NaNoWriMo Note

[galdrin]

I don't want to drop out of this thing - and I probably won't. But ...

Everyone here had such nice things to say about what they'd read so far that the other day I pulled up what I'd written so far for Joyce to read and see what she thought of it.

She immediately started to critique it and when I said, "Don't critique it. It doesn't have to be good, it just has to get written. Critique comes later." she got all huffy and said she really didn't care for 'fantasy' that much, that this or this didn't make sense (it would have if she'd read further), and blah blah blah. That left me despondent, as she's my biggest fan.

So now I'm stranded in the doldrums, thinking about the story, but afraid to write anything further on it. How ridiculous is that? I never write for anyone else's pleasure ... but I so wanted her to like it - and she won't give it a chance.

Damn-it (that's two in one day's worth of posting) I gotta say screw it, get out of this funk, and just push forward.

Damn - damn - dam

Comments

[cissa.livejournal.com]

I certainly hope you continue! I think the story's very good indeed. I know how discouraging such comments can be, though, especially from someone close.

Is it possible that she's not happy with the time or energy you're spending on nanowrimo? I know I've sometimes been less than supportive if I've felt J is spending too much energy away from the relationship, that it's become unbalanced. Like right now with his 11-hour workdays. :( Even when we try not to let that sort of thing affect us, sometimes it does anyway...

Good luck with it all, in all the areas you could use some!

*hugs*

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

Oh, please continue -- even if you decide to drop out of NaNoWriMo, I think you should finish the novel. I think it's a good story, with great potential and I've really enjoyed the excerpts you've posted.

So there.

[teapot-farm.livejournal.com]

Of course you should continue! You have an audience here...
Maybe Joyce didn't know what she *was* meant to do with the story, if she wasn't to critique it? And felt like she was trying hard to be helpful, and you were rejecting that (and perhaps, as Cissa said, it's taking time from the relationship and you're not letting her participate by critiqueing)? That sort of situation tends to make me snappy too... maybe it felt like she was meant to read it, but only allowed to say "it's very good" because anything else was critiquing?
I'd explain to her what you actually wanted, when you get home, and say you'll show her when it's finished (and you're deciding if you want to spend further time reworking it). And maybe thank her for wanting to help, even if she went about it in a way you didn't actually want...

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

Please don't stop. If you don't continue, I'll never get to read the rest of it. That would be very disappointing. I want to know the rest of the story. Joyce probably just didn't understand that it was only a beginning, or she was tired or in a bad mood or something like that. If she really doesn't like fantasy, that could certainly be a big part of it too. If that's the case, then it might be best to finish it, or a big part of it, before having her read it again, so that when she reads it all the parts are there to make sense. Starting to read something that doesn't seem to make sense yet in a genre you don't like anyway can be kind of tough to continue.

[silme.livejournal.com]

Please keep writing -- for all of the above reasons.