By Marcia Mickelson
I'm the kind of writer who doesn't like to share what she's writing when it's in its infancy stage. I'm afraid that if I tell someone my story idea before it's fully developed and more than halfway done, that it will never get finished.
It's so hard to explain your story in a few sentences and many times the person you're telling doesn't see the full picture with a small explanation. They may not be as excited about your idea. Any reaction or non-reaction can trigger a desire to not finish after all. What if they ask a question that makes me think they don't like it? What if they make a face? It can be discouraging.
Recently, I started writing a new manuscript. I'm only about 1200 words in, but I'm not talking about it. My 10 year old son recently saw me working on it and asked what I was writing. He's also a writer and we talk about our stories sometimes. He tells me about what he's working on and asks me about what I'm working on. He asks the title, what it's about, how many chapters it has. Usually, I'm happy to talk about it and tell him all about it. But this time, I said I'm not really ready to talk about it. He said, "that's okay; I understand." And I think he does. Sometimes, he is not so willing to talk about what he's writing. He tells me when he's ready and I will tell him when I'm ready.
In the meantime, I'm not talking. It's just so new and I feel that any talking about it will squash my desire to continue. It's just a baby; I don't want anyone to see it yet. So, don't ask me what I'm working on. Maybe when I've hit 30-40 K words, I'll talk.
Does anyone else feel this way?
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Sharing What You Write
Posted by Marcia Mickelson at 7:21 PM
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5 comments:
I feel this way too. It is even hard to describe a book that is finished, but one in its infancy my evolve and change, so I see no purpose in talking about it until I feel it is more fully developed.
I always feel like my ideas lose their excitement when I tell others, especially when they just don't get it. I like to keep the secret and then I can stay inspired and keep writing!
My natural tendency is to feel this way. But I've found that being in a critique group helps. I've gotten used to constructive criticism, and they give me lots of great ideas too.
When my books are in the early stages, I don't talk much about them either. In fact, I don't even send manuscripts out to a group of test readers until about draft three. I don't want anyone crawling in my head while I'm still exploring, trying to find the story!
I lot of authors don't like to tell their ideas when they're in infancy.(The ideas, not the authors :) It's too easy for someone to make a negative comment, and then it takes eons for the author to have faith in the story again. :)
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