The weather has been nice this weekend, so I’ve been working a lot on cleaning out the fence row behind our back fence. When I’m done, I’m going to post before and after photos. I figure doing that work accomplishes lots of tasks at the same time:
1. Fence row gets cleaned.
2. I get exercise.
3. I get to enjoy warm, sunny weather before winter arrives.
4. I can listen to workshops on my MP3 player while working.
So, while working today, I listened to a workshop given by Jane Graves and Kristin Gabriel called “Setting Your Story Free”. Something Jane said really struck me as true. She said that the biggest fan of your writing had better be you because if you’re not in love with your story, no one else will be either. If you don’t laugh or cry or feel some other emotion you’re trying to get across in your story, your reader won’t either. Isn’t it odd how what should be the simplest, most obvious thing sometimes has to be said out loud for that giant bell over our heads to ring?
October 30th, 2005 at 7:06 pm
She’s right, Trish. Excellent point. Whatever is written without effort (or in this case emotion) will be read the same way. I can always tell when I’ve loved a character. I can see bits of myself in him/her. But the stepchildren always stick out like a sore thumb. So I always have to go back and adopt them, to make them my own. Only then will they truly come to life.
Tanya
October 30th, 2005 at 8:15 pm
It makes complete sense
October 30th, 2005 at 9:43 pm
Tanya, that’s an interesting way of describing it — stepchildren and adopting them. Can totally see that.
October 31st, 2005 at 6:08 pm
I *love* that, Trish. So true. If your story is boring you, then it’s also putting the reader to sleep, right?
My fave stories I’ve written all have lots of surprises and humor. Some literally made me laugh.
But the best made me say to my DH, “You’ll never guess what Amber did today?”
“Who’s Amber?” He responded, thinking I meant a real person instead of a character.
And, in a way, I did.