Feedback. So necessary. And sometimes completely heart-breaking.
Comments for my MG are coming in.
We all know how to react, what to do. Read it. Step back. Let it all sink in. Calmly. Let your creative brain sort through the comments and figure out what helps the manuscript and what doesn’t. Logically look at what you’ve written and prepare to delete and add and change all the things.
And we know what really happens when you first read comments…
Before you can let them sit, before you can step back, before you put the wall around your heart.
Because WHAT AM I DOING WRITING A BOOK NO ONE LIKED IT AND THE WORDS DIDN’T DO WHAT I WANTED AND I AM FAILING I CAN’T POSSIBLE QUERY THIS IT IS AWFUL
Yeah, that.
I live there now.
For a minute…or two.
One person sent me feedback and I am a mess. And I know better.
I DO KNOW BETTER
Self-doubt is weighing me down at the moment. Writer-me is struggling. So many decisions. So many words. So many questions. Things I should do…am thinking of doing…choices I face.
I remember a time when my writing was moving forward…then it stopped, standing still, motionless…now I feel as if I am moving backwards, being swept away.
I struggle against the current. A force we all fight sometimes.
But we need feedback. We need to know how others react to what we do. Every time, we open the door for doubt, we unlock the fear of failure…possibly right after we got that sucker chained down.
But we don’t stop writing. We can’t. It’s who we are. It’s what we do.
Now I prepare to really think about this manuscript. Think about what I want it to be. Fix what didn’t work. Hopefully make it into what it is meant to be…because of the kindness of others who read it.
I am enjoying the story! I’ll have feedback for you by the end of the week! 🙂
Thank you!!!!! My brain will be ready…maybe. Lol
Oh, boy, I got feedback last week and know your pain:) And everything they listed was super fixable. But somehow, in my head, I always think I’m going to write a flawless book, I think it’s going to get easier, I’ll use strong verbs every time and have pefect plotting and pacing. My characters will astound. The fantasy is good:) The reality–well, you know the odds of that ever happening:) That’s why I bow down to critique partners–after I lick my wounds and pick myself back up.
Absolutely. The hope that it is so good right away is strong! And I have to remember to keep it my story and not just do what everyone wants me to do.
I’ll never forget the first time I read for Scribes, the utter terror. Now I can’t wait to hear what the group says. The commentary and suggestions from the range of genres in our group is priceless. It’s taken years to settle into the fact that whatever I produce will not be perfect, but striving for it is the thing.
You can and will do it!!!! Can’t wait to hear your pages two meetings from now.
I love comments! They always help! But the first time you hear them or read them…it’s so hard. And I’ll bring chapter one of Nowhere!