March 2024 Writing Progress
novel-in-progress, writing poetry again
Beginning this month, my new writing coach and I agreed I’d send her 2500 words every two weeks, and then we’d meet a few days later to discuss her feedback. I’ve done this twice now. I particularly like that she gives me actionable suggestions that I can interpret.
I understand the value of workshop, but I find multiple sources of feedback overwhelming. Does anyone else feel this way? I’m still open to joining workshops in the future, but part of what I don’t like is I feel like I don’t give enough comments or decent feedback. As I move forward in my writing, I recognize my need to work with somebody one-on-one.
Earlier this month, I submitted chapter one and here are the main suggestions Coach made:
leave backstory for later and stick with the story’s present, at least for the opening
show more of what the protagonist is feeling/interiority
I have trouble recognizing when and where to include backstory, but I signed up for Jane Friedman’s backstory workshop in April. I’m looking forward to it because I’m so confused about how to deal with this issue. Does anyone else feel this way?
My first drafts tend to be reportage: “this happened and then this happened,” etc. When I go back to revise, then I add the character’s thoughts about her actions or the situation she’s in.
has begun a series on interiority here and here with a possible part 3 to follow.Coach suggested writing the entire draft first before going back to revise and address her comments. It’s freeing, actually, not to have to worry about making changes just yet, but even though I take notes during our meetings, I’m afraid I won’t be able to decipher them months later.
Last Saturday, I attended a free online poetry workshop. The series is called Creating Space, which
wrote about here. It’s a series of six workshops facilitated by different poets. The first was with Regie Cabico, a Filipino-American poet so of course I had to go. Even though my MFA is in poetry, I haven’t written a poem in years, and this was a great way to get started again. I believe you can still register, so check it out! Did I mention that it’s free?I received six rejections from five literary magazines for two different pieces this month. Which leaves me six steps closer to a yes, right?
Hi Barb, I like your writing coach's suggestion to leave backstory for later if you're struggling with it. Add it when you have a better feel for how the story will unfold.
So glad you had a chance to wake up your inner poet! I can't wait to hear about your Jane Friedman workshop. That should be very enlightening.
As for the workshop model being overwhelming with almost too much info, I totally get it. I have been reading a lot about different models of writing workshops in an effort to find the right balance. In Felicia Rose Chavez's model she asks writers to make clear the type of feedback they are looking for and what they are not looking for. I feel like these types of declarations might be part of the solution, so that the feedback is at least focused in some way. But I haven't put it into practice yet to see if it is effective for me.