And Add an Inch

12 July 2010 at 08:25 (Writing)
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It’s odd advice that I received from a non-writer friend of mine, but it’s very pointed and helpful. I need a little bit of extra on one part of the short story, but not a lot. She guesstimated it would add an inch to the story (which is less than 1000 words).

I find it very interesting to get advice that way. It was more specific than I thought it would be, and it’s great.

It’ll be submitted in no time. Sometimes it’s better to get an opinion from someone other than another writer. [Though I’m not knocking writers- they give me wonderful help.]

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Feedback

18 December 2008 at 08:56 (philosophy, Writing)
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Whenever I write a new piece, I want to share it if I think it’s good. I get really excited about some things as I finish them, and I eagerly await the time when my friends can read it.

Then they try to tell me what I want to know, which is how to make it better. Some of them do better than others. All of the things they say about it are valuable to me. I want to know how they felt about it and whether a certain part got confusing. A few even can get into the nitty grammar details that sometimes bog me down. (Do I use ‘s after first names ending in s for possessive? Answers may vary.)

I struggle with the proper questions so I can get the information I really want. Is it enough if someone likes it? Does the hook work? Is the main character likeable enough? Eventually I find a happy medium between what I want to say and how it comes across to others – then I submit it somewhere.

Sometimes this method even works.

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