Science Fiction & Fantasy author
For today’s prompt, go a little Gothic. Poem or short story, throw in some mystery, a dash of ghostly visitations, a good dollop of stormy weather, a secret and for the climax, conflagration. If it helps, add some heavy eyeliner to put yourself in the mood. Think dark, stormy and someone hiding in the attic.
I have only been writing to publish for about a year and a half. But in that time, I have noticed an interesting phenomenon: My internal critic is after everybody. In the past, when I was just thinking about writing but not really giving it much of my time, I could just sit back and enjoy reading a book. Sure some books disappointed me, but they were few and far between, and the writer really had to falter in some way. But now that I am writing my books and putting them out there for others to read, it seems I have become a lot more alert to slipping plots, weak dialogue or dropped details that seemed important but never grew into anything. I wonder if those same books would have been a fun reading experience if I wasn’t so often editing my own work and developing my internal critic to pick up my own slipping plots, weak dialogue, dropped details or undeveloped characters and scenes.
Have I grown an eye that cannot discern between my own work and others? It is an interesting dilemma because I don’t want to be less alert in my own work, yet I do want to enjoy what I read. I imagine being an English teacher isn’t giving this attentive critic any rest either or training it to take a temporary vacation. I am reviewing some form of writing pretty much daily. My colleagues are known to come up to me and ask if I would look over their aunt’s autobiography that she has been working on for years. Truly, I say, “No, thank you. I have more than enough on my plate to go through.” And I am talking about student work and have not said a single word about my own efforts to publish. I really haven’t put out any signs saying, “Feed my obsession for editing.” Is this a common ailment of writers? Am I doomed to examine the bones of every book I read?
It’s one thing when I am reading A Tale of Two Cities; that one demands a deep read, but I read books just as often for entertainment at the skin deep level. In fact, I know my books are not for x-ray examination, just a sit back and take a break from reality read is what I am going for.
Writers out there, have you run into this same issue? Is there a cure that won’t wipe out that needed critic when my own work is before me?
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| perfume |
Think of an odor, a sensation, and an article of clothing. Write out for each a detailed description. Once you have each one well developed, combine them in a short scene or poem.
What would you add?
Write in a gender different from your own and an age past your own (add or subtract about 20 years). In this voice write about some thing of particular concern: global warming, retirement income, home loans, pet care, hair dye. Keep it in first person and work on creating a distinct voice for your character.
Every writer knows that the only way to get that book, story, poem, etc., done is to write. We also know that the only way to improve is to get feedback, honest, no holds barred feedback. I teach creative writing, and I tell my new students every year that I will be considerate but honest. They will know what the strengths were in the piece as much as where growth is occurring and where it is needed. Every writer needs this and for some, like myself, it is hard to come by.
I am a teacher, and since I want my students focusing on what I am teaching them and not on me, I don’t advertise that I am a indie writer. I have told only a couple people in my family and just one friend. I know they’ll keep my writing activities secret. But where does that leave me for feedback: well in a very limited space. I have become friends with several writers, and those connections has been helpful because they know what I mean when I say tell me everything so I can get better. They want honest feedback from me, and I want the same from them. And it has been worth any uncomfortable feeling I might get from seeing the flaws pointed out in what I thought was a pretty thorough job (repeated numerous times)at line and context editing. I grow as a writer each time they supply feedback and each time I give feedback. It would have taken me years of personal distance to be able to give that kind of critique myself. I don’t want to imagine waiting five years to be able to look at my own work with the necessary distance and increased knowledge in editing, drafting, plotting, etc. needed to actually see what needs to be improved. That’s five years of embarrassment of having my work out there that I would get all in one fell swoop that could have been avoided by getting straight feedback from another writer or a professional editor when the work was “finished.”
So sure a writer writes, but a WRITER GETS FEEDBACK is even more important. I published my first book with minimal feedback (those two family members). It wasn’t long before I had a nagging feeling that perhaps I had overlooked aspects of the story or not edited as well as I thought (even an English teacher needs an editor, nobody can look at their own work without bias, certainly not after reading it one hundred times). So I took it off publication, sent it to a writer friend (she sent me hers as well) and we traded feedback. I am still working on it and hope by Christmas to have it back published again.
All this post really is saying is writers need feedback.