On the Clarion Trail
My new writing buddies and I have started chatting via a Yahoo group that the Clarion organizers have kindly set up for us. Interesting things:
- I am by no means the only American -- and not even the only expat American -- in the group.
- Most people who have introduced themselves so far have written WAY more fiction than I have (although I may have the edge in non-fiction, and perhaps in scripts).
- So far everyone's been uniformly positive and eager to be supportive of the rest of us. I have, on the whole, found this to be true of writers in general (barring one rather unpleasant experience at a playwriting workshop, where I made the mistake of saying that the scene they were about to read was part of a play that had already been accepted for production; suddenly it was in several people's interest to prove that was mere luck).
- Everyone seems to have different emphases in their work. I'm a maniac for plot (ripping yarns, in other words); others are fascinated by characterization, or by expressing meaningful themes. What a thing of power is writing!
posted by Laura E. Goodin @ 12:55 PM (permalink)
2 comment(s)
2 Comments:
Ah, Americans seem to be everywhere these days :-) I wish we'd had that sort of internet group when I did a similar exercise with other composers in Hoy in 1995. Still, the power of the net has meant that I can get back in touch with then now. What inetersts me is that we are all still freindly to one another and that we are all still positively (rather than jealously) interested in one another's careers and music.
It may be a big thing to say, but I think good creative practitioners don't have either the need or the time to be fractious and jealous. I've certainly found that with my old Hoy buddies.
I hope the same comes out of Clarion for you, my love.
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Yeah, those bloody Yanks....
Um, anyway, what I meant to say was that in my creative sphere (if I may lump myself into a sphere anywhere close to those of you who are truly creative), I find that there are craftsmen who are more than happy to share what they do, and interested in learning from others. And there are others who jealously guard every byte as if it would come back to bite them if they showed anyone else the magic.
And in truth, the latter group usually has a far lesser degree of magic involved in their work.
Much more pleasant to work with the former group, I must say!
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