Tag: Workshops

A Twelfth of Carrabis (Dec 2024 Newsletter)

(we’re doing something different. let me know what you think)


It is December and soon we will celebrate another turn around the sun. We are never alone on this journey, and I wonder how many appreciate we circle the sun, our sun circles the near clusters, the near clusters move through a great arm of the Milky Way, the Milky Way travels with it’s galactic neighbors in a near-eternity long dance, and the universe itself expands and we move on an arrow’s trajectory with it.

Taking all the accelerations, all the motions, all the movements into account humbles me. Philosophies range from a single Great Creator to the randomness of quantum strings, and I add the caveats that if there is a single Great Creator, their mathematical skills are amazing, and if quantum strings, go deeply enough in the quantum universe and there is no such thing as randomness.

Read further in this newsletter and you’ll notice some different formatting. Many thanks to Sister Rika Chandra‘s help and guidance (I’m not visual, she is) in making “A Twelfth of Carrabis” more readable and (we hope) more engaging.

I mentioned last month I’m thinking of redoing my website. The redo is ongoing albeit slowly as some changes require a bit of coding (blech!).

December 2024 Announcements

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Barry Longyear’s “Science Fiction Writer’s Workshop – I: An Introduction to Fiction Mechanics”

A Series of Open Book Exams on Writing, Regardless of Genre

This is another book I picked up years ago during my first round at writing. Longyear signed it and I’d highlighted parts of it so obviously read it before and didn’t remember doing so.

The power of this book is that it’s written from a student’s perspective. Longyear (I’m thrilled to see he’s still active. I lost track of him for several years) puts in the effort to remember his mistakes and the mistakes of others, and show the reader how to correct them. Another strength is the book’s examples – mostly from Longyear himself – with detailed explanations of what’s wrong with them and how to fix them.

 
Each chapter comes complete with an extensive Q&A/Study guide at the end, every answer to which can be found in that chapter or by combining knowledge gained from previous chapters with the current chapter. Anybody remember “Open book exams”? This is one and it’s a wonderful training program.

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Writers Groups – Critiquing Methods – Ruled to Death

Beware the Sayer of the Law

This is the last installment of a thread covering critiquing methods I’ve encountered in my writing career. This post is a catch-all for any workshop/critiquing group that hands you a list of rules you have to follow. I highlight three distinct types I’ve encountered.

Review
Finding a critique group that’s good for you is based on one question:

What is your goal/reason for being in a critique group?

 
My goal is simple and direct; improve my storytelling and storycrafting/increase my skill levels/learn my craft.

Rules
Any time or place a group of people get together for a single purpose, rules will apply. The best rules are those shaped by consensus and accepted democratically. They may be spoken, unspoken, written, tacked on a wall, handed out, understood, …
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Writers Groups – Critiquing Methods – Forced Positives/False Positives

Does it count if I say “I love the font you used!”?

This is the fourth installment of a thread covering critiquing methods I’ve encountered in my writing career. This post discusses a critiquing method wherein participants have to say something nice about a submission before they can critique it.

Review
Finding a critique group that’s good for you is based on one question:

What is your goal/reason for being in a critique group?

 
My goal is simple and direct; improve my storytelling and storycrafting/increase my skill levels/learn my craft.

You have to say something nice
These critique groups vary from “You have to say something nice first” to “You can only say nice things”. This format falls under a larger format I call “Ruled to Death”. The You have to say something nice format occurs so often I’m giving it its own post.

First thing; if a critique group has this rule in place, it’s probably a reaction to harsh and perhaps abusive activity. Get out while you can!
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Writers Groups – Critiquing Methods – The Month Long Read

You’ve had it a month and all you can offer is “You use the word ‘blue’ a lot”?

This is the third installment of a thread covering critiquing methods I’ve encountered in my writing career. This post discusses a critiquing method wherein participants receive copies of work ahead of time (usually a month), read it, comment in writing, then meet to share their thoughts and suggestions once per month at which time they also provide the author with their written comments.

Review
Finding a critique group that’s good for you is based on one question:

What is your goal/reason for being in a critique group?

 
My goal is simple and direct; improve my storytelling and storycrafting/increase my skill levels/learn my craft.

Participants have a month to read and comment on a manuscript. No reading during the group (except for example purposes)
Most of my experience comes from groups like this. The majority of the sessions are devoted to critiquing. Socializing occurs after the critiquing session (although people often bring shareable munchies because the sessions are held in private homes or reserved rooms in libraries, et cetera).

The good is that people have had a month to read, comment, review their comments, come up with solutions to what they consider a problem, …, the negative is that people will get used to your style, genre, et cetera (something I mentioned in Writers Groups – Critiquing Methods – Read ’em and Weep).

Let me share an anecdote to demonstrate this.
Continue reading “Writers Groups – Critiquing Methods – The Month Long Read”