In the midst of a hectic time for homeschooling, some sad and happy family events, home remodeling, and tax season, I've hardly had time to think about my writing. I had to make a choice: let go of the story or shirk my responsibility. The writing had to be set aside and eventually I became detached from my story.
Now is when my writing buddies are the salve for my pains. One ruthless friend helped me fill in the holes in my plot. A practical friend mentioned an exercise from a writing book that summarizes your story to help you gain focus. And a brave yet determined friend went through said exercise with her own story at the same time I was doing mine; her encouraging feedback has fueled my determination. I'm still working on the summary (you know it has to be perfect for me to move on), but it's giving me a better foundation for Deception and a desire to use the same exercise for Falling Short. The point is the story is fresh in my mind now. Probably any exercise would have done that, but not any group could have provided that kind of support.
Writing groups and/or writing buddies can be inspiring and supportive, or they can be a drain on your creativity. I'm fortunate to be among the inspiring and supportive. There are numerous writing books available -trust me, I have my own favorites - but when you lose your grip on your story, you need a good slap across the face and a shove in the right direction. Who better to do that than your writing buddies?
In the "Bummer" column: I received the results of a contest I entered, and my story "The Painting" was not among the winners, the finalists, or even the honorable mentions. Ouch. Time to set it aside for a while and think about what is missing from the story.
Onward ho! I have writing students waiting for critiques, homeschooling lessons to plan, airline reservatiosn to make, taxes to file, a variance report to fill out...oh, and a story to write :)
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3 comments:
Sounds busy but if anyone can get it all done, it is you. I am amazed sometimes how you accomplish what you do - with homeschooling and all that other stuff. I don't do half the stuff you do and feel like I'm not accomplishing much as it is. Hope to see you in chat soon - miss you - E :)
Just remember that there my not be anything necessarily wrong with your story. It may not have been the best for the venue. Plus, statistically, it is harder to win a contest than it is to get a story published in a magazine. Try submitting it to a few places. One contest means nothing. That story is a heck of a lot better than some of the other junk out there. You can't just send it to one place and have that be the judgment. Do at least five (that you have researched well and have read sample copies of), and then if they don't pan out, THEN take another look at the story. But don't take the chance of perhaps overworking a perfectly good story just because one person doesn't like it.
Thanks for your comment on my blog about Tessa, the puppy, last week. I've just noticed it!
No she's not a Wheaton, she's actually a lot bigger. She is a Golden Doodle, her mother was a golden retriever/standard poodle cross, and her father was a white standard poodle.
My son and DIL chose her as DIL is allergic to dogs, and golden doodles have the reputation of not shedding fur all over the house.
She's extremely intelligent dog, but at six months old she can get up to some very naughty tricks!!
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