That's Okay, I Just Wanna Read It

Hope all the Americans had a great 4th of July this past 3 day weekend, filled with fun, BBQ and fireworks. We sure did, along with a good dose of quality time with our extended families. Just, huh, when you go to play miniature golf? You might not wanna do it during the hottest part of the day.

I have notes in my caveman computer (notebook) to transcribe to the WIP. I think chapter 17 is just about done, but for the transcription.

So, I told my mother that I email my WIP to myself and to Sherry (and Angie). Her first comment? "I wanna read it, too." Me: "It's not finished yet." Mom: "That's okay. I just wanna read it." Me: "It's the first draft. It has that first draft suckiness going on." Mom: "That's okay. I just wanna read it." Me: "Mom, there are continuity issues, because I write by the seat of my pants, not by outline." Mom: "That's okay. I just wanna read it." Me: "But, it's not done yet. Sherry had to stop reading because I wasn't writing it fast enough to suit her. She wants to know how the intrigue plays out and is solved." Mom; "That's okay. I just wanna read it." Me: "I don't even think I ended what I sent on a full chapter, so it ends, mid chapter at this point." Mom: "That's okay. I just wanna read it."

Noticing a trend there?

Gotta love Mom. She's the only woman on the planet predisposed to love everything you do. (Grandma's are like that, too, if you're lucky enough to still have your Grandmas.)

So, the real trick will be to take the rough, first draft---which oddly, at this moment, seems to be one of my prettier first drafts, all things considered, and turn it into something I honestly feel is worth my mother's (and an editor's) time to read. But right now, it's just FUN to get the bones of the story down. Fun with a capital FUN and I can't wait to get back to it. Hopefully, this evening, after a day filled with kids, activities and picking up one dog from the Doggie Beauty Salon (because her hair is too long---HAIR, not fur, she's a Shih Tzu, and it's just waaaaaaay too hot to deal with all that hair)...and the grocery store (maybe, we'll see)...and the laundry...and some housework...AND, AND, AND. Those 'ands' just don't ever end.

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The virtue of books is to be readable. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I want story, wit, music, wryness, color, and a sense of reality in what I read, and I try to get it in what I write. ~John D. MacDonald

Write what you want to read. The person you know best in this world is you. Listen to yourself. If you are excited by what you are writing, you have a much better chance of putting that excitement over to a reader. ~Robin McKinley

Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in logical sentences. ~Anne McCaffrey

It is a cardinal sin to bore the reader. ~Larry Niven

Many modern novels have a beginning, a muddle and an end. ~Philip Larkin

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What the WIP looks like now.


What it will look like when I'm finished.

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