I have two problems with my writing group. The first is they don’t want to read memoirs. A f
ew weeks ago, I sent my agent a completed
draft of the memoir I’ve been ghost writing. The pages she recently returned to
me are filled with line edits. I’m not surprised there are so many markups since, other than a few friends and a client, these pages haven’t been read and critiqued by anyone. I could feel bad that I didn’t send her a pristine, perfect, flawless manuscript. I could kick
myself for not being more careful or for not finding all of the missing commas,
for using bungled sentence structures and getting my theirs and theres
confused, but I won’t. I’ll just blame it on my writing group and their
annoying refusal to read memoirs.
The other problem I have with my writing group is that it takes too long to get an entire book through critique. We only meet a couple times a month and I only get my turn every other meeting. It takes about a year to have every page read and critiqued. It’s simply not fast enough. I want it to be all about me! I want it to be MY writing group. I want them to only focus on making my pages better instead of this annoying turn taking thing we have gong on.
Both of my ‘problems’ are ridiculous of course. I don’t blame them for wanting to stick to fiction. Hell, I prefer reading fiction too.
And of course we take turns. I’ve read a few good books this year and four of them are the books my group has been writing.
If we didn’t trade turns, I’d never have the opportunity to appreciate how fantastically talented they all are.
But it does suck that I don’t have that trusted set of eyes on the memoir I’m writing. I could use their take on things. And I do wish I could get their input faster. I’d like to be able to spit out pages and get instant feedback. I constantly need that blended
group of folks who smack me upside the head when I’m way off track or tell me to rip out entire sections when they get bored to tears.
Seeing all of the red marks and changes my agent left is stark validation that, despite my problems with them, my writing group is important to my process, no matter how much they might annoy me.
M. L. Doyle has served in the U.S. Army at home and abroad for more than two decades as both a soldier and civilian. Mary is the author of The Desert Goddess series, an urban fantasy romp consisting of The Bonding Spell and The Bonding Blade. She has also penned The Master Sergeant Harper mystery series which has earned numerous awards including an IPPY, a Lyra Award and the Carrie McCray Literary Award. Mary is the co-author of two memoirs; A Promise Fulfilled; the story of a Wife and Mother, Soldier and General Officer (Jan. 201) and the memoir, I’m Still Standing: From Captive U.S. Soldier to Free Citizen—My Journey Home (Touchstone, 2010), which was nominated for an NAACP Image award. Mary's work has been published by The Goodman Project, The War Horse, The WWrite Blog and The Wrath-Bearing Tree, an online magazine for which she serves as a fiction editor. A Minneapolis, Minnesota native, Mary current lives in Baltimore. You can reach her at her website at mldoyleauthor.com.
One comment on “Two problems with my writing group”
I hear ya on the taking forever to get through a book. Reading things piecemeal over such a long period of time is challenging. I saw my own book in a different light during the final editing process because I finally read it as an actual book. But I don't know of a better way (or fairer way) to get input quicker. If only we had more time to write, read, and critique!