I was reviewing my YA novel yesterday before sending it to agents who had requested partials (even though I've combed through it so many times I lost count months ago) and every time I read that story, I get sucked into it. And that's how it should be, right?
If I didn't enjoy reading that style and that type of story, I wouldn't have written it that way. Simple as that.
I'm getting ready to send out one of my short stories to an e-zine, and again, I opened it up to comb through it one last time before submitting. This opening page gets me teary-eyed every time I read it.
When they told me waking up from cryo-sleep was the worst kind of pain, I knew none of them had ever lost a child. That kind of pain eats at you slowly. Methodically. Like an intelligent cancer carrying out its judgment on your mind and body for a crime you didn't commit.
Maybe that was why I signed up for this. I was already dead inside, so the risks were insignificant. And the inevitable side effect of losing a few memories was highly appealing.
But that was before I met Jacqueline, the woman who single-handedly accomplished what no one else could. She changed my outlook on life. On myself. On the future.
Sometimes when I'm reading one of my stories I forget that I'm the author. Those are the best moments, I think, when you're emotionally moved to the point of amnesia. Haha.
Do any of you feel like that? Maybe you find something you wrote eons ago and while you're reading it's difficult to remember you're the one who wrote it. Or maybe it's something you've read a bazillion times (as in, a novel you're submitting to agents or a short story you're submitting to editors and you just have to make sure it's perfect... again), but the same line makes you laugh every time you read it, or the same scene makes you hold your breath, even though you know what happens.
It's okay to be your number one fan. Go ahead and confess your narcissism in the comments.
~Lydia
I love this. This is totally how I feel abouy my YA novel. I re-read half of it about a week ago and thought "this story is really interesting."
ReplyDeleteI guess you have to write the things you want to read.
I guess you have to write the things you want to read.
ReplyDeletePrecisely. :)
"I guess you have to write the things you want to read."
ReplyDeleteThis is why I started writing in the first place, when I was a bored teen.
I love it when I open a file I haven't read in a while and it sucks me in. That's real magic. I just hope others will like it as much as I do.
Great post!
I just hope others will like it as much as I do.
ReplyDeleteYes, there's always that nagging self-doubt. But hey, as long as *you* like it, then it was worth writing, in my opinion. :)
I teeter-totter between being my number one fan and being my number one hater. Lol. But there have been times when I'm editing DQ that I just start reading for the story and forget that I'm supposed to be editing. So maybe that's a good sign.
ReplyDeleteWord Verify: grindog -- self-explanatory
I just start reading for the story and forget that I'm supposed to be editing.
ReplyDeleteDitto. :)
For me, it's important that I'm passionate about the story I'm writing and the characters in that story. If I don't like the characters or find them interesting then I don't do it. Also, I do think of my writing as good. Otherwise I wouldn't bother. No sense in cluttering up the world with bad writing.
ReplyDeleteJai
No sense in cluttering up the world with bad writing.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you think, Jai. ;)
Wow. Love what you wrote. And I agree, we have to be fans of ourselves... enjoying what we do, feeling what we read is what keeps us going:)
ReplyDeleteI feel that way about my first novel. Structurally, it's nowhere near as strong as the 2 I've written since, but I get so pulled in, every time. I know I just have to fix it, because it would be selfish to keep that to myself.
ReplyDelete@jessica
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
@claire
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean. I fee the same way about my first novel, too, which is why I haven't given up on it yet. :)
There have been times, yes, when I looked back and was like.."Wow...I wrote that? It's actually good! It might even be great!" But that was with my second novel.
ReplyDeleteMy first is hideous, and if it weren't for the fact that it was my first completed book, and I published it on Lulu for myself only so I could see what it'd look like...I'd burn it.
I doubt it is actually burn-worthy, April, but I know what you mean. My first baby has been quite the problem child. As long as we keep improving with each project, though, it's okay. :)
ReplyDeleteEvery time I start working on "Calli" I have to review the previous sections to get back into the historical fiction mindset. Before I know it, hours have passed and I haven't written a word because I'm so engrossed in my own story. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi me, I'm my number one fan!
I remember browsing the racks (of books) in the bookstore, and thinking that none of them were like what I was looking for.
ReplyDeleteThen I realized I was looking for my novel. Good thing I didn't found it under another's name, then. :P