A writer's needs

A few days before the holidays, I pestered my friend Cyndi into reading the first few chapters of my new urban fantasy. Now, Cyndi had been present when DD had a discussion about my writing, focusing, and what she's looking for in a story. Thus my SOS out to Cyndi. Poor lady had been sick in bed with a tummy bug and had totally forgotten about my story--that and Christmas and her having to plan their escape to Florida, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, yeah, she should have been concentrating on ME! But that's another egocentric topic. :-)

Anyhoo, I told her that I wanted her to read it WITHOUT critiquing it--tough call for a writer. Writer's tend to dink with words, whether it is their own work or not. During the interim of her reading the story, we sent out a flurry of emails to each other. I don't need someone line editing me, or trying to make a romance out of a non-romantic UF, or putting their spin on MY story. I needed someone to catch the things that didn't ring true for the character, plot or situation. So, I didn't want a crit, but I DID want her impression when she read it. And afterward, she emailed me her positive and negative comments.

And, boy, did she deliver.

She gave me some definite negative comments that I needed to work out before continuing with my story. Did I get upset or defensive? Hell, no! (Now, if she'd tried to 'fix' the story, yeah, I would have gotten pissed--but that's my flaw) Cyndi commented on the things that pulled her out of the story. Things that didn't feel 'right' with the way I had set up the situation. She clearly pointed out the problem areas.

And I've been thinking about her comments and how I'll fix them in the story, but first I have to send the two 'children'--one child and one child-like adult--back to school and work, respectively, and wait until the fifth of January to implement my changes. Now, I don't know if this is what DD is looking for as there might be too much humor in the darkness. But what can I say? The humor sort of slips out at the most inconvenient times. But one thing I can say is that I've found my writing voice. . .

And now I have a wonderful CP who can give me what I need. I like to think I can reciprocate in the same manner. Thanks, Cyndi!

Write On!

P.S. Start thinking about your 2009 goals! What can you do to make it the best possible writing year?