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Been having troublewith my stuff for many months now; few ideas and struggling to get them down in a readable manner
This week I came up with a brand new piece for today's U3A group session, the first original piece I've written for probably over a year. It was only 700 words, but I was quite pleased with it, but when I read it out it was received in total silence, not a single comment. A bit embarrassing to say the least.
I obviously don't claim to be God's Gift to the written word, but the stuff I've churned out over the last ten years or so has usually gone down reasonably well, with a few stories published on line and more than a dozen competition short listings. I seem to have lost all that, lost my style and 'voice' and I just don't know where to go from here. It's pretty depressing actually, I think old age is catching up with me and I think it might be time to kick my writing career in to touch, though I might try a blog or two.
Sorry to whine, but I'm p*ssed off.
Comments
Sure you will feel better for having got it off your chest anyway.
I doubt if you've lost your mojo completely: those people probably simply didn't 'get it'. Have you considered trying to write something totally different? A play, a poem... ? Sometimes it helps to try a different genre to get going again.
Give yourself a chance to recover from this disappointment before you make any decisions - you're far too talented to stop writing now!
Oops, my post crossed - I wasn't copying Wordy's suggestion.
BUT would you ride your bike after a year off and expect to be as nippy as you were before? They're all muscles, you know, writing brain included. It may just have been the audience - not everyone 'gets' all our stuff - or maybe treat this last piece as a warm up. A bit more muscle flexing and you'll soon be back on top form. xx
You could let Lizy or someone read it and confirm it's them, not you?
Maybe they were thinking of something else when you read it out, so couldn't comment. Perhaps they couldn't hear you, I've had that problem at writing groups before when the person has a heavy accent, or they have a cold or something and their speech is difficult to understand.
Do these people usually say something after someone has read? Or is tHat the norm?
FFS! There's always something one can say! Are they all dimwits or what?
Your writing has always amused and entertained me, sm, and sod the rest of them. As Liz says, you can send it to me for some honest critiscism (if you dare!) but, as they say in educated circles, "Illegitimus non tatum carborundum" - 'Don't let the bastards grind you down'. xx
Perhaps the piece is still evolving. Don't worry about it. Let it bubble away.
[-X No more self pity, pick yourself up and dust yourself off and get back on that keyboard. Good Luck my Friend
This was my U3A group, which I lead, and they are well used to my stuff and it's always been well received. Constructive criticism of 'homework' is something I've encouraged in the group and there is usually plenty of comment on peoples offerings.
This particular piece was a bit away from my normal stuff, but I thought it reasonable. As I said, it's not been going well for a while. I think I'll have a break for a while, might try a regular blog and look at all the cycling stuff I've accumulated over the years, see what I can make of that.
I find my first pieces after a break are always not-up-to-the-mark, and it takes a while to get going again - having an aim is always a help as it keeps you going.
i think if you edit your cycling things your writing mojo will reappear quickly enough to set you off doing something new again.
I've been writing and writing recently and it's getting easier and easier.
Your talent won't disappear, and it's been shown that the slowing down of the brain in older people is nothing to do with loss of brain function or talent - it's something really simple, there is more for the brain to choose from and it takes fractionally longer.
I think it's confidence and you will be and are FINE.
And if you trust that U3A group's opinions, ask them for comments.
Any time you want to run something past me I'll be happy to help.
I am not qualified to give advice, but I can give you support. It sounds like you already know that you want to take a step back, have a wee break. All well and good. If that is what you want, then go for it. If you are genuinely curious, why not get some people from the group to talk to you about it? Buy them coffee, promise to be detached from the work and talk through it. Might be enlightening?
Whichever you choose, I'm sure it will be the right thing. Just keep smiling.
As you said, it was unlike your usual work; that's the thing that's stymied your group. Silence, however, is simply rude. If they didn't like it surely they could ave said so without fear of being run over by a narrow-tyred bike?
sm, don't despair! We've always like your work and your ability to use words (which is what it's all about). Try whatsoever you want to try, and see how it works for you.
And change the biscuits next time, without telling them.
We know you're good and we tell you so. That's what matters, isn't it?
Being a writer is a lonely place to be. Whatever we create is an original, untrodden path and we all need to know if we've got it right. It's wonderful to have confirmation and effusiveness from an audience, but they don't always comply. Unfortunately, silence tells us nothing and does very little for our egos. Did they hate it? Are they embarrassed? Or are they completely overwhelmed (in a good way)?
Sometimes, in the theatre, there is complete silence at the end of a performance. It's because the audience has become lost in it and are still in the moment. It's not bad; it's good... really good. A friend of mine, after she has read something, likes time to contemplate what she has just experienced. There are a myriad of reasons.
I don't think you can read anything into it, but you could ask outright. If you got it wrong, does it matter? All writing is an experiment and nothing is wasted.