It had to happen
sometime.
And, in a way, it's exactly why I attend these workshop
sessions on creative writing: to hear valuable feedback
about whether my embryo novel is going along the right lines
- or not.
The last time that I read a chapter from my "darkly
comic crime novel" (at least, that's what it's meant to
be) to the group, I was greeted with applause and
praise.
This time it was different: I was told that the latest
chapter "sagged".
The group's judgement was on the nose, of
course.
I had known myself that the piece wasn't quite right, that
the writing wasn't light enough, that the prose was
lumbering - rather than dancing - across the page. But,
somehow, that knowledge stayed buried inside me until tutor
and classmates pointed out the truth to me.
One of the good things about this particular writers' group
is that we all now know each other well enough to give and
take constructive criticism without getting offended or
precious. So the comments felt helpful, not hurtful.
In fact, I felt as if a weight had been lifted from my
shoulders. That was because I was now clear about what
needed to be done, about which parts of the chapter were
worth saving and which weren't paying their way. I
also had some suggestions about a different way to play a
particular scene.
So my book didn't hit the buffers.
It was just diverted - temporarily - into a siding.
Hopefully, it'll soon be back on the right
track.
As they say, "Writing is
about re-writing". Too true!
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