There are too many terrible people finding success as writers. Get your writing out there, to counter-balance their suckiness with your amazingness!
In a week when a(nother) rockstar writer is falling from their pedestal, I made a case for the rest of us being brave enough to complete and release our work into the world; to flood the reading public with good options, and not worry about what might happen if we accidentally become successful.
A writing prompt all about character needs, to make your storytelling compelling
Characters need to need something. They need to want something. Otherwise, it’s just a series of things happening to a character…and readers won’t care.
In this episode I share a writing prompt and lesson from my year-long email series, StoryAWeek, which you can start today,all about creating a story in which a character needs something.
I also talk about creating suspense in creative and marketing writing, and about why it’s so important to build a writing practice.
good morning good evening good afternoon Julie from story a day here and here we are in June of 2024 at least I am I don’t know when you’re listening to this or watching this but we have just wrapped up the 15th story of day May and now what I know like I was coming to you during the month with lots of live stuff all about how the writing was going and if you were participating I’m sure that was fascinating if you weren’t participating maybe it inspired you or maybe weren’t paying any attention to it because you’re in a rest period or you just didn’t want to hear about somebody else’s success writing when you weren’t having any I totally get that but I’m going to talk to you about a bunch of things today that I hope will help you short circuit that response in your brain we have all struggled with it when somebody else’s work is going well their creativity is going well it can be fertile ground for the green eyed monster we get envious and we beat ourselves up for not being as productive as that person
all kinds of things can happen that we don’t want to happen they’re just happening in our brains and our bodies and we don’t want them to so one of the things I want to talk to you the theme for the month of June here at story a day is refine it’s part of my I, WRITER framework where we talk about your writing in different slices so that we can look at the writing life in different discret slices and not get overwhelmed by all the things so I divided the writing life up into these different slices which are
Imagine
Write
Refine
Improve
Triumph
Engage and
Repeat
They all apply at different times in your writing different processes in your writing different stages in your writing and they apply in different ways so this month I’m going to look at the concept of refining it’s a really good time to do it right now because if you were writing a lot in May or if you’ve ever gone through a phase when you’ve been writing a lot you can take what you learned during that writing phase and you’re not going to be able to sustain that pace and intensity of writing forever so you take a little time afterwards to look at what happened and refine your practice in light of what you just did what you learned about yourself and your writing and in light of what season of life you’re in what is going on in the rest of your life what your goals are which will change as you go through your life and your writing process
so this month thinking about refining
it’s a it’s a nebulous concept so let me go into it a little better
there’s different areas of your writing that you might think about refining either the systems that you have in place or your approach to getting started or how you pursue the things that you want to do everything that we do tends to have a system even if we don’t think of ourselves as particularly systematic people for example thinking my my the default system for most people if they don’t stick to their plans is if if I don’t stick to my goals if I don’t meet my expectations then I am going to feel bad about myself and give up and ignore that thing for months so that I don’t have to feel bad about myself that’s the default setting in our operating system and once I point that out to people they hopefully have a little chuckle and then they take a look at what could they do to tweak and rewrite that system I encourage people during the story of day challenge to refine that process that system to be not if I fail to write on day 10 then that’s it I’ve blown up the whole Challenge and I’ll just try again next year
I encourage people to set themselves a rule at the beginning of the challenge which says something like if I miss a day I will write on the next day or not miss two days or and that can be some people set the challenge so that they are only writing three days a week and this would still apply if you’re going to planning to write on Monday Wednesday Friday and you skipped Wednesday you just forgot you got busy you just something happened you just decided you weren’t going to write that day the rule would be don’t miss Friday as well right so the system that we don’t think of as a system is happening anyway
I don’t think of myself as a systematic or routine person at all but every morning when I get up I have a cup of coffee people always say oh do a thing and attach it to brushing your teeth but brushing my teeth can happen at different times for me it depends when I wake up up it depends when but having a coffee somewhere in the hour after I wake up almost always happens I always wash my hands after I’ve been in the bathroom I so there’s certain things that are just systems that we have in our lives that we don’t think of as systems and sometimes they have developed and they are harming us like after lunch I always want a little snack of something sweet I don’t need it I need to put a system in place where something good happens after lunch that doesn’t involve more food so that’s that can be systematized so that’s the kind of thing I want to talk about over the next few episodes of the podcast
and the first topic I want to tackle here because it is seems like the obvious one after Story of day May finishes is how do you figure out which of your stories you want to keep and work on what you want to do with those ones and how to let the other ones go now I think some of it is is just intuitive some of it is just really obvious to you there will be a lot of things that people wrote during story of day May that they are happy to go that was a really interesting experiment don’t need to go back to that one don’t need to save it don’t need to look at it again that was it lived up to my challenge of writing every day and that’s about all I can say about it and that’s fabulous because it did help you build a system where you could write every day for a month doesn’t matter that the end product was this misshapen little lump of a story that’s fine there will there be some stories which have stuck in your head maybe one and you think I think there’s something there but I’m not sure how do you find out
this is the point at which you may need some feedback from other people
now there are writers in my group in my Superstars group and in my world who are writing things that are very personal and very close to them and they’re not ready for feedback and they they whenever I bring up the topic of critique week they’re apologetic and they’re like I’m not sure if I should know if you’re writing a memoir and it’s very close to you or youe a very personal story or something that that you’re still working on and molding and you’re still having a productive relationship with it absolutely do not show it to anyone if you’re not finished with it if you haven’t got stuck yet it may not be necessary for you or safe for you to get feedback yet
I certainly have had people who’ve shared things a little too soon in the process and they’ve been a little burned because and then this happens in a lot of writing groups it doesn’t happen too often in M because I am quite careful about saying to people don’t share anything that you’re or when you do share it okay I’m going jumping ahead wait for that I’m going to finish that thought in a minute but you don’t have to share anything before you’re ready there’s a difference between knowing you’re ready and just being scared to share it I think the the dividing Lane is if you’ve done as much as you can with it for the moment and it’s not going to make you cry to talk about it it doesn’t matter if you cry but if if you’ve gone as far with it as you can at the moment and you’re just like I need some feedback on this then you can share it with someone
if you’re still connected to it and working on it and molding it then you maybe don’t need feedback on it yet if you think you might have a piece that is ready to get some feedback
there’s a couple of things to do one is to find a place to get feedback another is to build a system where you are conly going to get feedback for your writing once you’re at that stage where you’re writing a fair amount you’re going to need feedback on an ongoing basis and building a system to get feedback from other people even if it’s just does this make any sense where are the plot holes that kind of that kind of thing is really useful does it make any sense as a basic question or did or did this come out of my head onto the page or did I leave a lot of stuff up there is a really valid question so a system for doing that on a regular basis is really worth developing now there’s a couple of ways you can do that
I have imposed that system on people in my Superstars group because three times a year we get together for what I call critique week and I’ll put a link in the I’ll put a link in the description here because it’s open at the moment we’re doing it towards the end of June the registration period is open now but you can go over to that link anytime you see this or hear this and you can sign up for the wait list at which point we will I’ll send you some information I’ll send you reminders for the next one so that is for my Superstars they know that every four months or so there’s going to be me popping up in front of them going hey got anything for critique and they have to screw their courage up and pick something and get it into whatever shape they want and and formulate some questions because this is the other thing
I think that you should have a system or a process that you go through when you give someone something for feedback and the process could be as simple as sending it to them and what do you think but that’s not super productive you really want to have some questions for people and the most basic questions I I think you should introduce your your piece when you give it to somebody for feedback with a little note saying where it is in the process EG this is super first drafty I know there’s lots of spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes and word choices I’m going to refine later but I just want to know does the story work that’s a really useful place to start you can tell people this is a super first draft E I don’t need a copy edit right now I’m looking for big picture things like does the story work are the characters interesting that kind of thing
if you’re at the other end of the process you can say this is getting I’m getting ready to send this out to a market for potentially publication I really would appreciate some fine grain feedback on this where are the places where you were I was losing you your interest where think think about pacing think about what questions do you have so there’s setting the expectation for the people who are giving you feedback about the work where it is in its process is very useful also setting people’s expectation about where you are as a writer is very useful this is
where I see most people get hurt in critique groups it is that they have put something into kind of a BL submission critique group and they’re getting feedback from people who are in from their own place of Readiness if I have been writing for 15 years and going to critique groups for 15 years and I’ve heard all of the suggestions and I’m trying to implement all of that my writing is in a different place and I’m looking for a different kind of feedback from someone who is just nervously coming back to their writing for the first time and they’re doing things which I know are going to get slammed in a more by a more experienced writer things like they’re you’re showing not telling Oh no you’re telling not showing or you’re jumping from one perspective to another if you could tell people listen I’m just coming back to writing I really just the kind of feedback I want is this even readable is it worth my while to pursue this and work on my craft what bits did you like what parts of my craft maybe do you think I need to work on next these could be questions but if you let people know that you’re just like a timid little baby bunny coming back to the edge of the writing Garden then people if they have any conscience will give you gentler but still constructive feedback than if you’re like all right I’ve been doing this for a while I’m getting frustrated with the fact that it’s getting rejections from editors and I really need some cold hard editorial what the heck is wrong with this kind of critique it will still be constructive at least in my group but it will be much more it’ll just have a different slant letting people know building process for yourself where you reach out for feedback on a regular basis and also building a process for yourself where you set up that in a way that you will get the kind of feedback you need these are things that you can practice this is a a process that you can create you can refine as you go along taking the feedback if you go and send a piece into your local writer group critique and you get blasted with feedback that’s just totally not appropriate to where you are in your writing life you could give up writing or you could vow to refine your process such that you either don’t go back to that writing group again or you ask the organizer is it okay for me to put a note at the top of this saying this is where I am in my process or this is where my work is in its process and here’s the kind of feedback that I’m looking for and if the organizer says no that might not be the group for you and if the organizer says hey that’s a great idea we’re going to take that and incorporate into our processes and procedures then yay everybody wins so refining the process of how you look for and take and ask for feedback is something that is going to result in you getting better feedback and seeing it all as a process it’s not it is how you win it’s not something this whole writing life is not something that you do once and you get a big win and then you are done hopefully it’s an activity that you will continue to do and get joy from for the rest of your life and one stumble is not the end of the world one stumble is something that you can learn from and the next stumble that you’re going to make is something that you can learn from and the next stumble after that you will learn from and all of these things will change and you will if you are alive and breathing and pushing yourself forward you’re going to continue to make you’re going to continue to stumble because it’s when we are down there on the ground we see the details and we see what needs to happen next you’re always going to be making mistakes and so we keep need to keep refining our process as we level up we’re going to make different mistakes and or or have suboptimal experiences and so we refine our process for that level and as we level up there are things that we’ll need refined and changed not reinvented entirely just refined and it’s an ongoing process so in terms of feedback do do you have a system for getting feedback and does it look like I want to get feedback on this because I want to know if it’s any good and how I can make it better oh my goodness that’s too scary I’m just going to put it away and write something new that could be your system that is a lot of people’s process or do you is it I need to find a critique group but that idea is so overwhelming I’m just going to not think about it for a while maybe next year that is process and if you’ve done it more than once it’s a process I would suggest that you get yourself either into or on the mailing list for the story a day critique group because it is a place that is very understanding of the stages that people’s work and people as writers are in and it’s incredibly constructive and supportive you can get feedback that is high level from people who think about writing all the time and who are working on their writing seriously so go over to the link in the description which is story a day or / critique week and have a think about if you are not going to if you’re not going to join a formal group like the critique week then think about how you could get some feedback on your writing do you want to share it with some trusted readers if you have friends who who love to read do you want to get together with some other writers that you know I will say that I had a system that was working really well for me for a long time where I would get together for lunch with some writing buddies who I’d met in another writing group and while the the majority of the members of that group I would you know nice to see them once a month there were a couple of people there who I really liked and got along with and gelled with and so we decided we were going to go out for lunch every other week and we would send each other Pages before the lunch and then we would write and that worked for a long time we were writing buddies who got together and held each other accountable and even if the the other person didn’t comment on the pages just knowing you had to send them was a good process that process broke down a little bit because we went from being just writing buddies to being friends who write and our lunch has got a little looser and we talk about a lot of stuff and we don’t oh and we’re a little too generous with each other when somebody hasn’t written anything we’re like I know you’re busy I know you had a grandkid I know it’s so that process at this point needs a little refinement and either we need to get more strict with each other or we need to accept the fact that this is now just a buddy lunch among with with you like to write so there are ways to do these there are different ways to do this when you are in a formal group where you’re investing some cash in the deal it tends to be a little more motivating because you’re nobody’s going to let you off the hook and you feel the responsibility to the other people in the group to show up to submit your work on time to review their work and make leave your comments on their work things like that so that is also one of the reasons I only run the critique group uh three times a year because it is a serious commitment um it does it runs over 10 days and and I don’t want people to be overwhelmed by it but I do want them to have it on a regular schedule so that they know if they aren’t ready to put something into the June one they’ll be ready for the October one or the February one and they know it’s coming round again and again so they can do that so the Perils of doing an ad hoc feedback system is that the system breaks down and there’s nothing that requires you to refine the system and make it work again and you may not want to I’m not sure I want to crack the whip with my lunch ladies I like out with them and talking about all kinds of stuff and probably we have seasons where we’re more productive and not it’s that might be fine for you too so hopefully that’s given you something to think about in terms of what do you do to get feedback on your writing what is your current system is it do you have a good system in place are you a superstar and you always have something that you put into critique weak come hell or high water or is it a little more loose than that or is your system I should probably get some feedback on this oh my my goodness that’s too scary I’ll think about it next year that’s fine for a while but if you want to make progress in your writing you’re going to have to face up to some of the scary stuff as well and I Endeavor to make the scary stuff at least a little more fun when I run events in story a day so that’s what the critique week is all about it’s I’m not saying it won’t be scary but you will come out of it feeling loved and feeling like your your writing is loved and that that you’re writing sell has all right that’s what I have for you on that topic stay tuned for more about processes and refining your Writing Practice next we’ll be talking about productivity me was a very productive month for a lot of us what now after that we will be talking about keeping it going and that involves celebrating keep [Music] writing thanks for listening why not come over to the blog at storad day.org and check out this week’s writing prompts and articles and in the meantime have a great creative week and of course keep writing [Music]
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Superstars
The only qualification to be a ‘Superstar” is a desire to write and support your fellow writers.
A supportive group of committed writers, who meet virtually, support each other’s efforts, and inspire each other.
