ROW80: At Week’s End

Well the week has ended, and it has seen me floundering around again. I cannot solely blame the lack of momentum on my difficulty settling into my new project. A large portion of my week was lost to work and a tirednes of the sort I have never experienced. Seriously. On Thursday I fell asleep at 8pm. It was insane. Strangely enough it coupled with a week that saw us broke and unable to replenish my coffee store, so my caffeine levels were severely depleted. It just goes to prove that COFFEE = LIFE

That being said, I did manage to get some words written on the new book, and I am in the very least feeling more satisfied with what I am creating and the plans I have overall.

I won’t bore you with my daily totals for they are neither groundbreaking nor depressingly awful. I would say rather that they are utterly mediocre and thereofre not worthy of individual mention.

The real matter at hand for me tonight, is the critique I have just received from my Beta Reader, and a person I consider to be a very dear friend, fellow author Carrie Green.

I had expected a few comments, and a bundle of grammar issues. Yet, I was not prepared for what I received. I got an honest and incredbily valued opinion of my work. It was long, that was the first thing that hit me when I opened the email. It was not filled with praise. That was the second thing I noticed. But then again, that was not what I wanted. It was instead filled with constructive advice and comments on how I can make my novel better.

As I read through the list, I relaized that everything that was listed there made sense, I had just missed it. Why? Well, I am beginning to think I should plot things out more. At least a sort of paper based framework. Currently I leave everything in my mind and trust myself to remember it. 

There are no major re-write needed, but rather a few scenes that need to be added, and some extra character exchanges are needed. More attention to detail than major plot problems. Nevertheless, it would seem that the road ahead is still a long one for Trials and Tribulations. But I have the chance to polish off my novel and make it something worthy of your time as a reader. The added bonus is that it gives me time to plan ahead for my next novel and actually come up with a bit more structure to it. I can learn from this critique and take it with me for ever, and that is the thing I love about writing and about having such a great and trusted friend. You can always learn, always improve.

 So, that has been my week in a nutshell. How about yours?