Revision and Genre
My WIP has long been neglected. It was never my intention. Usually, when I finish anything – be it short story, novel, or screenplay – I launch straight into revision, and keep revising (reading it over and over) until I can get nothing more out of it. Then I give it a break, then start the process again with a fresh mind. When I’m certain I have nothing new left to offer, I’ll send my work out to alpha readers. Their feedback will contain stuff that I either can no longer see, or was never able to see. As an author, you have all the answers in your head. But…
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One of the hardest things in writing is being honest with yourself and, much more importantly, your writing. The problem is sending your writing out into the world, where the following will judge it: family friends peers the reading public critics. These forces influence the writer in different ways. Some of my books have heavy sex scenes. I often wonder how my family feels about me producing those. Do they walk around thinking, Wow, he’s really depraved? Any number of elements in a story could stun, repulse, or frighten a family member who thought they knew the writer. I think this sits at the forefront of a lot of writers’…