The Write Help

I love the internet. I may have mentioned this before.

I recently took an online course on how to write a treatment from the Writer's University. The course was good, but the best part was that I "met" some writers who are incredibly supportive, and were a tremendous source of great feedback. We've decided to start up a group to keep in touch and continue to help each other in our writing endeavors. Wicked.

I checked out google's groups, and they couldn't make it any easier. I have started a group called "The Write Help" for writers, where only the members of the group can see the posts. It's specifically set up to get and give help to and from writers. Feedback on loglines, synopsis, treatments, outlines, or even scripts. There are no rules for the group. Other than you must be supportive in your feedback (no obnoxiousness). Hopefully there will be enough people who want to join the group that when a writer needs help there will be someone available to give it.

There is nothing like getting feedback on your writing from other writers. And giving feedback as well. It can help you see the forest from the trees, know if you're being funny or just not, and identify if certain subtlties work or are just mirages in the desert that only you can see. And all the while, share a basic understand of the painful need to tell a good story. If you have such a group, they will even clap at your successes, and frown at your rejections. That's gold right there.

Not to mention (as I procede to do just that), it's a great intrem step for sending out your material to the cold, harsh world. Where they will not sympathise with or support your efforts. They will happily rip your script shreds, or simply not give a shit after the first 10 pages, and use it to fill their bin.

Unless you're ready. Unless, with the suggestions from your writer's group, you've honed your plot, given your characters even more heart, and you've writen the greatest story of all time. Who will you thank at the oscars? That's right. Your writing group. ;)