Reading Aloud to Your Fellow Writers
A Simple Way to Keep Writing, Develop Your Sense of Audience, Have a Good Time
We started out by meeting in an elegant living room complete with grand piano in the house of the founding couple. We would sign up to read. Then, when the reader's turn came, he or she would sit on the piano stool and read facing the audience. I, for one, found this setup unnerving. My hands and voice trembled. Perhaps I only persisted because of the tasty snacks our hosts served afterward.
The writers reading group, or maybe I should say network because people came and went over the months, changed its nature when we moved the event to one corner of a hotel dining room. All we had to do was order a glass of wine or even a coke. For me, this new venue worked better. I could rest my pages on the table while I read aloud. The acoustics were an improvement too.
Until recently, the unspoken rule was that La Lectura was a "read only" event, without comments from the listeners. I think this principle is important in the early months of a writers reading group. Only when we knew each other well did we begin to comment on what we heard and then only when the reader asked for comments.
Here are reasons a writers reading group may work well for you:
First of all, it is a regular event. One member took on the responsibility of emailing the habitual participants, not a heavy job. Others learn of the event by word of mouth.
Then, probably we all practice reading our work aloud ahead of time, revising problem areas along the way.
Besides, reading to others heightens our sense of audience. It also pulls us out of the self-absorption that that can afflict writers. With publishing in print or electronically as difficult as they are, even if we don't have readers, we have listeners.
Each of us uses La Lectura uses the writers reading group in his or her own way. One person isn't sure yet where his story is heading, just knows it takes place in the book scouting world. Two others are well along on novels. Another tried out a story on the group and when it fell flat, decided to switch to something different for a public reading.
When a newcomer read from two of his science fiction stories, I had an unexpected windfall. As I looked at the absorbed faces around the table, I could see most of us were still teenagers at heart.
The result: I pulled out old stories that were also speculative fiction, polished them a bit, and began to submit them to electronic magazines. My hunch paid off, with two stories scheduled for online publication in winter, 2010, if not sooner.
John Updike said, "I want to write books that unlock the traffic jam in everybody's head." A writer's reading group may help in navigating the traffic.
Published by Rochelle Cashdan
I have worked as an anthropologist, writer, and editor in Oregon. My opinion pieces and short fiction now appear in print in Mexico and on the web. I am an active member of International PEN, the writers hum... View profile
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- Especially at first, the members should listen without offering comments.
4 Comments
Post a CommentGreat article. I love giving readings. Every time I'm a bit nervous but maybe thats why I love it.
Nice closing, Rochelle. Not a bad way to look at writers' groups. My first public reading experience was in a creative writing class in college. That was unnerving, too, but at least I didn't have to stand at the front of the room with everyone looking at me.
Thanks, Gabe. Knowing what you've written for AC, I value your opinion!
Excellent article. In my opinion, I try not to write anything I wouldn't be proud to read in front of a group. I got started reading in front of other writers at an Open Mic poetry night held every Thursday at a local coffee shop, and then in weekly poetry workshops when I moved off to college. You learn so much about yourself as a writer when you read your work aloud in front of an audience -- it makes it more real, in a way.