Meetings and Revisions - 12 views

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  #1 Alexis Krysten on 09 Jul 08

   

  Today I had a meeting with my mentor about my work. The most nerve-wracking things for a writer is to have someone critique your work, so it is extremely important that you are comfortable with the people you choose to show your work to. Remember, be extremely careful. Do not cast your pearls before swine.
  
  Anyway, at the meeting we went over critical things that my chapters need to possess. One of which is conflict. Make sure that every chapter moves - physically. Think of the old adage - show not tell. Furthermore, when you open your chapter place the character in the setting. Tell the reader where the character is and make sure you use your senses to enhance your writing (see, taste, hear, smell, touch). The next time that I meet with her I have to have made revisions on twenty of the pages and have thirty new pages to show her. I know that the morning pages will help me to dig out what I have buried in.
  
  One more thing to note: Don't make the mistake of reading someone else's work before writing. I made that error recently and I found myself writing from the perspective of the narrator in another novel instead of my own. The writing came out stilted and forced. While the most important thing for a writer is to read as much as possible, it is also imperative that one knows one's work well enough to allow it to stand on its own without using aids from outside sources.
  
  Well, I'll spend the next couple of days reflecting and making revisions. I will have to spend some quality time in the space where my story takes place so that will be fun - sort of an ethnographic study. Take care and remember to write!

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Today I had a meeting with my mentor about my work. The most nerve-wracking things for a writer is to have someone critique your work, so it is extremely important that you are comfortable with the people you choose to show your work to. Remember, be extremely careful. Do not cast your pearls before swine. <br /> <br /> Anyway, at the meeting we went over critical things that my chapters need to possess. One of which is conflict. Make sure that every chapter moves - physically. Think of the old adage - show not tell. Furthermore, when you open your chapter place the character in the setting. Tell the reader where the character is and make sure you use your senses to enhance your writing (see, taste, hear, smell, touch). The next time that I meet with her I have to have made revisions on twenty of the pages and have thirty new pages to show her. I know that the morning pages will help me to dig out what I have buried in. <br /> <br /> One more thing to note: Don't make the mistake of reading someone else's work before writing. I made that error recently and I found myself writing from the perspective of the narrator in another novel instead of my own. The writing came out stilted and forced. While the most important thing for a writer is to read as much as possible, it is also imperative that one knows one's work well enough to allow it to stand on its own without using aids from outside sources. <br /> <br /> Well, I'll spend the next couple of days reflecting and making revisions. I will have to spend some quality time in the space where my story takes place so that will be fun - sort of an ethnographic study. Take care and remember to write!</div>

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