Sanctuary!

[PADDY]

For me, writing is a solitary pursuit, but not lonely. I write every day and switching on my PC is entering my own world; to my left is a window overlooking a busy road and I watch the traffic and the people passing while I am thinking about what comes next, like I am doing now. I am retired and this is my working day which starts early and ends at about 6 pm when I go down for a glass of red wine, which always tastes better when the day has been productive, and it feels like a reward. I have been in this routine for about three years now and had a couple of short stories and a few flash fiction pieces published. I thought of these as a means of honing my craft, for my ambition was to write a novel. I managed to rattle one off in the first year and paid for a professional review from a literary agency. I thought it was pretty good but when the much-awaited appraisal arrived it was harsh and I was instantly deflated. There were a few positive and encouraging comments, but after all, I was a paying client, and I suppose they thought they had to try and find something good to say. The one thing that I held onto was the phrase "you can write," which was given almost grudgingly after a paragraph of negativity.
I looked back at the critique much later and although she had made some valid points my mistakes were mostly due to inexperience, over-ambition, and naivety about the presentation format, there were also some fairly inane comments about some aspects of the plot that she clearly did not understand. The book was sci-fi, and she kept making unjustified parallels, complete with double exclamation marks, about a similar aspect that had appeared in a film I had never seen. Has anybody else had a similar experience?
The main point of this missive is to express how happy I am to have found this site. I have no similar-minded friends to discuss the process of writing or to give advice. As a new member, I have already gained the information on how to get proof copies of my new manuscript at a small cost from KDP from others on this site and I have gone ahead with my order. Anything I have myself will be willingly shared and I recently posted an attachment about the grim reality of the slush pile. Thanks for having me.

 

[sknox]

So, retired here also. I admire your Sitzfleisch. I can manage three hours, four tops, before the body complains so loudly I have to stop. Still and all, I can't think of anything else I'd rather do, and can't picture a life without writing.

I didn't have your specific experience, but I've heard enough from others. Then again, I've never hired anyone except a copyeditor, and that only twice (I've written five books). Here's the thing. A good editor (forget reviewers) is not rare; but a good editor who is good *for you* is extremely rare. Not only that, once found, they're hard to hold onto, and then you have to start over again. As you've found, figuring out the present candidate is not a good fit costs both time and money, making the whole proposition deflating and discouraging. If you can afford an editor, though, do keep trying.

Meanwhile, and even well after, these communties are gold. It's more than that the new writer can learn so much here, it's that it really is a community. Whatever one's interests, hobbies, or avocations, life is richer when shared with others. That's what SFF does. There are other communities out there; I encourage you to look around. I reckon I spent a couple of years doing that--joining this or that, participating for a while (you must participate, to get much of anything out of them), then deciding it wasn't for me. I'm down to two forums plus two or three low-traffic Facebook groups. Some on writing; others on the business of production and marketing.

Anyway, welcome to the neighborhood!

 

[Montero]

How do, also admire your writing dedication. I definitely cannot do that much in a day.

 

[Oligonicella]

A good editor (forget reviewers) is not rare; but a good editor who is good *for you* is extremely rare. Not only that, once found, they're hard to hold onto, and then you have to start over again

Double bingo. I was lucky enough to find one (Ogre) who was with me from the first few fables and provided invaluable feedback on all aspects of my world. Up until DTA story #18 when unfortunately, his eyesight failed. Then he freaked out over covid and withdrew from most everyone. Very sad, he was a good friend.

I learned a lot from Ogre and I doubt I could bring someone else up through the world's history so I'll no doubt go the last few stories alone.

As for habits, I divide my days amongst writing, art and programming. I usually go on a many-hour, multi-day jag on whichever. It helps with writing that the way I design my stories is graphical in nature, so it's not just more writing.

Keeps things from getting tedious. Well, it helps to.

 

[PADDY]

How do, also admire your writing dedication. I definitely cannot do that much in a day.

Montero and sknox

Thanks for your comments. [I had to look up the meaning of Sitzfleish] but although I do spend all day at my PC, broken up by walking the dog and a sandwich at lunch, I cannot say, hand on heart that every moment of every working day is spent on writing or research.
Although there are those days, recently I have got into the habit of posting comments on news items/ articles on the MSN forum, and I can get easily sidetracked, particularly on the subject of American politics [very anti-Trump], British politics less, but broadly antiTory, and anything connected with Religious/philosophical beliefs/ Evolutionary theory, and my continuous despair at conspiracy theorists.
Writing is more than a hobby, almost a compulsion, and it structures my day nicely. I appreciate the seclusion and time to think after a previously busy working life, and my needs are few. Good to hear that other retirees are out there, and in common with most, I feel the physical effects of ageing, but not excessively, and although my brain is still fairly sharp, there are the occasional reminders that my short-term memory is beginning to malfunction.
Well, back to it, and thanks for corresponding.

 

[Biskit]

That is a serious writing habit you have there.

My own "retirement" gets interrupted by the needs of the animals we took on. Sheep and chickens expected their care and attention, whilst the cats will sit on the keyboard if the service standard slips.
From my experience, professional feedback from someone unfamiliar with your genre can throw up all sorts of weird stuff. I had someone last year suggest that what I was writing was tending towards literary fiction.

My usual recommendation for MS feedback is John Jarrold, very approachable and with a serious background in SFF publishing. John Jarrold - Literary agent and script doctor

Welcome to Chrons.

 

[Karapace]

As others have said some good writing discipline there. I aim to write something every day but often get side tracked by other projects. I have a similar experience when I first read out to our writers group having worked on my story for nearly a year at the time. It felt harsh at the time but a lot of it was my inexperience and I did learn from it. Eventually I learned to differentiate between valid criticism and people just wanting to impose their ideas of what the story should be. If people don't get it I go away and have a think to see if I am putting over what I want clearly enough. I have one chap who gives good feedback but really just wants an adventure story, while I like to intersperse the adventure with a bit of philosophy. We argue but I still give consideration to his feedback.
Welcome to the circus by the way.

 

[Karapace]

Good to hear that other retirees are out there, and in common with most, I feel the physical effects of ageing, but not excessively, and although my brain is still fairly sharp, there are the occasional reminders that my short-term memory is beginning to malfunction.
Well, back to it, and thanks for corresponding.

I hear you. My mind is still sharp but there are a few notches in the blade. I keep a thesaurus handy just to remind me of common words

 

[PADDY]

Thanks, Biskit - what sort of money are we talking about here?
Limited income, unfortunately.

 

[Biskit]

Thanks, Biskit - what sort of money are we talking about here?
Limited income, unfortunately.

I understand the limited income - money gets mentally measured in how many aging farm gates can I replace for that much.
It's a few years since I last used John, so my figures are probably out of date. Drop him an email - he usually gets back pretty promptly and will be able to give you an idea.

 

[tinkerdan]

Since it is really not all that easy sometimes to get someone to look at and review your work, I say this from experience, one should be happy with what one gets and try to make the most of it.

I had someone compare my novel to Dune and Star Wars put together. I thought that was okay and I could almost see what they meant.
The point there is, try to find out from their comments if the comparison is meant as something good or something derogatory before having a knee jerk reaction to their opinion. Often I found that any comment or question about something was an opportunity for me to look again at that word that sentence that paragraph or scene to see if there might be something I could do to make it work better.

There was an instance where I had used a fairy tale as a comparison to a character's situation and was confronted with a baffled editor only to look back an realize I had conflated two fair tales and had to fix it with the one that best fit the circumstance or get rid of the whole notion.

I don't think I have had anyone(that I was paying)question anything without some sort of explanation of what they found wrong. They would also give recommendations for a fix. Without those two there really isn't any point in highlighting something.

In the case of the OP above those comparisons might have have been accompanied with an explanation that those were tropes that have been overworked and maybe you(the author)could turn them a bit on their heads to make something fresher or find a different way to make that scene work. Now it would be really confusing if they had only said, "That's exactly what happened it Star Wars." and then nothing else. They should ast least say--did you see Star Wars? Was that what you had in mind when you did this? Then it is up to you what you do with it.

One of the greatest responses I got when asking a friend to review my work is--"I'd rather wait till you publish it and I'll buy a copy."