What Writing Skill Do You Suck At?
That’s right. I’m asking you to expose your biggest weakness. *locks the door so no one can escape* *evil grin*
We all have weaknesses. I’m one of the biggest perfectionists around, but that doesn’t prevent me from having oodles of imperfections. It’s only by knowing where we need more work that we can improve.
In other words, admitting our weaknesses is good for us. *smile*
This is especially true when we have a career like writing that requires a complex skill set. To be a successful writer, we need skills varying from practical to creative and left-brain to right-brain. Truthfully, it’s a wonder any of us accomplish anything.
- We have to be psychologists to analyze our characters and give them depth.
- We have to be storytellers who know how to spin a good yarn.
- We have to be craftsmen with words and grammar.
- We have to be ruthless self-editors to create tension and a fast pace.
- We have to be able to summarize our story in a synopsis.
- We have to be organized to meet deadlines.
- We have to be researchers to understand our agent and publishing options.
- We have to be business people to understand contracts.
- We have to be accountants to understand royalties.
- We have to be marketers to spread the word about our books.
- We have to write queries and back cover copy.
- We have to make our bios sound interesting.
- Etc., etc. (Seriously, I could go on all day with this.)
It would be impossible for us to be great at all those things. We’re all going to suck at some (at least one) of them. Over the years I’ve been writing, some of my weaknesses have changed—and one item has stubbornly, pathetically, shamefully stayed the same.
My Confession
When I first started, my grammar and general writing craft was somewhere between lacking and non-existent. I worked on that weakness, and now it’s one of my strengths.
Then my big problem was word count. My first novel came out at 136K words, and I thought I was drawing blood to get it down to 120K. The more I learned about how to write tight, the more I was able to trim, and now that same story (no cut scenes!) is at 93K.
After that, I tackled my long, passive descriptions. Now my descriptions are almost too short, and what I have is active and in the character’s point of view.
Next, I had to learn how to include sensory details and emotion. I still have to consciously focus on that one a bit, so it’s not to the “unconscious competence” level of knowledge like I’ve talked about before, but it’s about 80% there.
So what’s my ongoing and forever nemesis? Queries. I suck at queries.
I’m not very good at summarizing my stories for synopses either, but at least they’re not horrible. My synopses are possibly even mediocre if I write them before writing the story. (Yay! Mediocre.) But when it comes to queries (and by extension, back cover copy), I fail with a capital “F.”
If I come up with something decent-ish sounding for a query, it’s invariably the wrong tone, or focuses on the wrong conflict, or gives the wrong impression about the story, or is just plain confusing. *sigh*
I’ve read—no joke—about a hundred blog posts or articles about how to write queries. Nothing helps because my suckitude isn’t caused by a lack of knowledge about what should go into a query or anything like that. No, I just have a hard time boiling down the characters and plot in a clear way without losing my voice and the tone of the book.
My fiction voice naturally uses a lot of subtext, with things implied rather than spelled out. Subtext doesn’t work in queries, though, because agents skim read them. Also, my stories always have a unique premise that’s hard for me to explain in a sentence.
I keep plugging away at it though. Even if I decide only to self-publish, I’d still have to write up something for the book description. Back cover copy requires the same type of writing as queries, so I need to be able to do this.
Oh yeah, and I suck at titles too, probably for similar reasons.
Can You Confess Your Weaknesses?
Did you notice how I recognized and worked on several weaknesses over the past several years? If I’d been in denial, I wouldn’t have been able to overcome them.
We usually try to keep our weaknesses hidden, but there’s a benefit to admitting them.
- We might find others with that as a strength who can help us.
- We’ll see that we’re not alone.
- We might discover motivation and/or resources to improve in that area.
On the other hand, we don’t want to focus only on our weaknesses, so let’s end on a positive note and share our strengths too. As I mentioned above, one of my greatest strengths is the ability to come up with a unique premise for my stories. Everyone from contest judges to beta readers tell me my story premises are amazing. If only that didn’t make querying harder. *smile*
What weaknesses do you have as a writer (like those bullet items above)? Can your critique partners, beta readers, agents, or editors help you overcome those weaknesses? What strengths do you have? Would you be willing to help others here with a weakness that matches your strength?
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We have to be able to summarize our story in a synopsis.
AAAAAHHHHH!
Hi Marc,
LOL! Yep, I’m right there with you. As I said, after struggling with one synopsis after the fact, I now try to write them all ahead of time, even on my pantsing stories. They might suck less. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I’m not sure if I suck at synopses and story copy, but they are difficult for me, and I don’t think I’m jaw-dropping great at it.
But when you get right down to it, the reason I have trouble with them is the same reason I have trouble with plotting (which is what I generally consider my weak point).
I overthink things. If I work out an entire plot in advance, I’ll have a jump that doesn’t work, I’ll skip something that needs to be there, etc.
I also don’t even think in transitions. That makes it difficult to write transitions. (I’m getting better, though.)
Hi Carradee,
Ah, plotting. While I usually don’t have problems with that, I don’t ask myself if I’m showing the plot point the best way I can. I need to fix that. 🙂 Good luck in figuring out transitions and thanks for the comment!
Man, we can only pick one weakness?? Seriously though, I guess I’ll stick to where I am right now on my finished WIP and that sounds the same as yours, writing queries and coming up with a great title. Also, I’m now second-guessing my opening and thinking I need to come up with some truly amazing, profound start that ties in with the end and captures the essence of the heroine, ties into the main conflict, grabs the reader by the short and curlies and doesn’t let go and I fear I can’t find that opening. (Mind you this is an opening I’ve already revised countless times). Yesterday I was thinking all day “Who the f#&^% do I think I am? I think I’m a writer??? Hahahahaha… sob”
Hi Angela,
Yep, I understand that too. I just finished reading “Hooked” by Les Edgerton, and I was convinced that the opening scene in my latest WIP was awful (yes, that same opening you read *sigh*). I’m mulling about how to make the scene I have even better without changing everything. 🙂 His book gives great tips, but as you said about openings, it’s that same pressure to do and be EVERYTHING that paralyzes me when it comes to queries too. You’re not alone. *hugs* Thanks for the comment!
Hi Jami,
Bet you can’t guess what my weakness is? Should I throw a few commas around to show you?
Murphy 😉
Hi Murphy,
LOL! Um, that’s not necessary. 😉 Thanks for the comment!
Ugh, the business side scares the heck outta me, anything to do with money, accounting, or business. I doubt I’ll be very good at that, if the time should ever arrive. I have pretty decent skills in most areas of writing, although, of course, there’s always room for improvement. I wish I handled setting better. And I suppose I could always write more eloquently. But I am pretty good at synopses and queries. I think I finally have a pretty good query, but I’m not satisfied with “think” so I had Matthew MacNish put it up on his blog today, The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment. Though I’ve had some great comments from his followers, I’ll see what Matthew has to say tomorrow and whether he’s ripped it to shreds or not. *gulp*
Hi Nancy,
I have Matthew’s site open in a tab for me to eventually send my query in. I thought I had mine fairly good several times. I even rewrote it from scratch twice while in query/proposal workshops. I “graduated” from both of those workshops, but I fear there might have been a “yes, it’s fine, stop bugging me now” aspect to at least one of those. LOL! I’ve won an agent-judged first page contest, so I know it’s not the writing of the manuscript itself. *sigh* It’s just my query.
As far as the business side of things, I did several posts about that (Are Writers Entrepreneurs? and Are Writers without Business Sense Doomed?), so you’re not alone. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
The elevator pitch is probably my biggest weakness. People ask me what my book is about, and I tend to mumble. It’s about these guys, and they do some stuff? The concepts are strong in my head, but I have a hard time boiling them down to a sentence or two. Same reason I’m always having to edit my tweets down, I guess.
I also tend to second-guess myself a -lot- when looking at my plots at a very high level, which sucks.
Hi Daniel,
“People ask me what my book is about, and I tend to mumble. It’s about these guys, and they do some stuff?”
LOL! *raises hand* Been there, done that. 🙂 We just need to have beta readers for our queries to tell us if they make sense. Thanks for the comment!
Ackpth! Pitches! *hides* No, scratch that. I think my bioreaction would be: *runs* Pitches and loglines and anything tiny are my pitfall. I think I think I have finally nailed the query, but those one-sentence hooks…
The problem is more than having a hard time condensing my sprawling, branching novel. I have to actually speak to deliver a pitch. As in open my mouth and make sounds other people can hear and hope they combine to make something that could be called communication. I can’t speak – why else would I go into writing? *sigh*
Hi Kathrine,
Oh no! Luckily, the speaking part I can handle. Although I’m much more of a dork in person because I can’t plan what I’m going to say. 🙂 Hopefully your querying will be successful and you can put off the speaking part for a while. Good luck and thanks for the comment!
Love coming up w/titles…kinda getting the hang of how to do a good query…but SYNOPSIS/PROPOSALS? What???!!! I just want to say, “just read the book, it’ll be much better than this stinking attempt at a synopsis.” I mean, c’mon. It’s torture to compile 80,000 words into brief chapter summaries, giving away all our cool plot twists and whatnot in the process. So yeah, that’s my Achilles heel in writing.
Hi Heather,
Oh yes, I hate giving away plot twists. I’ll send synopses to agents and editors just fine, but have beta readers for my synopsis? No way. After they read the whole story, sure, but then they can’t give feedback for whether or not the synopsis makes sense on its own. *ahem* Yes, so I understand. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Sad as it is for a writer to admit this, I actually struggle with idea generation. It seems to take me 2-3 times as long as everyone else to come up with a good idea for a story. Once I have it, all is good, but finding it can drive me to stress eating 🙂
A couple of old weaknesses that I’m constantly working on are a dearth of description (I tend to write a sparse first draft) and dialogue.
Hi Marcy,
One thing that helps me with that is always having a way to capture ideas when I do come up with them. I have notepads by my bed and in the shower. I have Evernote on my phone for when I’m out and about, and I have a Notepad file on my desktop computer for when I’m working.
If you write down every teeny idea you have, you might discover you come up with more ideas than you think you do. Or maybe by writing down partial ideas, you’ll tell your subconscious to continue working on them rather than letting them float away. Good luck and thanks for the comment!
Writing a sparse rough draft isn’t necessarily a bad thing—I’ve done it, too—and idea generation comes more easily with practice, in my experience, but I’m still better at coming up with situations than I am at stories.
I’ve found that when the dialogue and description are bland, I’m not well enough in the MC’s head and need to weasel my way in there better.
Carradee,
Very true! Sparse rough drafts aren’t a bad thing. 🙂 And you’re also right that getting deeper into POV will often fix many problems. Thanks for the comment!
I’m great at everything. Yep. *sigh*
When I came online 13-14 months ago it was because I was an immortal pantser and really getting nowhere. Weakness #1: Structure. I have no issue writing out an idea, a premise or boiling things down just don’t make me put it in any type of format. This is becoming one of my strengths now, but it has been a difficult road.
Weakness #2: grammar; , ! still working on it but improving.
Weakness #3: Emotion. I’m not a highly emotional guy which is great in dealing with a house full of hyper-dramatic female teens, not so great when writing fiction, especially given that I prefer writing heroines over heroes. Working on this one, still. Always.
Strengths: I can come up with a story premise off of just about anything, rapidly with little sweat. Not a mainline idea but something unique and unusual. I don’t generally have much issue boiling the thought down to a one sentence log line or synopsis and indeed this is usually the start of my writing process.
The “either/or”: Perfectionist. This one can be either just depends on how it is used.
Okay, off to work on my grammar. Great post, Jami 🙂
Hi Gene,
Yep, I’m right there with you on your #3. The scenes I write from the hero’s POV are always easier than from the heroine’s POV. 🙂 (Although I do tend to break my heroes until they get emotional. 🙂 But then it’s a deep, gut-level emotional scene rather than just generic emotions.) Good luck with working on that and thanks for the comment!
Time management. Seriously, I can’t balance everything. Home, teaching, blog, WIP, twitter, Facebook, mommying, wifeying. I understand why many writers are introverted alcoholics. You kind of have to be alone. I am really busy.
Did I mention I teach? And grade?
And that I’m sitting in a car waiting for my son to finish a bar mitzvah lesson? In the dark? Yeah. Time management.
Hi Renee,
Time management? What’s that? 😉
Yes, that’s a never-ending battle with me too. Thanks for the comment!
I’ll start with one strength which has helped me improve greatly… I’m good at identifying my weaknesses, building a plan to address them, and sometimes turn them into strengths. What weaknesses am I still working on? I’ve a high quality bar for myself. Perhaps too high. What’s the problem with that? Revising is killin’ me. Seriously, it’s a nightmare right now. I look at the plot, the verbiage, the descriptions and just wanna cry ’cause I’ve so much to do to fix it all, and I’m afraid I’ll throw out 90% of my work, revise, then throw out 90% of that. How am I addressing this? I’m gonna tackle the large stuff first. Plot problems. Then move to smaller things like descriptions. Just like everyone else, I run through a plot, get half way through writing the story and come up with new ideas that make everything I’ve done up to then fall apart. Little things, too. I’m awful at reusing words. I’m the typo queen. Bleah. Fortunately, Scriviner and good beta readers are helping. And, of course, I’m bad at Butt In Chair. I’ve lots going on in life…a day job, friends, reading. Kinda gets in the way. I’ve addressed this by NanoWrimo. I didn’t make it, but I’m proud of what I did. 37,924. Really, I’m blown away. And I really like the story and will push it through to the end. I’m good at dialog, character, voice, description (after I’ve revised), and I’ve been given good feedback… — Read More »
Oh, and it is in fact my birthday Dec 20th, 2012.
Hi Roxanne,
Really? Wow, that’s kind of cool actually. And I love your story idea for it! 🙂
Hi Roxanne,
Yes, revisions feel like they’re never done because I keep learning new things I could do to make it better. It sounds like you have a good method for dealing with it though. 🙂 Congratulations on your NaNo word count and thanks for the comment!
Great topic and post, Jami!
I find that I struggle a bit with fleshing out an idea from a seed into a flower – er, sometimes an oak tree? – which I still haven’t been able to figure out why. But the good news is that I have a great husband and bestie who help me brainstorm so I can get the story flowing along in my head much faster (part of that may be because the characters tend to come first most times).
My other weakness would be descriptions and metaphors/similes. I get so mad at my husband because he can take a chapter of mine and just add all these great descrtiptions and such in one sitting, and I find myself struggling to even get the creative juices clicking enough to bring the scene/picture in my head to life! Grrr…. anyway, like you said, it’s a weakness — or as I like to call it: an opportunity! 🙂
Hi Melinda,
It’s great that your husband is such a good match for your weaknesses. Hopefully you’ll learn by osmosis, right? 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Weaknesses? Here I go.
1. Using the same words over and over – especially “just” and “then.” Aren’t those two of the most unnecessary words? But apparently, I just love ’em! Thank goodness there is a FIND feature so I can hunt them down and ruthlessly rip them out.
2. Researching agents. Um, what do I need to know? Who do I send to? How do I get a feel for an agent from a short bio?
3. Talking to people. That sounds general, but what I’m actually meaning is research that involves talking to people. I really need to chat up a fire investigator right now, but I practically break into hives to think about cold-calling someone and saying, “You see, I’m sort of, kind of, writing a book, and you know, I could use someone who, um….” See, I suck at that.
4. Remembering names. This isn’t writing-related exactly, but it would be beneficial to remember who I’ve talked to about what and which authors write what and who blogs about what. I need this party to have virtual nametags.
How’s that for a list? (I rock with grammar and punctuation, by the way. Love it.)
Hi Julie,
I still use “just” too often, but I usually catch those on a re-read. One that I used to be horrible with before I cured myself by editing…oh, 800 of them was “that.” I had no idea I used that word so much in my speech, and it carried over to my writing. Eeek!
And I understand about the agent question. It’s so hard to get a feel for an agent’s personality unless you stalk them on Twitter or a blog. 🙂
Ooo, your number three! Yes! A thousand times yes! I needed someone to help describe the Tiffany’s on Michigan Ave in Chicago to me (with really basic “is it all one room or are there multiple rooms” type of questions), and receptionist at that store wouldn’t let me speak to anyone that actually worked there. They redirected me to their NY publicity department and then blew me off. Gah! And after taking days to work up what to say on the phone. *bangs head against keyboard*
So I’m realizing with everyone’s confessions that I suck at more than I thought I did. LOL! Thanks for the comment! 🙂
ROFL if I listed all of mine from when I started until now, it WOULD be a book! I agree though, that’s how we get better. By recognizing and working on our weaknesses. Queries are one of mine too. For my nano project I wrote the query before the book, just so I had something to go on later. Of course that’s a HUGE mess, but that’s another story.
Hi Lisa,
Yes, with my newer WIPs, I’m writing the query and synopsis first too. And if you’ve seen my replies back to all these comments (“Oh yeah, I’m bad at that too!”), then you’d see that I about have a book here too. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I totally suck at synopses. And the other day I had to come up with a 200 word blurb for a novel I’m shopping – I had to ask for help from three different people, but I think we cobbled together something good. :knocks wood: I think (again :knocks wood:) I finally have the dreaded query letter nailed. Also, according to my writing group, I suck at transitions, although they also report that (with their help and care) I’m getting better.
Hi Mari,
Yes, and that’s often what my queries and synopses feel like: cobbled. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I hate when life keeps me from reading your posts on the day you posted, especially when the post is soooo relevant. Grrr. That being said, I’m here, a day late. I, like you, torment myself in an attempt to achieve perfection. The funny thing is, I’m nowhere near perfect. I am horrible with commas, have no clue where to put them, and even though I’ve tried and tried to remedy this…I still can’t get a handle on those little buggers. I’m also bad grammatically. One of my critique partners is a retired english teacher and she dings me on stuff constantly. She tries to teach me, but it goes in one ear and out the other. Very bad. I’m also wordy. I tend to over word sentences. I’ve gotten better at it with the help of workshops and Crit partner suggestions, so I write much tighter then I used to, but when editing, I still find extras that don’t need to be there. Good for you trimming all those words! That’s not easy. Those are the complaints I get most. I suppose I’m good at world building. I see the images of my story as if they’re playing out in a movie, so I get details in there that help the reader visualize what’s happening. I’ve also been told I write very good sex scenes, one judge actually wrote that she had a great evening with her husband after reading my entry. I can’t really think of anything else… — Read More »
Hi Tamara,
You could compare comma woes with Murphy. LOL! And I love the feedback from the judge about your sex scenes. That’s hilarious! Thanks for the comment!
My weakness is that I like my characters to talk. All. The. Time. Can you say dialogue heavy? I’ve been told my dialogue is quite good and natural, and maybe I like it so much because of the confidence I feel when writing it…or maybe it’s because I’m a yakker myself. (Probably) Either way, I’m trying to balance it better, but it’s harrrrrd to do!
Hi Michele,
Yes, the WIP I just finished has tons of long dialogue scenes–which can be good, but can also grind the forward momentum to a halt. I’ll have lots of revision to do on those. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
[…] Jami Gold: What Writing Skill Do You Suck At? We all have strengths and weaknesses. We have to know both to […]
Definitely sparse first draft, leaving out important descriptions. And sometimes I assume things are completely clear when they aren’t (in both sentences and actual story structure). And I’ve never written a query, but I’m assuming I’ll suck at that too.
Part of the pathos about writing is even that the things that are supposedly your strengths, you won’t nail 100% of the time. Being a writer is pretty much the business of being wrong.
Hi Annalise,
“Being a writer is pretty much the business of being wrong.”
Sad but true. 🙂 Yes, I have problems with making sure that what I have in my head is what actually makes it to the page. And especially when I’m writing world-building stuff, it’s important to make sure those explanations make it into the WIP. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I suck at queries, too. Summarizing our stories into one or two sentences is challenging. I also suck at research (cuz I’m kind of a tech ID 10 T), and terrible at math so put a check mark by ‘accounting,’ too! And business isn’t my bag either. Sheesh! I guess humor is one of my strong points, but humor is subjective, so that’s iffy. Um, maybee grammor an–spelg: und punktuashun: R mi strungths? (yep)thats’ it!
Hi Lynn,
LOL! Yep, you’ve got the humor down pat. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
A bold blog post, Jami! My weaknesses? Hmmm … If you’re speaking on the marketing side of writing, which I do for a paycheck, it’s writing SEO (search engine optimization) rich content. If you’re talking creatively, it’s probably plot development. The point A, to point, B, to point C. See, I’m an idea girl. I have great ideas, great general conflicts, but I sometimes struggle with the specifics of how to materialize those struggles into details. I’m not sure how you would categorize that, but there it is!
Hi Shari,
Yes, I usually know the point A and point B of a scene, but how to get from point A to point B is something I struggle with. This is where the subconscious–the muse–has come to the rescue for me. I’ve had success with telling myself to think of a solution while I sleep by making the question the last thing I think about. And then I’ve also had success with using the Fast Draft method to force my brain to spit out something, anything. Candace Havens talks about how the act of fast drafting forces us to put our subconscious in charge. Good luck and thanks for the comment! 🙂
I completely sympathize Jami, my first work was 142K now at publication it’s at 93K. I thought I was dying cutting things out but the more I evolved the more I cut without hesitation.
You left out Artisans.. we have to be artists, painting, sculpting and shooting the scene just right. 😉
Hi PW,
Yes, you’re quite right about being artists. 🙂 As I said, I could have gone on all day with that list.
Interesting! Yes, when I first started cutting, the process was very painful. But once I was good enough to know how to tighten sentences and paragraphs–and make them stronger in the end–I was cutting gleefully. 🙂 I call it my hack-and-slash phase. LOL! Thanks for the comment!
I’m not much of a marketer, but I think I might be able to improve that. What I’m REALLY not good at, without a doubt, is organization. I can’t make a deadline to save my life, I’m a dreadful procrastinator, I can’t organize my life in any capacity, and I almost always fail to meet my goals.
I am probably the most disorganized person I’ve ever seen. My room is always a wreck. My house is always a mess. My book writing is never regular like I want it to be. It’s very frustrating. I was completely gypped when it came to handing out that organizing gene.
On a good note, I’m wonderful at grammar, decent with words, incredibly imaginative, and a natural-born storyteller.
But what good is that if I never get the dang book done? I say that all writers absolutely require three skill sets, which I call the three P’s: Passion, Patience, and Persistence. I was heavily gifted with passion, but I’m not a particularly patient or persistent soul. I have to force myself to be patient, but writing a book takes so LONG. And persistence? Let’s just say that if I didn’t have so much passion, writing would not be around in my life any longer. I would have given up long ago.
Anyway, thanks for the great reminder on what we have to work on, and what we’re already good at. Have a great day and happy writing!
Hi Kyla,
Have you ever tried writing short stories or novellas? I wonder if you had a sense of success on that scale if it would be easier to work up to long novels–kind of the learning to walk before you run idea. 🙂 Good luck and thanks for the comment!
Oh, I’ve written both. I’ve also written poetry. I have written well over 200 poems, about 20 or 30 short stories, and 2 novellas. None of them were publish-worthy, but they were excellent experiences for a beginning writer to have. Now, I’m working on a full-length novel.
To be honest, my imagination is too vivid for short stories and novellas to satisfy me. I need a bigger canvas to paint on, so to speak. My ideas are usually so elaborate, they require a long story to fully write them out.
But thanks for the suggestion! Right now, I’m extremely busy working on a novel that’s the beginning of a series. I can’t drop it, not for anything. This work is more important to me than any idea or plot I’ve ever come up with. I don’t know how to describe the connection, but this idea just…fits. It feels like something legendary in the making, something I’ve never felt for any of my other stories.
That sounds horribly pretentious, but there you have it. Thanks again, and I hope you have a wonderful day!
“To be honest, my imagination is too vivid for short stories and novellas to satisfy me. I need a bigger canvas to paint on, so to speak. My ideas are usually so elaborate, they require a long story to fully write them out.” Okay, that sounded horrible. What I mean is, my brain doesn’t stop building ideas. When I’m writing a short story, my brain keeps going and builds this horribly elaborate, convoluted plot that would require more time than I’m often willing to devote to a story I’m not head over heels in love with. Does that make sense? The story ends before I’m fully satisfied, because I don’t want to waste my time writing on ideas I don’t care that much about. So I keep it a short story and not as good as I know I could make it. Thus, I walk away unsatisfied. According to my math, it would take me around 30 years to write all of my current ideas (that I’m interested in writing)…and that’s if I wrote every single day of those 30 years and finished 1 chapter every 2-3 days. I don’t feel like I have the time to waste on ideas I consider 2nd rate. I don’t know if that makes sense, or even sounds better than the rather arrogant paragraph I quoted. Sorry if I’m not communicating well. And I’m also sorry I have so much to say tonight. Hope I’m not bothering you! Thanks for taking the time to… — Read More »
Hi Kyla,
No worries! I understood exactly what you meant. 🙂 And yes, even with my short story, a part of me thinks that it’s really just the backstory to a bigger story. But for now, I’m okay with leaving it as it is. 🙂
And I always appreciate your comments. 🙂 *hugs*
Hi Kyla,
Yes, I understand about how most of your ideas need a bigger canvas. 🙂 My one short story was a lark. And yes, I have some ideas that I’m closer to than others. So I understand about that too. Good luck with novel and the series!
[…] Jami Gold gives a great look at weaknesses in our writer-selves (everybody sucks at something, right?) and how to turn them into strengths. […]
Thanks for sharing! My editing skills need work.
Hi Rena,
Well, if you’ve read the other comments, you know you’re not alone. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!