"Oh lord it's hard to be humble .. When you're perfect in every way
I can't wait to look in the mirror .. Cause I get better lookin' each day
To know me is to love me .. I must be a hell of (wo)man
Oh lord it's hard to be humble .. But I'm doin' the best that I can." M.D.
That was how I was feeling when I posted my entry for the blogfest yesterday.
I was feeling AWESOME about my first 500ish words of Maguire's Corner.
Then I got the feedback.
It was intense.
Don't get me wrong, a lot of very nice comments were left and I thank you for that.
I do appreciate every comment because for a long time I was on here talking to myself.
Some comments are just harder to take because either I agree with them and can't figure out why I didn't pick up on the same thing, OR, I completely disagree with them and don't know if the commenter and I are even reading the same page.
A few things I would like to address:
During one of the many revisions I had taken out the information about Maggie calling 911 to report a hit and run. Sometimes you just work on something so much or change so many things that you forget to put important info back.
I, the writer, know she called 911. You, the reader, don't. This was a simple fix.
One of the things that came up time and again was using the five senses to describe what was going on. I really thought I had this nailed but you would have had to read the whole chapter in order to catch it all not just the first 500 words. So many of the suggestions were in the next few paragraphs. Argh.
Another comment was to slow down the pace. This I can't do. I understand that some readers want more description but, to me, this was an action scene and I wanted to keep it fast paced. I wanted the reader out of breath. I wanted the reader to say, get me out of this car!
So, that I think I will leave as is.
I listened. I pondered. I suffered. I edited.
If you want to read the reworked first chapter of Maguire's Corner in its entirety, please use this link.
Meanwhile...
I have finished going through all the blogfest entries. Lots of good writing out in blogland.
It's good to know there are so many of us out there just trying day after day to write and connect and share. It feels good to be a part of this writing community where we are all striving for ourselves yet supporting each other.
Yes, take only the advice you need and work with what you've got. Most criticisms outside of the realm of "you suck" are actually beneficial even if you don't end up agreeing with all of them. They get you to reconsider the position.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is why I could never be a writer. LOL! It's got to be so difficult to handle the negative feedback, even if meant in a constructive way. It sounds to me though like you have been able to take what was said, decide to do something about what you agree with, and disregard those changes that would change the feel you were going for.
ReplyDeleteWhipped cream goes with everything!!!!
ReplyDeleteK
I agree with Jeffrey. Take it all in, weigh it and discard the junk.
ReplyDeleteBy the way I really liked the pace of the scene. It went with the action.
Jeffrey - Well said. It has taken me a while to get to this point but it was well worth the journey. Now I can look at it as constructive instead of evil!
ReplyDeleteKristin - You don't just have to be a writer to get negative feedback though. It's all about the spin!
K - YOU KNOW IT BABY!
Mary - Thank you. I appreciate that. Did you read the amended first chapter or the entry for the blogfest? Just curious.
Thanks guys!