Sharing Your Writing with Others? Tips for Conquering Your Fears

Few things are scarier than sharing your writing for the first time.

If you’re an aspiring writer, you’re probably nodding your head right now – yup, terrifying. But few things are more important for your growth as an author. Not to mention that sharing your work can be inspiring, and even fun! Below, we’ll explore how and where to share your work for the first time. That way, you can take the big leap while knowing you’ll land softly.

Why sharing your writing is important

‘Nah, my work isn’t good enough yet. Once I finish a draft that will blow everyone away…then I’ll share.’ Does this sound familiar?

Don’t worry, it’s a natural impulse. Writing is an intimate process, so you want to keep yourself from getting hurt. You figure that, if you just keep going until things are perfect, nobody will find anything to criticize. Problem solved!

The thing is, this ’emotional’ mindset will eventually stunt your growth as a writer. If you never share anything, you’ll never explore the fascinating territory of feedback. Also known as: ‘How does this come across?’.

Is that one action scene really as captivating as you thought? Or did you unintentionally write slapstick? You’d probably want to find out, right? And you’d definitely want to find out how to rewrite the scene, so that it works the way you want it to work. Good news: constructive feedback will help with all of that.

When to share your writing

Write the first draft with the door closed, and the second with the door open.

Stephen King – On Writing

Generally, it’s a good idea to write a complete draft or outline ‘for your eyes only,’ before you share your writing. That’s because the first thing you need to do is get intimate with your story (or poem, or article, etc.) and figure out how and why it’s important to you. After that, the second step is finding out how and why your work is important to others.

It doesn’t really matter when you transfer from step one to step two (even if Stephen King says so). What matters is that you can stay in charge of your work, in the face of potentially critical feedback. Do you need a completed first draft for that, or just an outline? Answering that question before you proceed is a good idea.

How to share your writing

Or actually, the question is: who to share your writing with?

Writing groups (online or offline), informal ‘walk-in’ workshops, and calls for writing buddies can get you in touch with fellow writers. This is often the best starting point for learning your craft. It allows you to share your writing in a safe space, among like-minded people, who tend to give good, encouraging feedback. Not to mention they can provide invaluable creative input and a built-in support system. (Or, depending on the circumstances, a well-needed kick in the butt.)

Another option is to share your work with a ‘test audience’ of some kind. Need in-depth feedback on a longer story? Ask some beta readers – experienced readers who can word their opinions well – to help you out. Want to gauge whether or not a story or poem ‘works’? Test it out at a local reading or through an online platform. Obviously, employing a ‘test audience’ is a much bigger (and scarier!) step, and works best with finished or nearly finished stories.

Look for writing groups and workshops or courses at arts centers, universities, and/or community colleges near you. Public readings and open mic nights are often announced in local newspapers. There are also a lot of writing communities – some that provide beta readers – online, many of which are active on social media.

If you’re nervous about sharing work with other writers whose background, skills, interests, and ability to give constructive feedback are all a mystery to you, not to worry. That’s what My Writing Coach is designed for: a one-on-one relationship with an experienced professional who not only knows a thing or two about the craft of writing, but how to deliver feedback and target specific skills with helpful exercises. Learn more

Dos and don’ts for sharing your writing

Do:

• Push your boundaries in order to grow.
• Research the platform or people you’re sharing with.
• Take notes (or record the conversation, etc).
• Only share if it feels safe. It’s okay to change your mind.
• Ask for the specific feedback you need.
• Make sure you feel positive about the piece you’re sharing.
• Take time to digest the feedback.

Don’t:

• Feel pressured into sharing your writing if you’re not ready.
• Share something you’re unhappy with.
• Respond to feedback right away.
• Feel obligated to incorporate criticism.
• Take anyone’s word as gospel. It’s your story to tell.

Hopefully this has prepared you to start sharing your writing with others with fewer butterflies in your stomach. If you do it at the right time and place for you, taking the big leap can be exhilarating!

Pinterest, and Finding Inspiration in Ugliness

I joined Pinterest for the sole purpose of collecting images to inspire writing – my own and any of yours. So far, I have created boards for Landscapes and Scenery, Interior Spaces, Create a Mood, Fantasy and Sci-Fi, Wisdom, Around the World, Colors and Textures, Nature and Outdoors, Portraits, and Prompts.

See what I’ve been Pinning at Pinterest.com/CoachMarisa

As I started searching for images to repin to my boards, I noticed one thing off the bat:

Can you be a good writer AND a good reader?

It’s common wisdom that one of the ways you get better at writing is to read as much as you can, of different authors, different styles, different genres and subjects. Reading is one way to learn the nuances of language and how it can be played with to create the intended effect, like changing the settings on a camera to affect the aesthetic of the photograph.

But I’ve found the more I’ve been involved in workshopping, editing or coaching others’ manuscripts, the more tangled my Reader Brain and Writer Brain have become.

Bored? Try writing a boudoir scene!

Nothing heats up the action, and tension, in a novel like a good, steamy sex scene. And if you feel your writing is getting stiff, or you’ve worked yourself into a corner, or your characters are starting to sound flat and boring, have them take a break from whatever they’re doing to Get It Auwn.

Break out the fireplace, candles, bearskin rug, massage oil, satin sheets, rose petals, whipped cream and cherries (or whips and chains).

That Crafty Inner Critic

The Inner Critic is a common term referring to the obstacle many writers face – instant dissatisfaction with anything they write. It’s the name for that voice in the back of your mind going “This is no good, this is tripe, who do you think you are?” as you scribble or type.

Newbie writers are often afflicted by this, but it can strike at any stage of experience.

Even when you think you’ve conquered it.

Writing prompt: I can’t sleep

Usually when I’m up at 6:30 on a Sunday, it’s because my dog is insisting that he needs to go outside for his morning constitutional, and no, it can’t  wait until after the sun comes up.

Today, it’s because movers are coming at 8:00 to bring the last of our possessions over to our new home. We still had some furniture to break down and laundry to finish, since yesterday’s moving left us so wiped out that we crashed before we could get to it.

Two great opportunities to squeeze in a little writing is when you’re waiting for someone to show up, and when you can’t sleep — you’re up too late, or woke before your alarm and can’t settle back down.

How to Pack a Box of Books

You know the old adage about art imitating life imitating art? Sometimes I recognize the mechanisms of plot, character development and conflict playing out in my own life. For instance, this month has delivered my family a twist ending. In the span of a weekend, our life got unexpectedly pointed in a new direction.

We’d planned to start looking for a new place to rent after the holidays, after feeling increasingly cramped in our little townhome. Luck was with us this past Friday, when I took a different route home than usual and stumbled on a house for rent that exceeded our expectations. We’ve gotten the ball rolling on the application process and have started preparing to move, albeit ahead of our original timeline.

What is your favorite holiday story?

One of the traditions in my family for many of my growing years was for either me or my brother to read How the Grinch Stole Christmas on Christmas Eve with one parent while the other “cleaned up after dinner,” i.e., fetched the gifts to put under the tree.

For many people, holidays are as much about family, tradition, and memories as they are about sacred observation.

What are some of your favorite holiday stories? What meaningful traditions make the holidays complete for you? And I don’t just mean these winter holidays – any holiday or special occasion has a story to tell.

The Pros and Cons of Researching your Novel

“Write what you know” is the mantra – but what if your knowledge is incomplete?

Maybe you’re writing sci-fi and need some smart-sounding technobabble that won’t have actual scientists around the world making rude gestures in your direction. Maybe there are holes in your historical fiction. Maybe you just know your character lives in San Diego but you haven’t been there yourself and can’t afford the trip. Maybe your work of fantasy draws on real-life mythology, a subject you can really never know enough about to cover comprehensively.

No matter what info you’re missing, looking it up sure seems like the sensible thing to do, and the Internet puts that info (and then some) literally at your fingertips. Sure, any time spent researching is not time spent writing, but it’s still productive, right? You’ll be a better writer for the effort & time spent…right?

After the jump, find 5 reasons why researching your novel, especially during a timed exercise like NaNoWriMo, can hinder rather than help.

The Wonderful Thing About Writing, is Writing’s a Wonderful Thing

A lot of popular advice for writers spends quite a bit of time addressing some of the negatives: the obstacles, writer’s block, distractions, perfectionism/the Inner Critic, distrust of self.

In the case of NaNoWriMo, though, depending on how aggressively you’re pursuing it, you can’t spend all your time helping Eeyore find his tail, as it were. You have places to create and people to meet and plot points to settle, so learning how to face those common obstacles is important, constructive, and time well spent.

HOWEVER, it’s not all doom and gloom! There are wonderful parts about being a writer, and we don’t spend near enough time celebrating them.

So here’s my story to get things started.