Writerly Ways

There is a certain joy to rereading an old fan fic and realizing it doesn't actually suck. My big bang for Saiyuki was one written years ago for a failed big bang and I forgot about it for several years until someone decided to try another big bang. I blew the dirt off this 'before the journey' story. It's made me miss Saiyuki and I wonder if there's some online spot to finish reading it. I hate doing that but it never finished in the States (half due to publisher issues, half to the severe health issues of the mangaka).

It's an important thing, learning to like your own stories. We all go through the 'god everything I write' is crap phase. Sometimes it's even true and we've not done our best for whatever reason. But there's also truth to the saying Perfect is the enemy of the good. When we strive for perfection we can get stuck within our story. We might never finish it. We might edit it endlessly. We might even manage to get past that, see it out in the world and remain unhappy with it forever.

I'm not the only one to feel this way and neither are you. Agathe Christie lamented that her stuff wasn't good or merely dime store crap of no literary value. She remains one of the best selling women of all time.

So learn to love your stuff but learn also to accept criticism of it. It can help us grow (it can also destroy us but that's a post for another time).

And now for the links Book Launch timeline

write on

And another NSFW pep talk from Chuck Wendig for when your story hits the wall

And Betty must have known where I needed help lately with her offerings

when you lose the desire to finish

How to keep a short story short

improve your manuscript


Guide to Criticism and how to handle it


The problem with Prince Charming


Yearly Word Count -

23672 / 100000 words. 24% done!

Splinters of Silver - editing nothing

Blood Red - finished it entirely!

editing 3 novellas - did jack

Behind Blue Eyes - edited one chapter

Haunted Hocking -

9723 / 60000 words. 16% done!