Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Great Reviews

I got a couple of great reviews today. No! the reviews didn't say my work was great, but they were still great reviews. They told me how I might improve as a writer and that's what made them great. As a writer I am not always a good judge of what I write. I know what I like but that doesn't mean that everyone else is going to like it. My wife has been trying to get that through my head for a long time. She tells me, "Just because you like it doesn't mean everyone else does." Anyway these reviews I got pointed out some things I need to get better at. One of these is showing rather than telling. How many of you have gotten a review that pointed that one out? Somehow we're supposed to work the telling into the showing and dispense with all that expository stuff. It's amazing how readers tastes have changed over the years. It used to be that elegant exposition was the litmus test of good writing. Now its letting the action do the telling, or something like that. All I know is that the more I write the better I write. If I keep some of these central concepts in mind maybe I can keep my scribblings more focused on the excellence of the craft. Anyway that would seem to be the whole idea. One thing that I have found that helps is to take a novel that I really like and read from it before I try and write a scene. Then I let the echo kinda, sort of, guide the fire hose as I thrash around trying to express myself. Oh well, I'm tired and I made my quota for the day. Its been fun. Hope you all had a pleasant Memorial Day weekend.