Hope you're doing well, Chuck. You won't be seeing me for a while. I have fallen victim to talking about writing more than I do it. So I'm kinda forcing myself to take a hiatus from your Substack after today until I finish a story. It might take 3 weeks or 3 months. Hope you understand. Coming back will be my reward for having done the work. And if you see me in the comment section without a story, that means you get to yell at me into oblivion and shame the shit outta me too. Everyone can.
Chuck, thanks for encouraging and prodding us all along. I wonder if you might consider with these exercises, and maybe even with this one, "one sentence" feedback to the submitters.
In the zone, incomprehensible, abandon this, too many thinking verbs, etc. Whatever brief comment might be helpful to push each of us in the right direction.
To wit, I showed my entry to my wife and a friend and they both had no idea what I was getting at. I realized I was trying so hard not to be overly direct, that I wasn't adequately describing the scene. I even had a theme which did not come across. So I edited my entry to add more description such as "in order to make herself cry" as a preface to a character trying to make herself cry because without it, it wasn't coming across. I had wanted the speaker to be undefined as to leave open the two characters'relationship so the reader could decide - but that was confusing so I added several "her friend said"s.
But with these edits, it feels like I moved the entry from the "reader discovering" to a narrative, which is less satisfying at least when I'm reading.
One sentence or a few words of commentary by you for the entries you read. Even something as short as "I don't understand where you are going with this", "solid, flesh out the following" " scrap this" etc. The deep dives are great but I, and I think others, are a little lost on whether there is any merit in our attempts. Thanks.
Thank you for understanding. I wish I could do all of this, and I appreciate the time that goes into the entries. What you've said no doubt many, many people also feel. About wanting feedback, I mean. If nothing else, I'd like people to develop an inner knack for dissecting their own work.
As a younger writer I expected smart editors would fix my work by suggesting specific changes, and that's almost never the case. Most times, the editor would just say "Doesn't work, fix it" and I'd be forced to autopsy the corpse and try to reanimate it. My editors didn't neglect me, they're just busy, and they wanted me to develop the skill of recognizing and repairing a good story.
Congrats, Peter!
Hope you're doing well, Chuck. You won't be seeing me for a while. I have fallen victim to talking about writing more than I do it. So I'm kinda forcing myself to take a hiatus from your Substack after today until I finish a story. It might take 3 weeks or 3 months. Hope you understand. Coming back will be my reward for having done the work. And if you see me in the comment section without a story, that means you get to yell at me into oblivion and shame the shit outta me too. Everyone can.
Thanks for understanding <3
Joe G.
Godspeed dude.....
May whatever muse was with Bukowski during his three weeks of writing ‘Post Office’ be with you now.
amen! https://tumbleweedwords.substack.com/p/boo-boo-poem?s=w
Got it. And please find a way to trap yourself where you've no choice but to write.
well said Chuck! https://tumbleweedwords.substack.com/p/boo-boo-poem?s=w
https://tumbleweedwords.substack.com/p/boo-boo-poem?s=w
Congrats, Peter! It was definitely a neat take.
Congratulations, Peter!!
Congrats, Peter - Colorado represent!
Hey Neil!
Woohoo! [clapping] [trumpets]
Boooo.
Congratulations Peter!
Chuck, thanks for encouraging and prodding us all along. I wonder if you might consider with these exercises, and maybe even with this one, "one sentence" feedback to the submitters.
In the zone, incomprehensible, abandon this, too many thinking verbs, etc. Whatever brief comment might be helpful to push each of us in the right direction.
To wit, I showed my entry to my wife and a friend and they both had no idea what I was getting at. I realized I was trying so hard not to be overly direct, that I wasn't adequately describing the scene. I even had a theme which did not come across. So I edited my entry to add more description such as "in order to make herself cry" as a preface to a character trying to make herself cry because without it, it wasn't coming across. I had wanted the speaker to be undefined as to leave open the two characters'relationship so the reader could decide - but that was confusing so I added several "her friend said"s.
But with these edits, it feels like I moved the entry from the "reader discovering" to a narrative, which is less satisfying at least when I'm reading.
Thanks
Eric
Can you rephrase this? I'm not sure what you're asking for? Thanks.
One sentence or a few words of commentary by you for the entries you read. Even something as short as "I don't understand where you are going with this", "solid, flesh out the following" " scrap this" etc. The deep dives are great but I, and I think others, are a little lost on whether there is any merit in our attempts. Thanks.
You mean one comment for each of the 126 entries? Not going to happen. But I do read them all.
Ok. Sorry. Didn't mean to impose. We appreciate your time.
And I should have said "I appreciate". I am sure everyone else does but no idea why I am speaking in the collective when I made the suggestion.
Thank you for understanding. I wish I could do all of this, and I appreciate the time that goes into the entries. What you've said no doubt many, many people also feel. About wanting feedback, I mean. If nothing else, I'd like people to develop an inner knack for dissecting their own work.
As a younger writer I expected smart editors would fix my work by suggesting specific changes, and that's almost never the case. Most times, the editor would just say "Doesn't work, fix it" and I'd be forced to autopsy the corpse and try to reanimate it. My editors didn't neglect me, they're just busy, and they wanted me to develop the skill of recognizing and repairing a good story.
VERY WELL DESERVED!!! Congratulations, Peter!!!
Congrats, Peter! 🎉
Thanks, Chuck, and thanks everyone else. I had a lot of fun reading all the different takes.
Yay Peter!!
Context is the key to everything.
Disheveled and lost, Chuck, I worry that it’s all very superficial and random. ‘Tis your style no?
Congratulation, it was a great one