Setting goals for writers

After tackling the Inner Critic in last week's class -- we each even interviewed our own, Jeremy Paxman style -- we ended with that Waterstone's story-on-a-(large)-postcard competition. Some felt pleased enough to read out; I hope they entered them!

Of course these in-class quickies do not suit all writing students, and can't be counted on to produce anything useable. But sometimes the rush is just the trick for a nearly-finished little piece. Or the results are worth further development.

Speaking of competitions, don't forget the Bridport Prize, deadline 30th June. Not for the slap-dash entry, encourage all writers to polish, polish, polish their up-to 5000 words (or 42 lines of poetry). This has major prizes (1st = £5000), major judges (Helen Simpson, David Harsent) and gets serious publishing attention. http://www.bridportprize.org.uk/

You can make a whole lesson, or series, out of competitions, analyzing their anthologies, determining the differences between 2000 word limits and 5000 word limits etc.

I usually issue a handout each term listing top competitions, heading it 'Set Your Goals'. Time to update it... watch this space.

Meanwhile, by the end of our Critic interviews most of us managed to get a grudging compliment from the monster.

Grrrrr: the critic within

Teaching tomorrow, the great gang of writers who have kept their own workshop going for two years. I'm doing 'Dealing with the Critic Within' this time; most of these writers have had that session, but hey, it was years ago. Besides, aren't we all, all the time, parrying our foe, the Inner Critic -- and he/she/it keeps cropping up in sneaky disguises. As a private class of long-time writers we have the luxury of time and experience, so I plan to take us right into the dialogue with the Critic, once identified. (Plug: it's in my book.)

H.A. Klauser's book, Writing on Both Sides of the Brain, (listed in last week's blog) is where I turned on to this amazingly helpful approach.

We'll also do a short bit of freewheeling writing from a prompt. And yesterday I spotted Waterstone's Tell Us Your Story competition, so I plucked a bunch of their postcard forms and with the help of two stimuli (character & setting) we'll have a go. Nothing like a deadline for spurring us on: it's the next day! For those who don't fancy flash fiction it'll just be a character-exploring exercise.

I'm having a whale of a time with Write a Novel in a Month -- complete and utter rubbish is spewing from my 3 x 15 minutes slabs per day. But at least it is spewing: oh, the joy of permission to write rubbish. Take THAT you 'ol Critic, you.