Saturday, February 18, 2012

Workshop

It was interesting doing a little bit of criticism on the writer’s workshop on my forum today. I was very much reminded of my time in a postal workshop or ‘folio’, but there are constraints with working onscreen. I kept on wanting to print out what was there so I could take a red pen to it, even though this was something I never did in the folio, and when it came to picking things apart I still had to do that with pen and paper before typing it in.

I also really have to recognize that ‘not the way I would have written it’ is not the same as ‘plain wrong’. Reading someone else’s work, with a critical eye, brings home to you just how many different ways there are of saying the same thing, but in those different ways there can be a thousand different nuances and elucidating them can be a bastard.

So, if you fancy yourself as a writer, or want to learn, why don’t you join in?

5 comments:

vaudeviewgalor raandisisraisins said...

are those (50?) Heavy Metal Movie short stories gonna see the light of publishing?

Bob Lock said...

One thing struck me Neal is the amount of trouble this could end up being for you, after all, you have your own writing to concentrate on and the last thing you need are dozens of stories to keep abreast of.

Neal Asher said...

50? Where did you get that figure from, Vaude? There were 5 and a couple have already been published: Mason's Rats & Snow in the Desert.

Bob, I'll join in if and when I have the time. I'm pushing it a bit now in the hope of getting it running by itself.

vaudeviewgalor raandisisraisins said...

"0"

whoops. memory is a ...something...hm...what was it?

..........wow! oh cake!

Neal Asher said...

Heh.