s character in their scene. I firmly believe that I get to know my characters better by taking them to an experience that I would never write in my story. I still hope to convince the rest of you that this is an invaluable experience in character building.

I also want to involve more people from different interests and talents. Artists are invited to illustrate their interpretations of our written characters and scenes. Short story writers might want to submit a story for us to drop our characters into. Readers may submit challenges. There’s something for everyone – let me know how you would like to be involved and I will do my best to work exercises around your interests.

Always – I am open to suggestions and criticism.

Finally, I am sending an announcement of this post to all Writing Essential members this week to see if there widespread interest in this project. If not, I will consider taking this project out of that group.

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*Serious about writing does not mean writing about serious topics or writing perfectly. It means caring about how you write regardless of what you write, and being open to critique/discussion of what you write.

** Critique is not a dirty word or a negative experience. For the purposes of this project, no one is required to offer critique but everyone is required to accept critique. This does not mean you must agree with every bit of advice you receive. Critique should generate discussion. I will post a separate critique guide this week.

Again, Firefox crashes when I try to upload photos. I've tried several times, with the same result so will now post without group icons.