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WORRYING VS. CARING
by
H. E. SMITH
You've been working on your WIP. You love it. You've poured your heart
and soul and passion into it, every breath of your inner fire, striking
the words you command into the heart of your enemy, whether it be that
of your main character or your own Inner Censor.
You let it sit, leaning back to breathe. And then thoughts and doubts
begin to surface. Is it any
good? Will my readers like it? What will they think?
You can't second-guess yourself in the rough draft. Constantly worrying
about whether or not your WIP is any good will do nothing more than
block you. Worrying about what people might think will do the same.
In the rough, you have to pull out the stops. Write what's right for your WIP. Don't
censor yourself. If you're afraid that your characters aren't
sympathetic, you might talk about them to someone else and get a second
opinion. It helps to talk with other people and get opinions on what
you're writing. Support, especially from other writers, can make a
difference. When I was writing Sanctuary, my first
full-length novel, I went into chat and talked about my MC, the plot,
and when I got stuck, I brainstormed.
Just describing your character to another person might not be enough. A
skilled writer can make almost any character sympathetic. I've read
works with incredibly sympathetic characters that just by their
description alone, I might have gone "Ick" at. In my erotic romance
novel, Resurrection,
my main character, Shaiandral, is forced to tantrically resurrect the
Dragonlord by the evil demon who'd possessed him. When I first talked
about the book, people tended to be put off by it; the ones who
actually read it later commented to me that they were surprised I could
pull it off.
An unsympathetic character or iffy plot element can work. I would have
lost a great book if I'd censored myself when I was first talking about
the idea. I went with it out of weirdness, despite original comments,
and pulled it off. It can be done.
Self-censoring only works against you. If you worry about what people
might think, you can end up toning down the good things about your WIP.
Donald Maass, in Writing the
Breakout Novel, describes novels that "break out" as having
controversial and risky elements. "Safe" fiction stays midlist.
Be true to your work. Write from the gut. Write from the soul. Don't
censor yourself. Someone may tell you that they don't like something in
your work, that they don't think that it works. It's a good thing to
evaluate their comments rather than dismissing them out of hand, but
it's important not to take what everyone says to heart. I've gotten
crits from people that I disagreed with, because their idea of what my
book should be wasn't what I wanted to write. Critiquers can have theme
differences with the author. It boils down to preference much of the
time.
For example, let's say I have an erotica piece I post for crit. It's
got heavy maledom and BDSM elements. The majority of critiquers love it
and have stylistical comments and line edits. Then someone else
responds with "Eww, gross!" and says they like the story minus those
elements; that's not necessarily a comment on the skill of your work.
Maledom and BDSM may not be that critter's flavor; not everyone has the
same tastes.
What's difficult is when that crit comes from someone you trust, whose
opinion you care a lot about, or someone you look up to, or even an
editor. When a respected individual has problems with your work when
everyone else loved it, it can be very difficult not to alter your work to
her preferences.
Stay true to your work. If you get a crit that you violently disagree
with, don't let your inner censor talk you into believing they're
right. Don't sacrifice your work to someone else's vision of what it
should be. Don't tone it down. Don't cut its legs out from under it,
because that's exactly what can happen when you rip the heart out of
your work to please another.
Don't worry about whether or not your work is good in the rough. Write
from your soul. Write what you
want. Write the book you
want to read. That's the only way you're going to finish. You're not a
slave to your critiquers. Write what screams to be written.
Once the book is finished, then
you can react with some concern, after giving it time to cool off. You
can look at it objectively and ask yourself if the book says what you
want it to say, and see if your crits come back reflecting that. If all
your crits indicate that it doesn't, then you might want to look at it.
If the majority don't, though ... then don't fret.
Also keep in mind the group you're targeting. Don't post a heavy BDSM,
non-con story to romance writers and expect the majority to like it.
Choosing the correct audience is important.
When it comes to editors and readers, the same applies. When you're
submitting your work, if you get a personal response from an editor, do
keep that in mind. I had Resurrection
rejected by an erotic romance publisher saying that I had too many
different themes and the characters weren't believable. After looking
at it, I realized I probably was targeting the wrong market with that
book, because it played the edge too much and had a distinct fantastic
bent. A speculative fiction editor probably wouldn't have thought that
the characters were implausible. Rather than try to slaughter my
book to fit that market, I'm going to be trying to place it at the right markets for it, and
send that original one something more to their tastes.
No matter what, it's important not to worry. Care about your work.
Dedicate yourself to producing the best work you possibly can--and keep
in mind that for some writers, it takes many drafts in order to get it
right. That said, be careful in rewrite. It's possible to over-rewrite
and ruin the book. I've known writers that cut all the good bits out of
the book in the rewrite, rather than improving it. Pay attention to
your inner vision. Don't censor your work.
Stay strong. Don't surrender to censorship. Be the best writer you can
be. Let it rip. Let it fly.
And drop me a note when you sell. I know you will. I have faith. Rock
on!
Copyright © 2003, H. E. Smith.
All rights reserved.
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