by Reyna Marder Gentin, @reynagentin
When I tell people I’m writing a novel, their first questions are often about logistics — when do you write, where do you write, do you write a certain number of words a day. Maybe because my own habits are haphazard, I initially found this fascination with process a little off point. But when I thought more about it, I realized that these questions hint at something very different, something I’ve found critically relevant to writing success.
When someone wants to know about the “hows” of writing, it stems, I think, from an inability to imagine sitting, alone, with just one’s thoughts and a pen or a keyboard, hoping to create something readers will find meaningful or entertaining. The preoccupation with this somewhat unnatural process is understandable. The solitary nature of writing is both its greatest draw, if that’s your bent, or its biggest drawback, if it isn’t. While working alone is definitely part of the deal, it’s the communal aspect of writing that I find intriguing.
A little over three years ago I finished a first draft of the manuscript that will be my debut novel — part legal thriller, part love story — come November. I had written quickly, almost obsessively, the story pouring out of me. Later, after I’d received my first slew of rejections, I understood that sending out a draft that no one else had laid eyes on was incredibly foolish and naive. At a loss, I reached out to a friend who had published two novels. When I floated the idea of joining a writing workshop, he cautioned against it. A writer shouldn’t subject herself to the judgmental eye of other writers who might not have much more experience than she has. The blind leading the blind.
Heeding his advice, I hired a seasoned and perceptive developmental editor. Her help was invaluable, and the manuscript went from a good first effort to something much more solid. But after reading the novel twice, she told me I needed fresh eyes to see the small pitfalls that were holding me back. She suggested I join a writing group.
Workshops can be more or less productive, depending on the day. But there is one constant. The participants are invariably supportive. Joining a writing group allows the writer, novice or professional, to tap into the energy of others who understand both the loneliness of the task and the ultimate goal — to have readers get what you are trying to say. That support cuts both ways. There have been times when I’ve wanted to quit when someone commented simply, “I liked that,” after reading my submission. There have been other times when that moment of positive reinforcement was all it took to get me back to my computer.
For me, the most important role that a writing group plays is assessing tone — how the words I have written are actually being heard. Recently when I finished reading my pages, someone asked, “How do you want us to think about this character?” It was a seemingly basic question. But it revealed to me that, although I had been aiming for “wrapped up in himself but basically a good guy,” I had produced “arrogant and a little smarmy.” Back to the drawing board! Perhaps nowhere is writing group more important than when you are trying for humor — to see if and when the laughs come in a safe environment.
The most fundamental part about being a member of a writing group is that the others expect something from me each and every week. We’re each working alone, sitting wherever we sit at whatever time of day cranking out what we can, but we know that come Tuesday morning, there will be others waiting to understand and appreciate our efforts. It’s what keeps us going.
REYNA MARDER GENTIN grew up in Great Neck, New York. She attended college and law school at Yale. For many years, she practiced as an appellate attorney representing criminal defendants who could not afford private counsel. Reyna studies at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, and her fiction and personal essays have been published in The Westchester Review and online. She lives with her family in Scarsdale, New York. To learn more, please visit reynamardergentin.com.
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