Every writer has certain strengths and certain weaknesses, and every writer comes to the table at a different stage in his or her development of the craft. But we all share one thing, whether we’re taking pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard) to keyboard for the first time or we’re Anne Lamott. We face an empty page and must jump that hurdle to transfer our creative juices into a linear sequence of letters, words, paragraphs, chapters, and stories.
The round robin forces us, by way of our nine-week commitment to the group and to Jane, to jump that hurdle every day. Somehow, the requirement to produce fresh material for our partner and for Jane on a daily basis manages to push us over that hurdle. It’s that sense of obligation, the integrity to meet our commitments, that goes to work. And so the material that we produce is fresh, it’s raw, it’s unfiltered, and it’s unpolished.
How? Speaking only for myself, I look at my partner’s material and ask myself the questions, what works for me in this write? What do I get out of it? What resonates with me? What aspects of the writer’s craft has my partner pulled out of his or her toolbox that succeed in this write? Characterization, setting, plot, mood, imagery, tone? What elements has my partner utilized to great effect, and can I frame my critique in a way that encourages him or her to continue exploring that aspect of the craft?
Why? When I respond to a write in this way, I hope that I’m helping that writer to overcome the hurdle of the blank page, I hope that I’m helping him or her tear down the barriers inside that prevent us from opening the writer’s floodgates – and I hope I’m increasing my partner’s confidence in his or her ever-improving ability to communicate meaningful letters, words, paragraphs, chapters, and stories.
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