Anytime you write, there is always the drive to write for yourself and your own enjoyment--and that is indeed how it should be. But there must also be in the back of your mind a regard for wwhat the prospective readers will think of the end result. Will they love it? Hate it? Be indifferent to it? The last is the worst of all. You will have wasted their time and gotten no emotional response whatsoever. At least if they hate it and you wasted their time in reading it, you got a response.
Below, I have listed some responses from readers of my vignettes and short stories. These are not intended to be for bragging rights alone. They are intended to illustrate the responses that are desirable and to be a research tool for the prospective writer. A research tool? Yes--look into the words that show up more than once, such as 'imagery', 'vivid' etc. These are clues as to what you might want to strive for in your own writing. Paint a picture for the reader, not just tell a tale devoid of life and color. Make it a journey. complete with landscape, sounds and smells. Make it a humorous, heartwrenching or thought-provoking experience for the reader. If it is such for you, it may also be for others, but the only way to truly know is to test it--and not on close friends who will want to avoid hurting your feelings (code for: not telling you the truth).
I hope your reader commentary will be as satisfying as much of mine has been. Have fun and polish those skills.
Comments regarding the vignettes and short stories:
RE: The Guitar
I have to tell you - that short story is fabulous. You are an incredible writer - and I don't say that lightly, because I'm highly critical. Reading that - it was so descriptive that I didn't even realize I wasn't "reading" anymore, but it felt like I was *there*. ...I was really impressed.
…it was really good. I don't usually give a lot of feedback, but that was very moving, so I just had to say something.
I found it to be absolutely fantastic. A must-read, people! This guy is good!
--Jenn Z.
Your vignette is wonderful. Truly mesmerizing. I hope you publish
it, so other readers may enjoy it as much as I did.
--Lyn D. Nielsen, author of Place of Sage
Very expressive. ...I was extremely moved by it...
--Mary H.
RE: The Guitar:
...really talented...That is just beautiful. The imagery is very vivid and potent and speaks of a perfect moment.
RE: The Guitar:
Thank you for reposting this and reminding me of it. The first time I read it, it gave me goosebumps, and it has done so today. It is just so visually real and carries you off so you see what she is seeing and feel what she is feeling. Wonderful work.
RE: Relative Size:
This is such a stunning insight into what it is to be a child and discover things for the first time. The mind of a child is so open to new experiences and, sadly, it is something that you lose as you get older. Beautiful vignette. Just stunning.
RE: All In How You See It:
This is absolutely wonderful. It is so sad and bittersweet. It makes me want to take the two of them and shake them... Him - to make him communicate his thoughts with his wife and her - to make her have trust in her husband. Beautifully written.
--Minx—Latvia
I so LOVED the imagery in The Guitar…So many vivid descriptions
to bring to mind what an instrument of beauty a guitar is. You do have a way with words; a master with words.
--Teri Rodeman
Very powerful imagery. The entire piece definitely gives the phrase "the touch of the master's hand" a whole new meaning.
--Melanie Goldmund
RE: The Guitar
Beautifully written, now write the rest of the novel (smile)
--Judith Tramayne, author of Conspiracy
Saturday, September 16, 2006
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