From Jeff: Without a doubt, however, your biggest strength is in your characters. I like them enough that I could probably write my own stories with them. Helen could be very, very interesting. If that is your biggest strength, I would consider your need to explain everything to be your weakness. Give your reader something to do!”
I listen to everything Jeff says. I know he’s not blowing smoke up my ass because we know each other. There are only a handful of people I trust that tell me exactly what they are thinking especially when it comes to them critiquing and reading anything I write. I also value everything they say and listen, take, and learn from what they have said to me.
I’ve been really stuck in my new WIP. I’m having a Negative Nancy/Defeatist attitude with the project lately. I HATE THAT ABOUT ME! I want to throw in the towel with my new characters, their story, and run into a cave and live out the rest of my existence.
And then I go back to Jeff’s email and I find the courage to trudge forward. There’s a reason my characters want their story told. There’s a reason they picked me to tell their story. I love my characters. They are part of my soul and I can’t give up on them. Even the ones I have set aside for the time being, their stories will be completed if only for my own sanity.
I read blog today that said “Give yourself permission to write how you write.” (Read it HERE) and decided that today that was exactly how I was going to write. I’m going to tell less, show more, and write the best damn characters that I can.
Listening to “Free” by Train and this entry is dedicated to Jeff who needs to write his own insane adventures into a best selling novel!
