My neighbors should have been taking notes rather than complaining about the noise, because Groop was in fine form last night. Everybody did a fantastic job breaking down my story and then giving me the directions how it might be built back up again. There were delicious roasted veggies and red wine, and I got to use my martini shaker for the first time in months. (Thanks, Ben, for being the only one brave enough to sample my home-infused ginger vodka).
Critique was superb. Even though it made me see how much more work I have, it also made me fall in love with the story all over again. And when you can see something you've been tinkering on for a decade with a fresh perspective, that's golden.
Not all of it was sunshine and flowers, of course. Some of my favorite bits were pinched on the cheek and sent off to that orphanage of the mind where are housed all good ideas that don't yet have a home. For example, Laura had this to say while reading lines: "I'm going to read this line even though I deleted the paragraph. ... It's a good line, you can use it in some other story."
Ah, the cold, double-edged steel of an honest opinion.
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3 comments:
I usually keep that orphanage on the tail end of my stories, a kind of cut and paste heap. Makes me think of junk DNA. See, God kills his darlings too.
I think that laura line goes up there with the line about the snakeless snake story and the: this story has so many commas you could knit them together and make a hat.
You know, groop wall of fame, or whatever.
Ella wants credit for that line. You people are so going to out me one of these days!
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