Fiction Friday

Happy Friday peeps!

I don’t have a lot to report on from the fiction front other than to say I’m still plugging away on my second draft. I’ve been waking up around 6 AM most days to get in a few hours of writing before the offspring come downstairs and turn on SpongeBob SquarePants and as long as I don’t get lured away by the shiny Internet, I can usually meet whatever word count goal I’ve set.

I read something on Absolute Write that really resonated with me this week. Someone posted about not putting too much stock in critiques of your work done by other fiction writers. Writers all have a personal style and a favorite genre and if your chapter or novel doesn’t match up well with either of those things, the critique can leave you feeling dejected and suddenly doubting any word you’ve ever written. The post pointed out that it’s often readers that give the best critiques because they are able to see the story and not get hung up on technique. That’s not to say that writers don’t give great crits, it’s simply a reminder to have a mix of both.

My sister Trish is the only one who has read anything from my novel. I chose her because she has no tact whatsoever will be honest with me and not pull any punches. It was her enthusiasm about my first chapters and my premise that helped motivate me to continue writing and I was very appreciative of her feedback. Trish will probably always be my first reader. Cowboy Dave also fields his share of questions regarding my male main character and whatever he can’t answer, my pal Google does. If you pulled up my search history right now you’d be all, seriously, wtf?

Hopefully I’ll have something for Trish and my other readers to read by the end of September but if it takes longer than that, well, that’s okay. If there’s one thing I know it’s not to rush the process.

That’s all I’ve got today – Have a great weekend everyone!