A Letter to Lawrence Block

“You can always fix bad pages. You can’t fix no pages. So write. Just write. Try to turn off that voice of doom that paralyzes you.“ - Harlan Coben

I recently participated in a virtual writing workshop conducted by one of my favorite authors, Lawrence Block. At the end of the workshop he asked for feedback. Here’s what I sent him.

Dear Mr. Block,

Thank you for conducting the Virtual Writing Workshop. It was an enjoyable experience. 

I’ve been interested in writing for years. I never do enough of it. Your workshop got me writing for two hours twice a week. It felt good. 

I am currently living and working in Japan. Since I’m in a different time zone I wasn’t writing at the same time as everyone else. I did the Tuesday assignments later in the week and I did the Thursday assignments on weekends. I felt very motivated after completing each assignment and always looked forward to the next assignment. I got behind at one point, but it wasn’t too difficult to catch up. I was able to keep to my schedule for the last few exercises. 

The assignments were clear. I was able to jump right in. I liked the flow of each assignment and I liked that there was flexibility. The fifteen minute exercises were nice warm-ups. I found the breaks between sessions helpful.

At first I was doubtful that I would be able to write for an entire hour. One thing I have struggled with is my tendency to overthink things. I often second guess myself as I write. I’ve improved after reading a few books on writing but it’s still an issue. 

I gave it a try though. It kept me going knowing that as long as the pen was moving I was doing it right. Once I started I was able to go for the full hour with no negative thoughts getting in my way. That was motivating. I discovered that writing for an hour was not as intimidating as I first thought. The combination of setting a timer and not stopping was simple but effective. 

I also liked the tone of the emails. Laid back but with clear directions and clear possible outcomes. It also felt like we were in the same room and that you were speaking to me directly. 

I learned some things about writing, I learned some things about myself, and wrote a lot. I’m definitely interested in joining a similar workshop in the future. That is if I’m not too busy writing. 

Thank you so much. 

Sincerely,

Jim Reddy

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