How to iteratively improve in self-directed activities
On Wednesday, I caught up with my good friend and collaborator Laura Hilliger. She's currently on sabbatical, but with someone as galaxy brain as Laura, that just means directing her talents and attention to something that isn't client work.
Over the years that I've known her, both at Mozilla and WAO, she's talked about further postgraduate study. At this point in time, she's decided to create her own curriculum for "Not a Masters" in Creative Writing. I'm going to be really interested to see how it goes, especially given that (coincidentally!) on Tuesday I posted about legitimacy without credential armour.
So what does a programme for a writer who has her own body of work, sort of style and a tiny readership look like? What didn’t I learn decades ago when I wanted to get the hell out of my undergraduate programme and thus graduated one credit shy of a minor in English? What did I sleep through in AP English all those years ago?
I have started to design something that will help me deepen my craft, interrogate my own stories, and reflect on my legitimacy as a writer and an artist. I am trying to encourage myself to do this work in the open.
For me, the value of having a 'container' to put things within (like my zine) is that it not only lends legitimacy, but also provides some kind of thread to oneself and others about the kinds of things you're interested in and working towards. But the value of a programme of study is usually the feedback which leads to iterative improvement. How is Laura going to achieve that?
I intend to read a couple of books in each unit and do reflective writing assignments. I will look for an appropriate writing community to get some constructive criticism and peer feedback from. I want to gather some feedback from people who have really considered creative fiction because that’s what I like to write most, fiction. My own fiction. Anyone have any experience with Critique Match? Or a suggestion for a good writer focused slack channel?
This is the $64,000 question, I think. How can she (or anyone not pursuing a formal qualification) get really good feedback?
I once had an anonymous commentator, who must have been a professor, tear into the methodology section of my thesis when I blogged about it. They did it in a kind way, but it meant that I pretty much had to start again. This is the kind of feedback you sometimes need. I wonder whether a Slack channel for writers is going to provide that?
Laura being Laura, she's extremely self-aware, and so is starting with introspection and what she's calling "The Stories I Tell Myself". I'm looking forward to seeing how this unfolds – and, of course, what she ends up writing.
Given that my brain had a specific response to the legitimacy of a writing programme versus a Masters degree programme, I’ve decided to start with an interior scan. I have internal stories about the legitimacy of art. I’m interested in what other mythologies and assumed knowledge I have lurking under the surface. After that, I will figure out what I don’t know about literary tools and techniques before smacking myself in the head with a form shift to screenwriting. Sometimes my ideas are scripts not books.
- Unit 1: The Stories I Tell Myself
- Unit 2: Literary Tools and Techniques
- Unit 3: Character & Plot Development (in progress)
- Unit 4: Genre & Form (suggestions? Will this reveal itself to me?)
- Unit 5: Writing for Script and Screen (no idea but maybe you do?)
- Unit 6: Industry Go Get ‘Emness (or whatever)
If you haven't already checked out her novel Maybe Zombies, I'd highly recommend it, and not just because she's my friend! It's excellent. Also, I need to re-read her first novel, How to Wake Up as it's been too long since I read that.