Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Writing Group

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My writing group is ruthlessly critical and wonderfully inspiring. Every time I come away from them, after they have clobbered my work, I feel energetic and ready to take on the task of changing and revising my stories.
This time I offered them the first two chapters of my “finished” historical novel. Their verdict: well written, interesting detail. HOWEVER: you’re flaunting your knowledge, your plot is cliché, and so are some of your scenes. Fortunately, after they have wielded the axe, they do a lot of brainstorming, where their fantasy takes on wings, and they go over the top, but that is all right. I can pick and choose; I can fly off with my own imagination.
So here I am, back behind the computer, constructing a whole new plot. I can still retain a lot of the material I have. Inevitably, though, I will also have to kill some darlings.
They will be posted here in the course of time. In Dutch, I’m afraid.

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