Many of the people who come to my fiction writing classes have taken a course at some college or university. Almost no one had a good experience. I have a degree in Mass Communication and Creative Writing, and I took probably eight of those courses and workshops, so I have some idea of what they went through. In fact, a few years ago I signed up for a Continuing Ed course at a local community college only to discover that the instructor, although having written a couple of books, had no idea how to help people start working on their first draft. And without a good first draft, where are you?
One of the bigger mistakes made in those classes (the ones belonging to a degree program) is trying to teach literary novel in one semester. Or even two. I agree that taking a chapter or two and then rewriting and critiquing them seems like the answer for a short time period. Done right, students can learn a lot of the basics. However, there are so many flaws I could go on all day. Let’s look at a few:
MAJOR FLAW #1: The Assignment is Too Big
Professors often ask students to outline an entire book and then write the first chapters for review.
This alone is defeating. When you begin a first draft, your ideas can be vague. You begin to tell the tale, and the characters often spend gobs of your time adjusting you to their (yes, their) story. Deadlines and concerns about all the other things required to impress the instructor can cause problems in plot line. So what can you do?
You don’t have to assign a novel in order to teach how to write a story. Assign a dramatic scene that can be played out in two to three chapters and allow the CRAFT of writing to be experienced. Better to have some passionate writing about one event than to have boring copy that begs to be zoinked by everyone but the cat.
MAJOR FLAW #2: STUDENTS CRITIQUE
NEVER allow students to critique. They are all in the class because they know what they like, but not how to produce it. Professors are being PAID to observe flaws that will end in a poorly told tale. They should read or listen and give advice. And, along with that advice I give you
MAJOR FLAW #3: SQUASHING THE STORY BEFORE IT BEGINS
The very worst thing that happens in college classes is the relentless bashing by profs and know-it-all students who want to prove beyond proving that they are authorities. This condescention ruins very talented writers who aren’t there to play the political game. It teaches nothing but one-upmanship and is the cruelest kind of response. An atmosphere of fear, or even a tiny bit of apprehension, sucks the life out of good writing. Students look for ways to parrot back what the instructor wants rather than writing something worth reading. They learn to play a game and drop any dreams they had of creating fun fiction.
MAJOR FLAW #4: GRAMMAR NAZIS ABOUND
Ok, you’ll say, listen there, you only have so much time to make them get it all right. You have to pound the grammar and punctuation or they never bother to learn it.
Hmmm. What happened to learning that stuff in grammar, middle and high school? And, yes, I am a realist. Those are often skimmed because we have so many other things to teach. Don’t make me do the sarcastic list of subjects that are more important than the 3 Rs.
What is my answer? How about a heavy dose of G&P in that early required English class? Don’t allow anyone to skip it because they got wonderful grades in high school or because…fill in the blank with some inane reason here. Make certain that the basics are covered. You would not believe how many people can’t use quotation marks correctly. I mean, please. We’ve taken a turn into real illiteracy. How about adding a P&G class as a requirement for everyone who enters? No graduating without passing it with at least an 80%.
What would this do to fiction writing classes? Take the pressure off, for one thing. Make better all-around students for another. Leave time for the real job of critiquing, which includes making characters and action visible. The use of words, the mixture of sentence types, the natural rhythm of the plot, the use of poetic language and all the other fun, exciting and wonderful devices that create a good reader experience are what should be taught in those classes. Readers want emotion, not hype. They look for flow, not paragraphs full of weasle words.
A first draft should be written as a stream. It should be the experience of the writer with a blank page, not a technical piece to present to the critical eye of the professor. The first draft comes from dreams and observations and emotional reactions. It must be allowed to flow out unhindered by censorship.
I ask my students to overwrite, to experiment, to make mistakes and not correct them. Why? That is the function of a first draft–to grab the story as it comes bolting through the frontal lobe. Professors should lay off that draft. Most won’t. They want only the very few (the proud, the…elitists!) to succeed. They look down on those who want to write…(o god don’t use that term…) Genre Fiction. Of course, that’s where the money lieth.
MAJOR FLAW #5: EDITING PLOTLINE BEFORE IT WORKS ITSELF OUT.
I once brought a near-complete mystery to a summer workshop. It was being read at a rate of about 3 chapters per session. I was writing ahead, because it only takes me around 6 weeks to finish my mysteries. I had put out the clues, built (well, added to) my characters (they had already been established in a previous work) and set the plot in motion.
Around 9 chapters in a student said she thought I should change the plot. She had a bunch of ideas about what she would do if she were writing it. I explained that the plot continued for another 20 chapters, but she was unconcerned. So was the instructor. It wasn’t a criticism of where I was headed with the plot line. It was a dismissal. Their ideas were to take precidence over what my characters were busy doing–finding a killer that was adequately set up, and around whom everything turned. It was like saying ‘Ok, just write another book because we aren’at interested in this one.’ And the comments came right out of an MFA workshop. More description, more narration, and, by the way, what was in the protagonist’s frig? I smiled sweetly and said, “Sorry, my agent loves it.”
Now, not everyone can do that. But you see my point. Don’t talk plot line. Only the author can do that. If a writer asks for ideas, you are free to respond. But mostly it’s a waste of time. Writers must learn to live with their characters in a way that allows the story to emerge as it is meant to be.
I believe in waiting for the book. It’s there or not, but twisting it around to fit a mold made up mainly by those who have never produced a readable AND entertaining piece of fiction is just plain…I want to say grotesque. Ok, then, it’s grotesque.
If you are writing a book, do yourself a favor and avoid all the criticisms handed out by others. Let that first draft flow out and know that later your own good sense will help you edit. After that, you can find someone you trust to scan it for problems. By then the emotional stuff is on the page and you will see the story more clearly. If you don’t, an agent will tell you what you need to do. Or you will get a thousand rejections and that will tell you that something else needs to be done.
Keep writing. Make it personal.
