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mary rosenblum
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Hello all.
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you've had a great
weekend....and I hope those of your in the Northeast aren't treading water
this morning!
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about when to rewrite, this morning. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next
to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a
question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach
me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send
bar to reach me
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mary rosenblum
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I wanted to bring up this
topic today because I hear so often from novice writers and students...
'I'm going to revise it and send it out again' after they get a rejection
slip.
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mary rosenblum
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And I sure remember having
that same reaction when I was first starting out.
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mary rosenblum
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A lot of new writers also get
into peer critique groups or do writers workshops at a conference...
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mary rosenblum
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where the manuscript may be
critiqued by a pro.
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mary rosenblum
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And it's very
easy...especially when a pro does the critique...to try and do everything
you get told to do.
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mary rosenblum
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But these are not necessarily
good strategies.
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mary rosenblum
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It's especially unwise to
revise a story JUST because an editor rejected it.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember that whether you
write fiction or non, editors have a LOT of reasons to reject you and
quality is only ONE of them.
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andi
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Mary would a magazine send some
suggestions of strengths and weaknesses if asked since the letter was lost
in the mail?
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mary rosenblum
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Andi, if you know that an
editor commented on your piece, you could write back to that editor and
tell him/her that you really wanted to see...
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mary rosenblum
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the comments but never
received the letter.
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mary rosenblum
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The worst you can get is no
reply.
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mary rosenblum
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The reason I say that it's not
necessarily a good idea to revise when you get a rejection is that unless
the editor tells you WHY he/she rejected you...
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mary rosenblum
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and most won't...you have no
idea. It may be because that editor has a very similar story on his desk
that he just bought.
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mary rosenblum
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Or you may not realize that
she just published a similar story last month and doens't want to publish a
similar one for a year or more...
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mary rosenblum
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and she isn't going to sit on
your story that long.
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mary rosenblum
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Of course, if you send your
fiction out to 20 or 30 markets and nobody bites and this happens again and
again...
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mary rosenblum
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maybe it's time to reevaluate
your level of craft. It might be time for some good critiques...
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mary rosenblum
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see if your readers have
similar problems with what you're writing.
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mary rosenblum
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But one or two rejections
hardly means rewrite.
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mary rosenblum
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Editors are humans with
subjective tastes. While a commercial editor (unlike a contest judge of the
editor of a literary magazine) has to put the likes and dislikes of her/his
readers first...
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mary rosenblum
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that editor will tend to buy
stories he/she likes personally, if he/she figures the readers will also
like them.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about when to rewrite, this morning. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next
to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a
question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach
me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send
bar to reach me
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mary rosenblum
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BUT....if you have story or
craft weaknesses, you DO need to revise and work on strengthening those
weaknesses.
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geezer
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I am still unclear about what a
"literary" magazine is looking for.
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mary rosenblum
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That depends entirely on the
magazine editor, geeze. But they are not looking for traditional
conflict/resolution plots.
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mary rosenblum
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They tend to be looking for
stories that reflect a strong use of literary device, perhaps an
experimental form, a strong emphasis on style.
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mary rosenblum
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If you don't read literary
fiction, believe me, you don't know what that style is.
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mary rosenblum
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If you're interested in
submitting to one of the lit mags, buy some sample copies.
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mary rosenblum
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Because they tend to be funded
rather than supported through sales, the editor very much buys what he/she
thinks of as 'good fiction'...
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mary rosenblum
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so the only way to really know
is to read the magazine. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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So when do you know you need
to revise?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, if you're getting form
rejection slips that say, 'no thanks but try again' that generally means
that...
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mary rosenblum
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the editor likes the way you
write and just didn't want this particular story, maybe thought it wasn't
quite strong enough...
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mary rosenblum
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for an unpublished author,
something like that.
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janecj333
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When I was guest editor one
summer for a Seattle lit mag, we received one piece of fiction that stood
head and shoulders above the rest. I snatched it up, thankful that I'd
found something not mundane to anchor the issue.
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mary rosenblum
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And that's how it works. Each
editor knows what works for her or him and that's the only consideration in
a lit mag.
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mary rosenblum
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The 'range' of fiction in a
commercial magazine is greater because the editor has to consider a wide
range of reading tastes...
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mary rosenblum
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the people who subscribe to
the magazine.
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mary rosenblum
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If you get a rejection and you
liked the story, you thought it worked from beginning to end, you believed
in it when you sent it out...
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mary rosenblum
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don't rush off to revise it
after one rejection.
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mary rosenblum
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You might change the very
thing that makes the next editor you send it to buy it.
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mary rosenblum
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But if you work your way
through the list of possible markets and draw a blank on all of them, maybe
it's time for some input, if you havne't gotten it already.
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mary rosenblum
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Give it to several readers and
if needed ask specific questions. To be honest, you will be MUCH better off
if you can do this step...
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mary rosenblum
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before you send that story
out.
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mary rosenblum
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I NEVER send a story off
without running it past one to three readers, depending on how I feel about
the story.
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mary rosenblum
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(I have the World's Toughest
Reader, and she sees everything. Raps my knuckles with her ruler pretty
regularly, too. Woman missed her calling...)
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mary rosenblum
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So if you do that...what do
you listen to? What do you change?
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mary rosenblum
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Your sure don't change
EVERYTHING you're asked to change. I don't even do that for my World's
Toughest Reader...she's sometimes wrong.
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mary rosenblum
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A promising young Seattle
writer I knew got ruined that way.
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mary rosenblum
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He was workshopping with
several of us who were starting to publish regularly...
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mary rosenblum
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and he took everything we said
as gospel...even when we all contradicted each other. Sigh.
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mary rosenblum
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By the time he finished doing
everything everyone suggested, the stories were a mishmash.
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mary rosenblum
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Best thing he did was to drop
out of that group, but I don't know if he's written much since. That was
too bad.
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beryl
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An author speaking at an event
said that she has decided to accept advice that motivates her to improve,
she rejects what discourages her.
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mary rosenblum
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That's sound advice, beryl.
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mary rosenblum
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Usually, most of us have an
unsettling, nagging little voice deep within that whispers ''something
isn't right here...'
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mary rosenblum
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Of course, as a new writer,
that voice is often LOUD and comes from your own self doubt and not
reality...
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mary rosenblum
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so it's hard to distinguish
what is genuine knowledge and what is merely anxiety. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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The more you get feedback from
readers...and that increases exponentially when you publish...:-) the more
you
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mary rosenblum
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will develope a sense of when
a story works and when it doesn't quite.
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christopherdale
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I would send out my writing
first to two of my preachers for scriptural accuaracy and interpretation.
Then to two or three others who would critique it for the "HUH"
factor. Really helped me writing those articles! :) (end)
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mary rosenblum
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That's a good practice, chris.
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mary rosenblum
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It's nice to develop a string
of readers with varying abilities.
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mary rosenblum
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That way you send a story to
Reader A for tech details, Reader B for characterization and Reader C for
plot criticism.
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mary rosenblum
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That sort of thing.
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janecj333
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Sometimes I worry that getting
rejections signals mechanical faults (too many long sentences, scenes that
don't move the story forward). Other times I examine the story as a whole
to try to see what the editor saw, if he thought that not enough happened,
or the pov character didn't change in a believable way. It's so
frustrating.
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mary rosenblum
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Jane, I really think you can't
do it yourself. I can't do it myself and I've had a lot more experience
than you comparing
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mary rosenblum
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what I think I wrote to what a
lot of readers actually read. I know very few pros, even those with more
publishing experience than myself...
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mary rosenblum
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who don't depend on the
opinion of others. You KNOW what you wrote...you cannot see that story
from...
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mary rosenblum
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the same perspective as
someone who never met these people and doesn't know the world.
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lore
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Mary I sympathize with that
writer. I was doing that, not so much with readers, but with all the
writing advice I was finding on the internet. Everyone had a different
"must do" rule that I needed to follow. I've just recently
started saying "I"m gonna write this the way _I_ want to, whether
it's "right" or not." If I don't, I never get it written.
Following all the rules sucks the passion right out of writing for me.
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, I went through that,
too. :-) And after I went through the Clarion Writers Workshop it was even
worse...
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mary rosenblum
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because I could HEAR 19 pieces
of advice in my head for every sentence I wrote.
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mary rosenblum
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You just have to grit your
teeth, close your ears and try to focus on what YOU want to do rather
than...
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mary rosenblum
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this technique or that technique.
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mary rosenblum
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Worry about that in revision.
Not when you're creating.
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christopherdale
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in response to Lore - May I
quote a "very famous person"? Anything is allowed in writing - if
it works... - Mary Rosenblum ;)
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, Chris, but the problem
is getting to the point that you know it works. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I still don't know all the
time, because I push the envelope, try something I haven't before, see if I
can make something new work.
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes I
succeed...sometimes I don't.
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mary rosenblum
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But that's how you grow.
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mary rosenblum
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You only really learn what
works by doing things that work.
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mary rosenblum
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That's why it's SO important
to tell writers when they're doing something well.
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seigfried007
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and I thought the Senior
Internal Editor was crippling (shudders to think of nineteen voices and
listen to her characters laugh at her)
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mary rosenblum
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Oh yeah, the Clarion Writers
Workshop takes its toll. Most participants need at least a year to get over
those voices.
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mary rosenblum
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Ask Charie. (I don't see her
here today). She was in it with me.
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mary rosenblum
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The same thing tends to happen
when you critique with a regular group.
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mary rosenblum
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You begin to know what those
people will say.
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mary rosenblum
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As long as you don't write FOR
them, you're fine. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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But the hard part is creating
the confidence to really hear what your critiquers are saying.
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mary rosenblum
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And you really need those
readers. As I said before, it is very very difficult to see your own work
clearly.
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megger
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Is there a clear and general
distinction between editing and critiqueing? Some line drawn?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh there certainly IS, megger.
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mary rosenblum
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And editor does not CHANGE
content.
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mary rosenblum
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Even the tiniest change gets
sent back to me, the author to make.
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mary rosenblum
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Editors don't CHANGE the story
when they edit, they make it stronger through the mechanics of the prose.
Now they may ask you to make a LOT of changes...
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mary rosenblum
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but that's YOUR job. A
critiquer should deal with content first.
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mary rosenblum
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Did I get this, where did I
get lost, do I understand what you're doing here, and do I think you
accomplished it?
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, it's fine to point out
bad prose habits...but that's secondary.
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cosmos
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Is the public library a good
place to find readers? After all librarians are the best friends of a
writer.
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mary rosenblum
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Could be, cosmos. I have a
couple of readers who are not writers but they read extensively in the
genres I write in.
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mary rosenblum
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But they can't give me the
feedback that another writer can....'your POV breaks down in chapter four
and it really makes the action hard to follow'.
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beryl
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I'm reading CRESCENT, been well
received. Came across sentences I would be harshly critiqued for...but
Diana Abu-Jaber knows how to make it work. I figure I'll be more
traditional till I get published a bit, am I thinking correctly?
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mary rosenblum
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That's a good idea, beryl.
Yes, anything can work. But that 'work' is the Catch 22.
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mary rosenblum
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It's much more difficult to do
something like omnicient POV, say, or alternating first person POV, or a
long internal monologue piece and make it powerful.
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mary rosenblum
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When you're starting to learn
craft....it's a good idea to learn to do the 'rules' well before you start
busting 'em. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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But if a particular form
really seems to work for you...go for it, even if it flies in the face of
all those 'rules'.
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mary rosenblum
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Your readers will tell you if
it works or not.
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megger
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Thanks, Mary. I need better
readers.
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah,good readers are really
important, megger.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about when to rewrite, this morning. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next
to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a
question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach
me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send
bar to reach me
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geezer
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How soon can I start a chase in
a first chapter? What kind of balance do I need between characterization
and action in the first scene?
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mary rosenblum
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You can start it in your first
sentence, geeze.
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mary rosenblum
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Just give the readers just enough
details to place us in that immediate universe...
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mary rosenblum
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and let us know who is good
guy and bad guy...we'll wait for a break to find out more.
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libertybell
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does characterization come in
response to action?
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mary rosenblum
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Response to actions is a
potent way to convey characterization, bell. We react according to who we
are.
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mary rosenblum
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The way I react to a situation
is not the way my next door neighbor or my sister or my son would react.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about when to rewrite, this morning. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next
to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a
question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach
me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send
bar to reach me
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andi
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off topic Mary. You said
something about if something you read moved you, you pick it apart. i
didn't understand then what you meant.
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, good question, andi.
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mary rosenblum
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What I meant by that is that
what moves you in fiction is not accidental.
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mary rosenblum
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The author MEANT to move you,
engage you, really get your attention.
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mary rosenblum
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And that author used craft
techniques to do just that.
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mary rosenblum
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So if you read a scene and it
absolutely sweeps you into the situation so that you're breathless after
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mary rosenblum
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and feel that you were THERE
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mary rosenblum
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go back over it sentence by
sentence, word by word.
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mary rosenblum
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See if you can figure out WHY
those simple words had the effect they did.
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mary rosenblum
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The sooner you can notice the
techniques the author used, the sooner you will begin to use them in your
own prose.
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mary rosenblum
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It's hard at first.
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mary rosenblum
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That's why it's so hard to
understand why YOUR story didn't get accepted when it was so much like one
that did.
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mary rosenblum
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You can't really see the
differences in craft.
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mummsy
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how important is physical
description of characters in a short story.
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mary rosenblum
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Less important than most
writers think, mumms.
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mary rosenblum
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We need to know
basics...gender, age, rough physical attributes (very fat, very tall, very
short...that sort of extreme)...
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mary rosenblum
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but readers are happy to put
their ideal into the role.
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mary rosenblum
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So a LOT of detail isn't
necessary.
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beryl
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If reading and re-reading
someone else's work will reveal secrets, though perhaps agonizing, if I
re-read an re-read my work...would it render my secrets...good and bad?
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mary rosenblum
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Not now, but later on, when
you've advanced in craft, you can look back at a story and see the
'holes'...the weaknesses that you couldn't see then.
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mary rosenblum
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By looking at something
that...in comparison to your work...seems stronger, you can begin to
analyze what it is that is different...
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mary rosenblum
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from what you did, and to
begin to see how that made this piece stronger.
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mummsy
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unfortunately, sometimes i see
the 'holes' a short time after i've submitted the piece
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah...and sometimes that's
real and a good reason to give every story a 'cooling off period' or get a
critque or three before you send it off...
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mary rosenblum
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and sometimes it's what my
friends and I call the 'printer transformation'. The minute you print out
the story to send it seems AWFUL.
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mary rosenblum
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It really isn't. It's just a
case of doubt.
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andi
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thanks Mary. I've read books
that made me cry or laugh
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mary rosenblum
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Those are the ones to look at.
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mary rosenblum
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Look at HOW the writer made
that happen.
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mary rosenblum
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How did she make those
characters so real that they moved you to tears?
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paminnapa
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to the physical
description....as a new writer.....I think I overcharacterize...trying to
get used to that show don't tell stuff that I struggle with...do I have
enough...too much...then the shoulder vulture hits and I end up wanting to
scrap it all. How do you know if you have too much...not enough...as that
where the readers come in.
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mary rosenblum
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That is really where you need
readers, pam.
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mary rosenblum
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More often than not, what you
will find is that you're doing way better than you thought...
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mary rosenblum
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and you can relax a bit. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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But that's only if your
readers tell you what works as well as what the weak points are.
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mary rosenblum
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You will find people who get
so busy trying to find every little weakness that they forget to tell you
what was strong.
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mary rosenblum
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They're not much use unless
you balance them with readers who can tell you what does work.
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mary rosenblum
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And if they discourage you too
much, they're not worth it.
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mary rosenblum
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They're not helping you, dump
'em.
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mary rosenblum
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I have some readers who do one
thing very well... a writer friend of mine knows everything military and
gives me GREAT critiques on my military stuff...
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mary rosenblum
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but he writes a very different
type of fiction and he can't see what I'm trying to do for love nor money.
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mary rosenblum
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So I take the military
comments and ignore the rest of what he has to say. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Or religion. That's another of
his specialties.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about when to rewrite, this morning. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next
to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a
question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach
me! You can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send
bar to reach me
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mary rosenblum
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But it's hard at first to get
a sense of which comments are good ones and which comments are not.
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mary rosenblum
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The best way to handle it, I
found, was to read everything.
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mary rosenblum
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It's ALL going to sting,
unless it's praise.
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mary rosenblum
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That's normal.
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mary rosenblum
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Read them or listen to them
and make notes and then put the whole thing aside..
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mary rosenblum
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for days or even a couple of
weeks...until you don't feel your hackles rising every time you think about
those comments! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Then go back and read them
again in a somewhat 'cooler' state of mind.
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mary rosenblum
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Some comments will 'bite' you.
Oh, gee, maybe I didn't make his motives clear...
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mary rosenblum
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And others are just plain from
out of left field...the reader read a different story than you were
writing!
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mary rosenblum
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Or they're not help with this
story, they're suggestions on how to write a new story.
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mary rosenblum
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See which comments seem to
feel right. Usually...which ones make you wince. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Ooooh...I thought I made that
clear.
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mary rosenblum
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Hmm...I guess he does seem
like a jerk here.
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mummsy
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is there a term for the 'magic'
that happens when you're stuck on a re-write and suddenly something
brilliant jumps out of your head?
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mary rosenblum
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Oooh...don't you LOVE those???
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mary rosenblum
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I don't know of any term for
them, but they're SO wonderful when they happen. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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They're sort of what I live
for in writing. That 'aha' moment.
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beryl
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I've heard: 1/3 right, 1/3 wrong
and 1/3 grey...the author makes the ultimate decision.
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mary rosenblum
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yeah, that's probably roughly
right, beryl.
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mary rosenblum
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And you DO have to decide.
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mary rosenblum
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Some readers will always want
to rewrite your story into a different one.
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mary rosenblum
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Others are better at seeing
the weaknesses in THIS story. (Keep them! Those are good readers!)
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mary rosenblum
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Some will just look for nits
to pick and miss what's going on entirely.
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mary rosenblum
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You have to wait for your own
creative brain to comment...'gee, maybe I didn't make that as clear as I
thought'.
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mary rosenblum
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And of course, if you get the
same comment from several people...'I really couldn't see where we were'...
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mary rosenblum
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then LISTEN to it!
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paminnapa
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on the other spectrum...if you
are reading someone's stuff and it has serious errors....how much do you
say....so that you dont hurt feelings..and not have them change too much..
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paminnapa
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change it for them..i meant
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mary rosenblum
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That's always hard, pam.
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mary rosenblum
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I find it much easier to
critique a well written story than one with a ton of problems...
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mary rosenblum
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because I don't want to
overwhelm someone who is just starting out with a long list of negative
comments.
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mary rosenblum
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So I tend to pick out the
biggest problem I can see, tell the writer what he/she has done well and
then focus on that..
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mary rosenblum
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weakness. I might comment on
some lesser issues in passing, but I sure won't try to pick out every last
problem with the piece all at once...
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mary rosenblum
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unless I know the writer well
enough to know that this person can handle this type of extensive
commentary without getting wounded.
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mary rosenblum
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And usually I don't know the
writer that well....it's a new student, I'm doing a workshop at a
conference, something like that.
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gskearney
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Epiphany is the technical term
for an 'aha' moment, and ain't they just wonderful. --gk
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mary rosenblum
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There you go, gary. And they
ARE aren't they?
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beryl
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Ran into this at a critique
group. It was suggested that the writer take his good start and make the
bones of the storyline stronger and we'll work on anything else when he
comes back. (We all sighed a sign of relief and knew we had a good leader)
: - )
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mary rosenblum
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That sounds good, beryl.
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mary rosenblum
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He learned what he did
well...the start...and what his biggest weakness was...his plot
structure...
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mary rosenblum
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and has a chance to improve
that before he hears any more.
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kashmir
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during this forum, my best
reader sent me just the critique I needed to finish off my revision...my
sister :-) very timely!
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mary rosenblum
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Super, kashmir! How nice that
you have a good reader in your family. :-)
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cosmos
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My husband is my BEST reader...a
Mensa, a grammar fanatic, and a great writer who doesn't like to write.
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mary rosenblum
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good for you, cosmos.
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mary rosenblum
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But it's always a good idea to
use more than one reader.
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mary rosenblum
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Every reader has strengths and
blind spots.
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mary rosenblum
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The main thing is to remember
this....YOU wrote this story. YOU know what you meant to do.
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mary rosenblum
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If you go to a conference and
a pro tells you things that just don't seem right...
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mary rosenblum
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then they're NOT right.
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mary rosenblum
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Not every professional writer
is a good critiquer. :-) I've run some writers workshops at conferences...
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mary rosenblum
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and I can tell you right now
that I have a short list of well published pros who will never be part of
any workshop I run..
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mary rosenblum
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because they're terrible
critiquers. :-)
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libertybell
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How long does it generally take
to write a 50,000 line piece
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mary rosenblum
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Gosh liberty that depends
entirely on how you write...
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mary rosenblum
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how fast, how long you can sit
in front of the computer...
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mary rosenblum
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how quickly you think.
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cosmos
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Revision needed...my instructors
from ICL, LR, and WD are my BEST readers! Then comes my husband.
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mary rosenblum
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Good cosmos. The people
critiquing for ICL and LR are supposed to be good readers. That's why we
got hired. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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And if a reader only tells you
that your stuff is wonderful...get a new reader!
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mary rosenblum
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Nothing is perfect and
everything has some weak spots somewhere, even if they're minor.
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libertybell
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Is 22500 lines in 3 weeks slow
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mary rosenblum
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There is no slow or fast,
liberty.
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mary rosenblum
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Good or bad matter...not
speed.
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mary rosenblum
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If it takes you ten years to
write a poweful novel, that's what it takes. If it takes you six months to
write a powerful novel, that's what it takes.
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mary rosenblum
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That's the one caveat to the
'write fast' challenges like nanowrimo.
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mary rosenblum
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While they are a cool tool to
get you writing, realize that quality matters and what you may shortcut to
get that novel done in a very limited time...
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mary rosenblum
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may bite you in the butt in
the end.
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mary rosenblum
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So do them, by all means, but
don't make every project a time trial!
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes the words will just
FLOW and other times they'll seep out like molasses from a cracked jar.
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mary rosenblum
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So the next time you get a
rejection and no information...just a printed form...
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mary rosenblum
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read the story over. If
nothing weak jumps out at you, then don't revise it. What are you going to
change if everything seems okay?
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mary rosenblum
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Just send it out again.
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mary rosenblum
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Or give it to two or three
readers if you haven't done that already and see what they have to say.
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mary rosenblum
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If they all tell you the same
thing bothered them, maybe you'd better fix that.
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mary rosenblum
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(Ideally do that BEFORE you
send the story out).
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mary rosenblum
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But don't revise just because
it didn't get accepted so 'something' must be wrong. YOu just don't know
WHY that story didn't get picked up.
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libertybell
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What is nanowrimo (somewhat new
here).
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mary rosenblum
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It's national novel writing
month, bell. Every November, lots and lots of writers...
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mary rosenblum
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sign up to write a novel draft
in one month...from Nov 1 - Nov 30.
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mary rosenblum
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The people who complete the
challenge get their names posted on the website.
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mary rosenblum
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It's a good exercise. :-)
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aelle
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Do you run it by readers again
after you revise it?
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mary rosenblum
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Depends, aelle.
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mary rosenblum
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I usually don't, since my
changes usually fix any problem...but if I change the plot or do an
actual...
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mary rosenblum
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rewrite, where I alter the
content a lot, then I might.
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mary rosenblum
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Depends on how much you
change.
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mary rosenblum
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If you make big changes...you
might want readers to look at it again.
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mary rosenblum
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If you make tweaks, probably
you don't need to.
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mary rosenblum
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Learning to make changes is
probably the biggest 'step forward' you will make as a novice writer.
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mary rosenblum
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The ability to look beyond 'my
precious words' to 'my story' is a huge advancement.
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mary rosenblum
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It is generally the hardest
step for everyone to make.
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mary rosenblum
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Very few novice writers are
willing to make any significant change in what they write, at first.
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mary rosenblum
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But change = progress.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, this has been a fun
Oregon hour. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Do join us tomorrow...same
time and place...
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mary rosenblum
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for our casual chat.
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mary rosenblum
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No topic, we just all hang out
and talk about whatever.
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cosmos
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Thank you for the encouragement
today. I needed to hear what was said in the forum.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm glad it helped cosmos. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Thanks for coming, all!
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mary rosenblum
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I'll post the transcripts in
the usual place...
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mary rosenblum
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Writing Craft: Forum
Transcripts.
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