Last night was the first time was actually workshopped a story. We had two, but because we had an early class so we could go hear our first speaker in the Visiting Writer's series, we only go through the first one. It was the first chapter of a novel and I hated it. The main character was two-dimensional and had NO redeeming characteristics. Plus, he killed cats as a way of determining the amount of poison he could use to make his infant daughter sick without killing her. And you all know that I do NOT enjoy anything that contains cruelty to animals. I just refuse to read the rest if I come across that shit. But I had no choice in this case. So we went around the table and everyone was gushing about Alex, how great the story was, how they loved the character, blah, blah, blah. My stomach started to churn. Was I the only one who wasn't in love with Alex and his character? This is the shit I hate aobut workshops. I always feel like if I don't agree with everyone else, I'm in the wrong. Luckily Corey had some valid criticisms, so I felt better.
And then Dan said flat out that the novel would never get published and no one would read it as written. Harsh, but true. I would not have read past the first page. And the lesson was that you have to hook the audience from the first page, which I already knew. And which I try to practice at all times.
So now, I have to submit for next week and I'm VERY nervous. I don't really care so much what my classmates think. It's Dan I'm worried about. He's blunt. Very blunt. And I'm terrified he's going to be blunt with me and I will be upset. The worst thing I could do is cry in class, and that's my fear. I'm going to be a nervous wreck on Wednesday. :-/
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