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alanajoliI've decided not to make another entry on how long it's been since I've written an entry. Things have happened, largely in regards to live, and it's been difficult to keep up with all the online things I do. As I answered when a friend of mine asked after my writing and spiritual life yesterday, I often feel the best I can do is just keep up, rather than be a master at any part of my life at the moment. (I've bookmarked a blog entry about writers, time, and kids over at Book View Cafe. I have yet to find a chance to read it.)
But back to the subject: something I've discovered about myself as a writer recently is that when I offer up a piece for critique too early, I lose motivation to work on it. My brain switches gears from writer brain to editor brain, and I start looking at all the things that need to be fixed rather than what needs to happen *next.* Both Blackstone Academy and East Wind are currently suffering from early-critique syndrome.
On the other hand, I don't like to write in a void. I like to know that someone is out there reading what I'm writing and wants to read more. It helps keep me motivated to think that people are hanging on at the end of a chapter waiting to see what happens next.
To synthesize these two things, I decided to create a group that I'm calling my Pep Squad. Their job is to be excited about what I send them (even if they're not). They're so early in the reading process that they're not even alpha-readers -- they're the pre-alpha-readers. I've got a team of four friends who are taking on this role for me, and I've just sent them some pre-writing tonight for a new project I'm tentatively calling Liminals.
I am not giving up on either Blackstone Academy or East Wind -- I'm just trying to find a way to keep myself motivated to write fiction while I'm trying to keep up with everything else that's going on. (I'm not only a columnist at Branford Patch, now, I'm also writing articles! Copyediting is back into full swing! Review gigs just keep on rolling in! So, I'm staying plenty busy with the work life, plus family life, plus karate -- test on Friday next!, plus Mommy Baby exercise and teaching, plus gaming and otherwise socializing with people I like.)
In other news, counting review books, several volumes of Schlock Mercenary, and manuscripts, I've read 49 books so far this year. I'm just slightly proud of that number, given that we're only in month four of the year.
But back to the subject: something I've discovered about myself as a writer recently is that when I offer up a piece for critique too early, I lose motivation to work on it. My brain switches gears from writer brain to editor brain, and I start looking at all the things that need to be fixed rather than what needs to happen *next.* Both Blackstone Academy and East Wind are currently suffering from early-critique syndrome.
On the other hand, I don't like to write in a void. I like to know that someone is out there reading what I'm writing and wants to read more. It helps keep me motivated to think that people are hanging on at the end of a chapter waiting to see what happens next.
To synthesize these two things, I decided to create a group that I'm calling my Pep Squad. Their job is to be excited about what I send them (even if they're not). They're so early in the reading process that they're not even alpha-readers -- they're the pre-alpha-readers. I've got a team of four friends who are taking on this role for me, and I've just sent them some pre-writing tonight for a new project I'm tentatively calling Liminals.
I am not giving up on either Blackstone Academy or East Wind -- I'm just trying to find a way to keep myself motivated to write fiction while I'm trying to keep up with everything else that's going on. (I'm not only a columnist at Branford Patch, now, I'm also writing articles! Copyediting is back into full swing! Review gigs just keep on rolling in! So, I'm staying plenty busy with the work life, plus family life, plus karate -- test on Friday next!, plus Mommy Baby exercise and teaching, plus gaming and otherwise socializing with people I like.)
In other news, counting review books, several volumes of Schlock Mercenary, and manuscripts, I've read 49 books so far this year. I'm just slightly proud of that number, given that we're only in month four of the year.
