Another First Critic's Meeting

Feeling like a glutton for punishment, I went to another Writer's Critique Meeting last night with a new set of writers. Oh, boy! The brain waves practically rolled me over as soon as I stepped into the house. My brain was yelling at me, "Save Yourself! Leave Now!" As my blood rushed to my head, my writer's heart calmed me by saying, "Without pain, there is no chance of growing. " My brain shot back, "Or you can develop the Blue Nile Flu and escape in ten minutes." I was going to consider both options...

"What do you write?" asked a member.

"I write fiction. I write love stories, romance and insightful pieces. After all, romance makes the world go round!" I respond knowing I sound pretty fluffy. You can almost see his eyes roll around in his head.

(I think I feel tickle of Blue Nile Flu back in my throat...)

The first writer was a doctor in his fifties who had been writing probably since his medical school days. He had a wonderful New York accent as he read a chapter from his science fiction novel. I mumbled "great stuff", as the other writers critiqued his grammar, verb tense and punctuation. There was very little to poke at since his writing was very tight and in its tenth revision. The group asked me if I wanted to have my turn next and I quickly declined...who would want to follow the Master Luke Skywalker writer?

The second writer was a school teacher/editor and read two pieces geared for elementary children and junior high children. More tight, beautiful writing. More mumbling from me, "great stuff" and the others tackled the grammar and punctuation. I think I was able to point out one missed comma though...!

Guess what writing piece I bring to this cozy-brainiac-group? I bring my Pirate and Sassy Wench story! I have figured out what to say when saving yourself from potentially embarrassing situations in a literary critique group.

 These are the magic words: "This is my first draft." 

It's amazing how everyone will relax, give you tons of rope to hang yourself and be gentle with you in their comments and generous with you in their praise. The group were very kind to me and I actually had few grammar and punctuation mistakes with this story. I liked that they thought it had "poetic style." My ego was not shredded or did I lose an arm in the process.

I can tell my writing will be escalating  to a higher level by remaining with this group. I can also tell I will be the romantic fluff in their lives to smile, laugh and remind them that love does make a happier world go round.