Letting people read your rough draft

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Permalink Reply by Callie Leah on January 23, 2010 at 12:08am

I do sometimes. I feel like no one will ever care if I finish a novel or not. I especially feel like that when I hit a rut and can't think of what to write. But eventually, I get an idea, and just because your friends don't have time to read it, doesn't mean they don't want to. Besides, who cares what they think? Whether they like it or not, that doesn't mean that there's someone else out there who will absolutely love your book more than anything when it finally gets published. If your friends don't get a chance to read it, it doesn't matter. Just because they don't read it, doesn't mean they don't want to. Just think of the smile you'll put on someones face when they're entertained by your book, not about the disappointment you feel because your friends don't have time. They're just a few people. There's plenty of people (like me for example) who would love to read your book.

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Permalink Reply by Danielle on January 23, 2010 at 12:32am

Aww...that you Callie, I needed that. :D Sometimes I just feel like I need my own cheerleading section to keep me motivated. As I'm sure you've felt as well, writing is just such a long and tiresome journey with an uncertain destiny. It's so hard to know if we're doing all this work for nothing or if the end result will be what we dreamed it would be. I guess I thought that my friends and family would want to be a big part of my success.
Thanks again for your kind support, it means a lot to me. :D
Hugs!

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Permalink Reply by Callie Leah on January 23, 2010 at 3:28am

Anytime Danielle. And you're right. Sometimes your hard work will be for not, but just because you can't have your work published, you can still enjoy it yourself and read it forever. But don't think about that whenever you're writing. Sure it could be turned down, but it's like a one-in-a-million chance that that will happen. And you're right, every writer feels like it would help to have a team of cheerleaders boosting them up, but they wouldn't really help that much. I mean, all they would do would be hyping you up, even if it wasn't good. I know sometimes criticism can hurt, but sometimes it's the only way we can get better. There are a lot of things we would like to hear when people read our work, but sometimes there are a lot things we need to hear. Of course your friends and family probably want to be part of your success, but if they never have time to read your work, then that's their loss.
;-)

Danielle said:

Aww...that you Callie, I needed that. :D Sometimes I just feel like I need my own cheerleading section to keep me motivated. As I'm sure you've felt as well, writing is just such a long and tiresome journey with an uncertain destiny. It's so hard to know if we're doing all this work for nothing or if the end result will be what we dreamed it would be. I guess I thought that my friends and family would want to be a big part of my success.
Thanks again for your kind support, it means a lot to me. :D
Hugs!

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Permalink Reply by Pink Asassin on January 28, 2010 at 5:02am

Oh my goodness, I TOTALLY know how you feel! XD My family and friends practicly beg me to let them read my works, but then when I do, they never read them! They set it in a corner, and never get to it.... :( I know they have things to do, and their own lives, but if they're too busy to read my stories, then why do they ask to read them....? O.o It's just odd to me,lol xp XD
Anyway, what's your novel about? :D It's always interesting to hear what other writers are interested in writing. :)

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Permalink Reply by Danielle on January 28, 2010 at 5:21am

Hi Pink Asassin :D

My book is a supernatural/paranormal thriller where an Atheist dies, discovers Heaven and then is asked to rescue a lost soul on Earth. There's a bit of everything, romance, horror, comedy...

I've put the first three chapters on my blog here at Authors if you'd like to read it. :D

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Permalink Reply by Pink Asassin on January 28, 2010 at 6:34am

Wow, that sounds awesome! :D I love stories like that, I'll have to check it out! ;)

Danielle said:

Hi Pink Asassin :D

My book is a supernatural/paranormal thriller where an Atheist dies, discovers Heaven and then is asked to rescue a lost soul on Earth. There's a bit of everything, romance, horror, comedy...

I've put the first three chapters on my blog here at Authors if you'd like to read it. :D

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Permalink Reply by scribbler on January 31, 2010 at 5:08am

Danielle, I say that when the day arrives that you quit caring what people will think is the day to stop writing for an audience. If you didn't care about your work, you wouldn't be worried about what they thought. It shows you do care. But it's hard for any writer to find a person that has the same level of enthusiasm for their work as they themselves do. That's simply a fact. We can't expect anyone else to be as enthused as we are.

It's been said before on the forum that as writers we need to have a healthy respect for the time of others. Giving them almost a whole book to read is a lot to ask of anyone. We can't take offense when folks can't find the time that's preferential to our schedule and not theirs. After all, they agreed to read it. That should be enough of a show of support for us to content ourselves with until they can find the time. Our writing is not their number one priority in life, despite what we'd like to think. ;)

I see you shared some here too. That's good! You get a more objective opinion from strangers anyway. :)

Now you said you wanted the feedback so you can finish the ending. If you told your friends and family that, they could be feeling the pressure of that responsibility and that's why they are procrastinating. Just a thought. Or they simply don't have time right now. They'd all love to see you succeed I bet. Don't read too much into them not getting around to it yet.

You know best how to finish it. You know you do. Loosen up, chill out and finish what you started. You can always make adjustments later. There's no writer in the world that doesn't rewrite. Good luck. :)


Danielle said:

Aww...that you Callie, I needed that. :D Sometimes I just feel like I need my own cheerleading section to keep me motivated. As I'm sure you've felt as well, writing is just such a long and tiresome journey with an uncertain destiny. It's so hard to know if we're doing all this work for nothing or if the end result will be what we dreamed it would be. I guess I thought that my friends and family would want to be a big part of my success.
Thanks again for your kind support, it means a lot to me. :D Hugs!

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