Monday morning blues

[eimarra]

I'm in the doldrums today. Just got a crit back, with some good catches and a lot of good feedback. I'm just frustrated because I feel I miss so much on my own. I've seen authors post on FM to the effect that using crits excessively is depending on a crutch -- a real writer needs to be able to edit her work into shape because she won't always have the luxury of sending something off to beta readers who will take their time with it.

And I'm worried because I know I'm nowhere near that level. I keep thinking I'm getting better at this -- everything from the mechanics of varying sentence length and rhythm to having more than the obvious layer in the story. But then I find out I'm still failing on so many levels.

My number one problem? I think I've made the protagonist's motive clear, or think that the root cause of the MC's behavior isn't important to have down in so many words. But even when I think I've spelled it out from the beginning of the story, my readers tell me they don't understand why X does Y.

I can't imagine giving up writing, but right now, at this moment, I'm really wondering if I'll ever be good enough.

(/end feeling sorry for myself)

Comments

[eimarra]

I thought Joey's story was going somewhere -- to the end of his life, eventually. Or you mean as in having plot arcs and conflicts that get resolved (or deepened) along the way?

[bonniers.livejournal.com]

I meant the plot arcs and conflicts and stuff. Joey does have a sort of framework like that, but it keeps getting lost in a tangle of everyday relationships and just general stuff.

It's like you pointed out with "City, in the Mist" -- I tend to have conflict, then resolution, but never a climax.

--bonnie