Throughout the school year, my schedule is almost constantly filled with various homework assignments and upcoming tests I need to study for. February, however, with its abundance of teacher workdays and unexpected snow apocalypses, has always been the perfect month for clearing away extra time to write on my own projects.
Even outside of February, I somehow always manage to squeeze in a few minutes of writing time during the week. It may not always be publishing quality, but it is there. The real problem I seem to face, particularly as I get farther along in various writing projects I tackle, is finding time to edit my work.
After signing up for Creative Writing next year, however, my friends and I have managed to organize a critique group that we will use next year as a way to share our work with each other without prejudice and trudge through that dark, ominous land of editing together. Simply knowing I have friends who are equally as interested and dedicated to the art of writing as I am is inspiring.
Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “Writing, at its best, is a lonely life.” It doesn’t always have to be, though. Especially when editing your work, collaboration with other writers can help you learn new techniques, move past a tricky section in your project and simply share a love of the craft with others. Whether you start a critique group of your own or exchange copies of your work with a friend, I encourage you to find someone you can rely on to give you feedback on your work. It will help you improve as a writer and might even help you form new friendships along the way.[vc_separator color=”grey” align=”align_center” style=”double”][TS_VCSC_Title_Typed fixed_addition=”false” title_strings=”Today’s Excerpt:” whitespace=”pre” showall=”false” mobile=”false” wrapper=”h1″ title_lines=”false” font_theme=”false” font_size=”36″ fixed_color=”#000000″ font_color=”#000000″ font_weight=”inherit” font_align=”center” padding=”15″ viewport=”true” startdelay=”0″ typespeed=”10″ backdelay=”500″ backspeed=”10″ loop=”false” loopcount=”0″ showcursor=”true” removecursor=”false” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”Alex+Brush” font_type=”google”]”After retrieving the last few bits of tack from my pile, I placed them haphazardly onto Legs’ back and began my usual process of straightening and tightening the bits and pieces of the getup. The first time I had ridden Legs, Colby had warned me, as she did every other rider when they first rode the mare, of her reputation for biting at the lead ropes and boards of her stall in chagrin. She was a girthy horse and had learned from many years of being a lesson horse how to scare younger, more inexperienced riders into abandoning the strap in nervousness. ‘Don’t let her scare you,’ Colby had said. ‘Use your girl power!’
“Heeding her advice now as I had ever since, I moved quickly but carefully around the horse as I finished my task, shushing her as I did so in an attempt to calm her down. Finally, deeming my work acceptable, I slipped back out of the stall to let her cool down again before the lesson.”[vc_separator color=”grey” align=”align_center” style=”double”]By Nicole Schroeder