Anyone watch American Idol? Simon is my hero. He tells it like it is. I, though, cannot do that. I'm bound by some kind of 'be nice' ethic that won't let me tell people not to quit their day job.

I did a few critiques today, returning the favors others do for me. I see things that are good, and things that really, really don't work. I wonder, sometimes, if these people actually listen to crits or if they merely want the candy-coated stuff like -- "I LOVE YOUR WORK!"

Ugh.

Personally, I do manage to feel bad when my work is hammered, but I do my level best to overlook the protective need to strike back. It might take me a day or three, but I'm a rational adult who knows I've asked for it.

If you put your work out there for critique, don't be surprised if someone actually tells you what's wrong with it.

Okay, I feel bad. I read a piece today that was, well, written by someone who has no idea what a story should contain. Passives all over the place. Description to yawn through. And the story? It was there under all the rubbish, but I had to piece through to find it. My inner Simon is screaming for attention, but I remained civil. I remained encouraging. I did NOT mention that, if I was a publisher, I'd toss it in the circular file after the first paragraph.

And then I looked at my own work, saw it from Simon's eyes, and practically wept. All right, the pot calling the kettle black. Aren't I just the bomb.

So I will continue to be nice, pleasant, and encouraging, because who knows? I might teach someone something in a manner they might hear.

Keep on writing...

Once again, I'm befuddled in the morning. I really should start waking up earlier again. Summer means no kids to wake for school, though, and, since my husband has become unable to work, I don't need to wake him for anything. I sleep, and dream, and then wake to dream some more.

I did manage to get the POV thing worked out in my current wip. (That's Work In Progress, to anyone who might not know. POV is Point Of View.) Yesterday, I worked like a mad typist and managed a few scenes.

I don't know if I'm going to stay with my new idea, but I started in the middle of the story and began to work from an entirely new angle. That, at least, builds interest in me as I write. Outlining is wonderful for getting the plot details figured out. It isn't so wonderful for maintaining interest levels. It feels like you've already written it, which makes the actual writing seem redundant.

However, I still believe in outlining. Without it, there would be less cohesion to the story. There's a balance to it though. Each writer has to find his own. How much detail in the outline? How much detail in the characters?

Those who don't outline do have a point. There's nothing so fun as writing to discover where the story is going to go. It's just like reading something someone else wrote. Discovery, interest, all of that has to be there while one writes, or the reader will be just as bored as the writer.

Balance is all. Simplicity helps. Keep the outline as simple as possible. Too much of anything is bad for you. I like to keep major ideas in the outline. Things like character goals (where each subplot and the main plot is going to end up), and turning points of each plot. My problem is I get carried away when I plot and start telling each scene. I have to stop that, go to the text, and actually write the scene instead.

I tend to write a few scenes with whatever character I'm working on in it. That way, I discover who he is through the text rather than logically working him out. Then, I'll go back and figure out a reason for him to be that way, jot it down, and go on with another scene. It's discovery, but outlining, too. Combining the two seems to work for me. It might not work for someone else.

So, off to work. I have to clean my house, as well, but that, as always, can wait. It isn't like I have to do it before someone else does.

Just keep writing.

I’m just a writer.

The word echoes. Just. As if anything one could be is a ‘just’. It defines who I am, how I spend my day, and how I think. When I go outside my home (which is a teeth-grinding experience for me), I think in terms of dialogue and exposition. My mate talks to me, and I can see quotation marks in the back of my mind. Is that unusual?

Probably.

Everything I see, hear, taste, feel, smell, or even think is fodder for whatever I'm working on at the moment. I write fantasy, erotic work, romance, whatever strikes me as interesting. I overthink, and sometimes end up without a single word on the screen. I have trouble finishing a project because I write in my dreams. Already written, it contains little to interest me when I wake.

At least, that's what I think happens.

Recently, I posted one of my chapters on a writer's website for critique. That was probably a mistake. I had the interest level up in the stratosphere for myself. Now, with all the errors glaring at me, I want to run away toward a different project. But then again, I obsess on fixing the problems.

POV. I have too many in the beginning. I didn't think it was choppy, myself, but when I start asking myself if anyone actually read it, I realize the confusion level must be high. So, off I go to fix, think, agonize, and otherwise find ways to avoid doing the dishes.

I did the dishes instead.

I began a new erotic story afterward. Those are easy, and the readership doesn't give a damn about passives.

The problems with the chapter still remain, swirling in my head as I continue to write on something else. Somehow, I'll get a new idea and do something with it.

The trick is, I suppose, never to stop writing. Sooner or later, it will all come full circle and I'll find an answer. Perhaps not the right answer, but another critique will point that out.

Just keep writing.