RE: Lady Graves -Day 7 - NaNoWriMo 2018 - The Madness Prompt 8: Irritation
Hello!
I am late to the party.
I am a slow and steady steemer, and a freewrite fan.
I am slowly making my way through the November novels. Yesterday I was scrolling back to find the fisrt mariannewest entry, stopping off along the way, getting distracted by posts, I noticed a comment from you.
...I'm still at the "This was pointless!" stage, having read all 50,000 words and thinking how on earth could I have been so foolish as to share the rough draft with others... no wonder feedback has been scarce... nobody wants to tell me it's beyond salvage! Anyone who knows me knows I would take that as a challenge, anyway. You did great!!!...
This intrigued me enough to abandon my scroll in search of your pointless months work.
Now that I am invested far enough into your project to comment, I sincerely hope that I was just the run of the mill self depreciating artists comment. A mix of self doubt that is just enough to stir the self belief that resides beneath it, that is far stronger and much wiser than the fleeting judgement that arises when you put your work out for judgement of others. It seems that they don't hear you or see you, or worse, pass you by. But you are heard and your words are far from pointless, they are beautiful.
I am thoroughly enjoying you novel. The characters are endearing, and growing on me. The adits are absolutely divine. As I get to share the rewrites and share in your own process a little, I feel I glimpse not only the discovery of the fictional characters but also their development in the mind of their creator.
Steemit response is varied and unpredictable. It is hard not to judge your worth based on responses, upvotes and comments.
I wish I had followed your posts earlier and been able to be part of your cheer squad during your write. I have been unwell and not able to do the things I used to.
Today I am under enforced rest. You have come to my aid as I am finding it very dificult to stop and follow medical instructions to rest. Disappearing into your delightful novel has carried me through the morning. Today my only task is to relax and let the tale of the maiden, the doc and the farm hand carry me away from my own woes and to a world of delicately hinted romance and growing intrigue.
I look forward to buying your hard copy one day soon,
Your newest fan
gb4m x
Ohhh @girlbeforemirror - may you feel well soon - bless you! I did have a few cheerleaders but I'm the dimwit who dismisses a compliment as "just being nice or charitable to me" while any insult = "I earned it, deserved it, totally had it coming." Why don't I feel I totally earned compliments? It's an uphill battle-for-a-lifetime. THANK YOU, thank you, for the reassurances, and explanations, and kind words!! You are quite a polished writer yourself if one comment is any indication (and even then I just "know" I'm right here). This totally makes my day: Today my only task is to relax and let the tale of the maiden, the doc and the farm hand carry me away from my own woes and to a world of delicately hinted romance and growing intrigue. I'm off now to see your own blog. And you won't have to buy a hard copy. You earned one! Beta readers and reviewers are entitled to at least that much. :) (Now to see if you don't change your tune when you read your way to the lame ending in which nobody is tortured or killed! I am the wimpiest author on earth!)
Right here is what makes you a great writer. You just described the human experience. You are not alone, everyone needs 100 compliments to challenge the continued echo of one thoughtless comment, or worse that incessant internal dialogue that tells you nasty things.
Knowing that I am not heading into zombie territory or a sci-fi adventure is reassuring, you never know.
I was most pleasantly surprised and a little shocked when my husband sat down with me and turned on pride and prejudice. I should have known better.
Bloody lovely.
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1374989/
If I waited one more chapter before commenting, you spoke for me perfectly from the perspective of the protagonist and her reference to story telling as a form of medicine.
It is evident that you draw from so much knowledge in your writing.
I saw in your notes that mid month the historical basis started to take its toll on you a little. I think a healthy balance between fact and fiction is acceptable, and artistic licence allows for some interpretation of history.
If we can allow pride prejudice and zombies to exist, then a slight variation on dates and such things is forgivable.
I am a fan of binge watching period drama. Downton Abbey, even outlander (which is delightfully sci-fi in a magical Celtic dance through the stones kind of way) , all of them have their historical critics, but no-one dwells on these. Give the history buffs something to commentate, they live for it.
I love your perspective on history being malleable for the sake of artistic license! Most readers wouldn't question seeing "Germany" mentioned in an 1820s setting, but the ones who do will crucify a novel in reviews - those one-star bandits who live to find fault with "Free Today" novels. (Shame on them.)
I love the Outlanders TV series! I read Book One first but it's so looooong, I never did read the other seven.
And the first Kindle book I ever bought, 99 cents, was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies -- even though I avoid zombies, vampires, post-apocalypse, and dystopian fiction. The PPZ book had its charms.
Thank you so much for you kind words!! As the novel progresses, the urge of Stangler to teach and preach and share his knowledge annoys the reader as much as the other characters, I fear. I do need to pare it down, or at least weave it into the story and have it lead somewhere. All the way to America.
I had entertained visions of putting Stangler on a ship that sinks within swimming distance of the island Napoleon is exiled on (not Elba; he died on St. Helen). Now that would be a good example of "Think of the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist, then do it to him!"
Binge watching is the only way I watch TV shows anymore. Who wants to wait a whole week for the next episode? Oh we are spoiled.
Again, huge thanks for reading, and if you or anyone has suggestions for improvement, I'll add you to the acknowlegments whenever I get ready to self-pub. And I do lean toward being an Indie Author.
You're the kind of reader authors dream of! Thanks again!!