She who can WRITES, She who can't BLOGS
One reason I love things is just the history, the story behind the thing, or place. The emotional resonance of the people who have gone before. Heh...emotional resonance...that sounds pretty good. The reason I like stories is the words, the challenge putting together words that you wouldn't normally find together.
But that takes a lot of time. First one must craft a sentence, then string a bunch of those buggers together, then offer it to the world for approval. My last, lovely chapter that I offered to a crit group came back tattered, shredded, broken and quite bewildered. One person said I used too many adjectives. (Say it isn't so!) Another said my smilies were confusing. (as confused as an elephant lost in a museum!) And a third, most devastating of all, said my characters were card board and uninteresting.
I haven't worked on that chapter since. But I think I have posted regularly on my blog.
Recent Comments
Le Bec said (6 months ago)
Yeah, after some pretty nasty critics I stopped letting people read my drafts. I'm not entirely sure what makes people want to cut other people down.
Frewin said (6 months ago)
My first creative offerings were watercolours and I used to exhibit as a teenager in an open air exhibition where you could sidle up behind people and hear the comment without them knowing you were the artist. What I learnt is that for any work of art, some people will like it and others hate it. Criticism can be useful but it is hard to separate taste from constructive help...
hollydolly said (7 months ago)
um, my husband has four published articles. he got a rejection letter today. one reviewer said "hey this is huge i love it" the other one said "this is rubbish". so they went with the guy who didn't like it. it has no rhyme or reason. he's an excellent writer, and a good academic. is his stuff rubbish? no. did that guy have something up his butt? yes. he knocked on the wrong door. the next one will be the right one. do not let one person's opinion ruin your progress. says me, who has only just met you. still. what i say is the law. obey!
traciabramson said (7 months ago)
The challenge in receiving criticism is dissecting it until you figure out what can make you better. Even the best novelists rely heavily on their editors and others to help them achieve their best work. Of course, it's always nice to have people whose criticism is truly constructive in a kind-hearted way. Good luck on finding the nice people to review your work!
Julie Q. said (7 months ago)
Ouch. This is why I'm afraid to let people read my stuff. But I have to because otherwise I'll never know how it looks from the outside of my brain.
annettelyon said (7 months ago)
Yikes. Been there, done that. Had a particularly unpleasant critique experience just last night, for that matter. You WILL prevail!
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reganblair said (6 months ago)