Where do I go from here?

snailmale

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.

Wordy

Could you try taking a step back from your usual writing and trying something different - non fiction instead of fiction for example. This was just one small group who have seen or heard this piece and maybe its appeal is to a different audience.
Sure you will feel better for having got it off your chest anyway.

Claudia

There is nothing worse than that feeling of rejection... whether it's from an editor, competition judge or in a public reading. I completely understand why you're unhappy. I had very few successes in 2014 - and although that was partly because I wasn't writing and submitting very much, it was also because stuff I'd submitted and thought was pretty good, didn't get a look in for some reason.
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.

heather

You haven't lost it, sm. It's yours, your unique thing and always will be.
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

Liz

Pah, I don't believe a word of it, it was probably too sophisticated for them. I've read your writing and it's fab. I suspect they were shocked at how good it is, not every group is as supportive as here.

You could let Lizy or someone read it and confirm it's them, not you?

dora

I'd agree with Liz, it was probably too sophisticated for them.

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?

datco2014

paraphrasing a well known comedy troop from the 70's why not go for - "something completely different" - maybe step into a genre that you've not done before - or make a new one up steam/grunge or similar might help rekindle that desire - also if u can write something so bonkers that nobody really understands it (Will Self does it all the time - well I don't get it anyway) you might get huge critical acclaim as everyone might be afraid to criticise - even Robert Burns did it - I'm convinced he made words up to fit rhymes - a hivorous scriverous coostie - stuff like that - when challenged he would say 'och it's an old scots word for a chimney' or some such nonsense - probably helped that hardly anyone could read back then right enough..anyway point is don't give up just try something new... In the words of Ellie Goulding - 'anything could happen' - I'll probably now have to pay her 5 squillion quid for using her lyrics....

Phots Moll

Could something in the subject matter have made them reluctant to comment? I ask because I once got a rather stunned reaction after reading a first person piece about a recovering alcoholic and the group thought it was true and didn't know what to say (a couple of them still look very worried when I join them at the bar in the break)

Lizy

Personally I think it was bloody rude of them not at least to say something.
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

Baggy Books

Ditto Lizy's comments.

Wilts

Ditto!

Carol

Sometimes it's a case that they don't feel they have enough knowledge to comment.

Perhaps the piece is still evolving. Don't worry about it. Let it bubble away.

ana s

Buggers.

happy_author

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.

Hi sm, here is one possibility you may have overlooked, your writing style and subject matter could well have captured them, but at 700 words they may have thought there was more to come so hence the silence, many would have then felt embarrassed once the 10 second marked passed. I gave a speech at my launch and it received a huge applause. but when I gave the same speech less nearly 500 words it ended to quickly and people just sat there until one person then stood up and came over to shake my hand. It was only when a friend in the crowd told me she though there was more to come so even she kept quiet. Sometimes in the past I have even applauded to early when I thought they had finished, so I now wait to see what reaction over give. I personally would not worry about it, you can always ask someone next time you see them what they thought of your article.

[-X No more self pity, pick yourself up and dust yourself off and get back on that keyboard. Good Luck my Friend

snailmale

Thanks for all your supportive comments and suggestions.

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.

Liz

One swallow doesn't make a summer - it's probably just coincidence that they weren't over-awed by this piece.

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.

Lizy

As long as you keep writing something, snail, it doesn't matter whether it's fact or fiction. Your voice will come through if you just let it flow and don't force it. The blog is a good idea.

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.

stuartlennon

Hey SM. Sounds like a bad day out.

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.

Mrs Bear

I'm inclined to think that your group have come to expect one sort of writing from you; they didn't know what to do with the new style/content. Says more about their lack of imagination than about the piece itself. I expect they all like the same sort of biscuits with their tea too: try changing the shortbread for rich tea and see what happens.
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.

Tiny Nell

Ah, what do they know?
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.

Betsie

Despair not Snailmale - I understand just what you mean (been there, t-shirt, etc.) The fault may well lie with your audience and not with your written piece. I suspect there were no grammatical errors for them to carp about. We love your wit here - maybe your audience were not on your wavelength. I also find that sometimes, when work is read aloud, it doesn't register with the listener as it would were it being read by someone at their own pace with time to take it in.