[Krista] Reading my own Writing

[Krista]

Reading my own writing has always been a bit odd for me. I don't really know if it is common place for writers to struggle reading. I'm pretty sure the quality is ok, but I know my mind seems to be able to pick out every short coming and flaw my writing has.  But I need to become a better reader of my own work.

 

Where I seem to struggle is with First Person Perspective - I seem to be able to forgive and get through my Third Person pieces a lot easier. Maybe because within that perspective readers are looking in on a story and not just the head of the main character. I think I also struggle because I see the scenes in my head as I'm writing them and I'm hoping to flesh them out in a way that fits what is in my head. I can see where I can easily fall short, my skill doesn't match what is inside my head.

 

But I believe I need to become a better reader of my own work. I believe that is part of the reason I struggle with motivation. Because I'm not going back and reading, so the story falls out of favor with me and begins to feel like real work. 

 

So anyway, I doubt this will be discussed in any sort of length, my forums is pretty dead right now, which is why I'm posting it here.

 

Any one else struggle with reading their own work? 

[Krista]

The summer before my senior year of High School has just began.  I had high hopes for this summer; the last summer before a final freedom of the four walls I’ve called my room for the last seventeen years.  The summers before this one I spent helping Mom in the store.  She had been a Kindergarten teacher before, but after my grandfather died over nine years ago she took over the family store.  It had been in the family for over four generations and Mom couldn’t stand seeing it bought or closed.  It was in the other side of town, next door to the house we moved to after she started working there.  We had lived in the middle of town, now hay fields and a secluded country church dominated the landscape.  I had no neighbors that I could walk to and strike up a plan to waste time anymore.  After getting my license it gave me a sense of freedom I had longed for.  I could now go across town and see my friends from school, but it still didn’t mean I could neglect everything my parents wanted from me.

 

 

Then I read this opening paragraph in the first chapter and cringe. There are so many holes in it.

 

1. I say the MC has lived there for 17 years.

2. He Remembers living in the middle of town, so he had to be pretty old when they moved.

3. He seems to expect this summer will be different, for some unseen, unknown reason. I guess that could be chalked up to blind optimism, but really he has no proof in the start of the story.

 

The summer for the most part already seemed unpromising, just like the others.

 

 

Ah, that optimism didn't last very long. 

 

It was Dad’s and I got it fixed up for my sixteenth birthday.  It wasn’t anything special, but it was easy to push until I got out of Dad’s ear shot.

 

 

Woops, I believe I tell the story of how he got the motorcycle differently in later chapters.

 

“Hi,” I said getting his attention.  He looked up at me and smiled.  I noticed that his teeth were white.

 

 

*Snorts* lol. 

 

----

 

Those were in chapter 1, not trying to dissuade anyone from reading my writing, but goodness.. Over all though, I like the characters I created and I've always been a character person first... 

[LJH]

I am the worst, no the best, no the most fanatic, cruel, ruthless, unashamedly biased - criticiser of my own work. Read a sentence, change it. Read the same sentence, change it. Read and reread and before long, what started out as a prim and proper paragraph is now just one word. Lol.

 

When i published my first novel and then read it, (yes), bought it to chalk up sales, actually bought ten copies lol, i cringed. Actually i pissed my pants. I thought it was AWFUL. I could have done this in one scene, and that in another scene. I remember asking myself, now what would Jesus do? Lol.

 

Seriously. I love reading my stuff. I have such fun. I laugh out loud. I cry. I stammer over my words when trying to explain to hubby ( he reads everything i write) what the problem is. I love to trash my work. People ask, so you're a writer hey. Wow. So can i read something of yours? Yeah sure, i say. But beware, its a load of crap! Then they read it and they say, oh that was awesome. Always works. But they don't ask for a copy of my next story. Not at all. Lol.

[Krista]

Yeah, I wonder if people are being nice to me. I'd much rather hear something was crap. I'm not going to live and die by reader feedback, it has never been why I wrote. But I would like to know where I stood. Whether or not my writing was honestly and truly worth the time I put into it. Although, I do think if I put MORE time into it, it would be a lot better. 

 

This will always be a hobby for me, I guess.

[crazyfish]

Don't struggle at all.  I think my work is perfect.

 

Seriously, I struggle more with find a new perspective to view my work.  I find that I can't really brute force finding that new angle.  I need to absorb new ideas. I need to consider other writing perspectives. I need to read other books in written in varied styles.  Basically I need to have my thoughts and ideas evolve before I can find that new perspective. I don't know about you, but that isn't something that comes to me magically. 

 

So I just throw the work aside for a months at a time and go work on something else. Time seems to work wonders.

[Myk]

In my opinion we will always be biased towards our own work. This is why betas and editors and feedback is so important. They are objective opinions that guide our response to our own work. An honest objective opinion is worth far more that hours of our own renumerating.

[Krista]

Don't struggle at all.  I think my work is perfect.

 

Seriously, I struggle more with find a new perspective to view my work.  I find that I can't really brute force finding that new angle.  I need to absorb new ideas. I need to consider other writing perspectives. I need to read other books in written in varied styles.  Basically I need to have my thoughts and ideas evolve before I can find that new perspective. I don't know about you, but that isn't something that comes to me magically. 

 

So I just throw the work aside for a months at a time and go work on something else. Time seems to work wonders.

 

I know I set my current work in progress Standing in Shadows aside a lot. I noticed the first six or seven chapters were rough. But I'm now happily seeing that I've grown a bit in the last few chapters that I've read... although I still make mistakes.

 

I also don't remember where Steve started his beta/editing, if it was around chapters 8 onward then I need to give him a gold star.  

In my opinion we will always be biased towards our own work. This is why betas and editors and feedback is so important. They are objective opinions that guide our response to our own work. An honest objective opinion is worth far more that hours of our own renumerating.

 

I agree, a strong support group always will make the difference. Rereading on my own has led me to question myself a lot more than I usually do when it comes to my writing.

[Krista]

Alright, took me a bit, but I have now read ALL 20 chapters of SIS...

 

Now I only wish I could promise you that I'm going to start working on the next chapter, but I can't. Although I do want to. I'm just always tired these days and not very creative-ish feeling when I do get to the quiet of my days. I mean, looking at the clock, I should have been in bed two hours ago, yet here I am.. stealing sleep time for SIS reading time.

 

So anyway, I won't apologize for my delays, I've been doing that over the years.. and they're starting to seem pretty damn hollow.

[JamesSavik]

An idea from the peanut gallery:

 

One of the things that I've tried is to use text to speech software. It allows me to hear what I've written.

 

From there I can edit the text based on how it sounds. I think it's easier to spot some errors when you actually hear the spoken word.

 

It also helps to make dialogue more natural.