I’ve read my writing aloud with several groups. It is a good practice: you never read to a group. It’s always with a group. The work becomes bigger the moment it’s shared.
My first group was the writing club which my mom started in our house for us kids and our homeschool friends. That group, though producing no great works of literature, produced in me a hunger for writing, especially for other people to enjoy. That was a lasting impact. I am not the only one from that group who has continued writing for some fifteen years. Good on ya, Mom.
One belief that surely had its root in that writing club was this: making stuff and sharing it with people is FUN. And it is the cure to a common vice of introverted creatives who spend, at times, too much time in their heads and not enough in vibrant social circles centered on the same loves. I experienced just such a cure in a group of five writers this past Wednesday. The hearthfire of creativity burned bright.
It's tempting to believe that if we cannot sit down and write, there's something wrong with us. That writer's block means we aren't a writer. This simply is not true. Working in isolation will always lead us to walls, which we may, in blindness, try to break through. Sometimes what is most needed is a friend to say, "Try climbing over. There's a ladder beside you." And another friend to say, "And if that doesn't work, why not dig under? Here's my shovel."
The book Bandersnatch makes this point about artists we admire: we believe most of them create in isolation. The lone artist is sequestered in a high tower. He pores over his writing day and night and forsakes all social interaction. Only once in a blue moon does he descend to the world of mere mortals to bless them with his work of genius...
But that is not actually how many artists work. Artists thrive when they create in community.
"Michelangelo? He was the center of a group of 14 artists who painted that ceiling. … Michelangelo was not only an artist, he was also 'the head of a good sized entrepreneurial enterprise that collaboratively made art that bore his name.' Shakespeare wrote his plays while standing on the stage as an actor among actors; Edison's real innovation was designing the first industrial lab where employees carried out research and development, often working side by side all night long; ..." - Bandersnatch, pg 148.
Whether working in a writer's room on a TV show storyboard or a smoky pub full of Oxford dons, creativity is multiplied in the company of like-minded creatives.
It will make a huge impact on your pursuits. When you get stuck, you need a hand to help you out of the rut. You'll sometimes need a challenging rebuttal to break free of a preconceived notion. Sometimes, you just need someone with whom to air out the story.
Find or create a group and watch the glory begin to rise.
Of course, glorious gatherings may not always feel like it at first. When you begin to share a work, especially if it is reading to others, you will slam face first into your own insecurity. After all, you have poured out your innermost feelings and your own sweat and tears into a work. Now you must present it in a way that is mostly comprehensible, and you are quite nervous that those listening will shout you down after the first page. "Fraud!" they'll say. "Terrible writer! Why did you waste our time?!"
Well, that’s at least how it feels.
My friend, do not cow to the fears. Do not fear man. Give your work over to the Lord, be the work great or little, and may He bless it to the ears that hear it, and the heart that wrote it. Give it your very best. Seek to entertain, to delight, to give a gift to others, and if you aim in that direction, you may find all the reward you desire. Stir your courage and read aloud your best works.
Last Wednesday, we shared our works one by one. As we went, the anxiousness thawed. Soon the laughter flowed. Afterward, the curious questions came. The reason why it is a joy to share is because there is risk - and, just maybe, the risk will be rewarded with a little chuckle at just the right moment, or the admiration of a clever turn of phrase. Gladness comes with fears relieved and one finds oneself accepted. For it is not the work that we put on display when it is shared, but our very hearts themselves. So, when it is your turn to be a listener, remember how sweet it is to be given a glimpse at someone's heart, and be a generous listener who listens well :)
So we broke out of our shells, what next? We parted with promises to do it again, and commitments to bring something new to the table. The vulnerability has encouraged creative friendship. It has given new ideas, because different minds bring new life to every story. It also has given a space for the airing of problems, which may pry each of us out of the sticky places we're caught in.
Creative work is often done best surrounded by others. And anyway, it's a good time. As C.S. Lewis said, "Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a good fire?"
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