I’ve finally begun writing again!
The good news is that I’ve written quite a few words already. The bad news is
that those words were in the form of a critique for a new critique partner.
I enjoy the critique process. I
love seeing how another author crafts his/her story. The turns of phrase I
would never think of. How they sculpt their characters in unique ways. Like
judging a contest, I learn as much from critiquing as I hope the person on the
receiving end does. And, knowing me, there’s no doubt a bit of satisfaction
that comes from sharing my vast wealth
of knowledge *hair flip*
In truth, all I can be is
another, newer, different set of eyes looking at a story to help find the
issues. We authors often get so caught up in the many little details of our
stories, we can overlook or even be blind to the big ones. Like not seeing the
forest for the trees. Not seeing the mountain because we have a microscope
focused on the blades of grass. We already know
things like whose POV we’re in at any given point in the story… why doesn’t
the reader? We already know our hero
would never be attracted to the heroine’s sister because she’s a redhead… do we
really have to spell out to the reader that his first girlfriend was a redhead
who cheated on him?
We all know the answer is “yes.”
Which is why having a good critique partner is so crucial, to help find
issues—big and small—with your story. Which is a contributing factor into why
writing has ruined me for reading. I don’t have a lot of time for recreational
reading these days. The little time I do take is often riddled with guilt that
I should be writing my own book. Or doing dishes. Add to that the near-constant
state of “critique-mode” I’m in—either my own writing or a fellow author’s—and
I can barely stand to read for fun. Errors and issues, the flagrant and the
minute, smack me in the forehead until I want to scream. Either at the author
for their mistakes or at myself for my inability to just sit back and be
entertained.
Am I alone on this? Does anyone
else have this problem? How do you deal with it?
I want to hear the answer to this! I just want reading to be fun, and it all-too-seldom works out that way.
ReplyDeletePart of bebe's homework everyday is 20 minutes of reading - so I'm recreationally reading with her...and I'm loving it! So far, I've been able to totally turn off my writing/editing brain, probably because I'm reading outside the contemporary arc...
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for me to read for fun without doing some critiquing, though I still enjoy recreational reading. If I can predict what's going to happen, it's not a great reading experience. I like to be surprised. Maybe a different format would help, Ava. I 'read' a lot of my books on audio - at the gym, when I'm driving etc. It's a totally different experience.
ReplyDeleteGood idea, Jana!
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