Second Helpings

Writer's Cramp

It was my fourteenth WDC anniversary this week. In some ways reasons to celebrate, but in other ways shocking and sad. Where has the time gone since I first set up this account and had no inkling of what life would throw at me over the next fourteen years? A good job we can't foresee the future, but being a member of WDC has helped me through some of the most traumatic events of my life. For this I am grateful and still feel faithful to the site.

When I first joined WDC I was attending an evening writing class run by an enthusiastic, encouraging and very humorous tutor. It was well supported and although members came and went there was a dedicated group of lovely people I still remember with fondness. The tutor told me I could write and to go for it. He was always helpful and justified his criticisms in a way that helped me develop confidence and the belief writing was worthwhile. He understood my style, my humour, my struggles and restrictions. Over the next few years I had a few pieces published in small press magazines, won a couple of competitions and gained an honourable mention in the auspicious Writer's Digest annual contest. I had no delusions I was ever going to become a famous author or write anything of great significance. But I thought I was one of many people who had a bit of a talent with words and was happy with that.

Fast forward. So many wonderful writers are no longer here at WDC and sadly more and more are not with us on this mortal coil. It hurts a lot to remember the times of crazy blogs and interactive stories that can never be recreated. But such is life and there is little we can do to stop the passage of time, the changes, the losses and the inevitable.

I have continued to write in various forms. I have attended other writing classes for better or worse, but never been able to find one with the encouragement and camaraderie of that first one. The one I signed up for in September seemed to offer more hope than past ones, but sadly I now conclude it is not doing anything for me at all. The group started out with over a dozen members, but is now down to four or five. Mr Sleazeball never misses a session and continues to dominate and pontificate at every available opportunity.

The tutor is a youngish man. These days almost everyone is young compared to me. He has self published a sci- fi novel which I find hard work to read, partly because I'm no sci-fi fan and partly because the punctuation, the constant use of the word 'that' irritates me and the writing is just underwhelming in my humble opinion. But far be it from me to knock anyone's enthusiasm to write. It niggles me that tutors these days don't seem to have any qualifications or much experience and are content to just get by providing they get paid at the end of it.

This tutor has informed me I have a unique writing voice. I will take that as a compliment although it could be construed in other ways. But, he says, all my characters are not really individuals as they are all me, voicing my thoughts and opinions. I refrained from asking if I try to become someone else wouldn't that mean I lose my unique voice?

Over the weeks I have been criticised for using dialogue to start a story, changing viewpoints, telling not showing and have failed to understand the concepts of points of view of unlimited third person and sub text. I feel out of my depth and conclude I've lost touch with what is now fashionable in writing. I am too old and set in my ways to be bothered with all this technical jargon. When I looked up sub texts on the Internet to try to clarify matters I found some advice which was actually word for word what he'd used in the class. It doesn't take much time or effort to download stuff like this from the Internet, so what is the point of my paying to hear someone else regurgitate it then condemn my attempts to fulfil assignments?

So, I hope to be around for another year on WDC even if my input and following are diminishing. But, I think my serious writing days are over. I shall attempt to complete the writing course out of sheer determination and a certain amount of perverseness but God willing, if we survive the humbug season I shall sign up for a totally different course next year. There are lots of other things I'm interested in and I hope I still have the ability to learn. I'm done with writing by the rules.