My Chrysalis friend...and an update!

I just wanted to give Jenn's blog, Hunting Sea Glass with Wolves, a little plug, since she's started using it a bit more lately. Jenn is one of the two gals I run the Chrysalis Experiment with. I met her on the NaNo forums in 2010, after she put out the call for critique partners. She wanted to form an 'elitist' group where we could start swapping chapters for critique. A bunch of people responded (I think it was about 8 in the end), but now over a year later there are a core group who are still active and in touch. Basically four of us. I think that's pretty good as an end

result. I'm pretty stoked with the friendships I've made through this group (we call it ElitistCritiques, and I think that's cool), and I'm excited to see Jenn posting on her blog more!

Jenn is the sort of CP who constantly inspires those around her. She has the most amazing imagination, and regularly makes astonishing suggestions for where your story could go. I've been privileged to read her (often weird and wacky) stories during this year's Chrysalis Experiment. You can read some too, here. I guess I'm posting this now because I would love for other people to benefit from Jenn's creative brilliance. So go, check her blog out!

I also want to update on my editing progress, since I haven't in a while. I'm up to page 170 of my paper edit (that's out of 188 pages), and about that I'm pretty excited. The end is in sight! Then it'll be time to transfer my paper scribbles into my electronic document. That's a rather daunting prospect, but an invigorating one as well. When I'm done with that, I'll be getting serious with seeking out beta readers. If you're interested in reading a rock star romance, let me know!

Thick Skin - my story

The following blog post was inspired by Ruth Schiffmann's "Thick Skin" blog post. Thanks Ruth!

Recently I read a blog post in which a fellow writer asked the question: Do you have a thin skin/thick skin story to share? I'm going to expand on the answer I gave her here. I've gone through life being told my writing's great, albeit mostly by biased friends and family members. I've had some criticism from strangers that I'd call 'flaming'. They helped me develop what I thought was a pretty thick skin. But then I got serious about my writing, and joined Absolute Write.

For those unfamiliar with it, AW is a great place to go for honest feedback on your writing. I submitted a chapter for critique - a prologue. Feedback started rolling in, and for the most part it was pleasant but honest. Pleasant. Honest. Helpful. Encouraging, and constructive. Then it happened - I got some more critique, and it was harsh. Seriously HARSH. Like a huge bitter angry rant, intimating the reader's utter boredom with my writing. My writing was so boring she couldn't get to the end of the chapter. I was wasting her time, and that made her angry.

Fighting back tears, I turned off the laptop and went to bed. Couldn't sleep. I lay there stewing, feeling by turns devastated and angry and...confused. Didn't this girl have anything nice to say about my writing? Everyone else had! Not this one, though. And for all the 'niceness' of the other feedback, this brutal stuff was what stuck with me, whirled around in my head, plagued me. I couldn't stop thinking about it. And slowly it dawned on me that while the mean girl was seriously mean, she actually...had a point.

A really good one.

I got up again (it was a "school night", already way past bedtime), turned my laptop back on. I started rewriting. Mad scramble to fix what the mean girl had (rightfully) bitched about. It started slowly, but I wound up cutting about 7k of unnecessary words. Like, the whole prologue plus other chapters. Seven thousand words from a seriously bloated manuscript that needed trimming. Trimming is a funny word to use. Doesn't quite do the task justice. Point is, this horrible mean feedback that had so upset me resulted in huge improvements to my manuscript. It also taught me that I can take harsh critique. I can take it or leave it, but if my gut tells me to take it, I can do so and it won't kill me. It'll help me.

I'll say it hurt. Oh yeah, it hurt a LOT. But it taught me a valuable lesson. So I thank that mean girl, because she gave me a wake-up call and helped me develop this thick skin of mine.

Peace Blogfest (Sept 19-21)

I'm late, I'm late! This started on the 19th, and right now in Australia it's the 21st. But I'm going to cheat and post the first two days' components along with today's. For those who are currently confused, let me clarify: Aimée Beatrice Jodoin is hosting the Peace Blogfest, and here's how it works:

• Monday 19 September 2011 - Peace Through Art
  Post something you have created that represents what peace means to you (video, drawing, writing, music, etc.)
          I decided to share some video footage of us driving in the snow in Canada, set to one of my songs which I would describe as slightly 'ethereal' and spacey. I guess this video sums things up nicely for me - I love music, both making it and listening to it (and seeing it live in concert). It brings me peace, amongst other things. I also love winter (read: the snow we never get here in Perth), and I love to travel. I guess I also love my family, right? This video footage features some of them.
  
  
  
  
• Tuesday 20 September 2011 - Peace Through Tolerance and Non-Violence
  How can we overcome discrimination and stop violence? Share your experiences!
          I get into a fair bit of trouble over my political and religious beliefs. I'm basically a devout atheist (with a dash of agnostic on the side), but I'm also devoutly committed to a life of non-violence and political/religious/social/etc. tolerance. I can't stand war, and I loathe governments who use violence (murder, torture, you name it) to further their own interests. I am definitely not of the "eye for an eye" mentality (or the oft-favoured "my eye, your entire body" approach), and it upsets me greatly to hear how murderous people can become in times of grief and hardship. On the other hand, there are people who go through such awful experiences and manage to emerge with their humanity still in tact - like the grief-stricken father who lost his daughter to a suicide bomber, and said he didn't want to see anyone else die - not even other suicide bombers. That, my friends, is a man I can respect.
          Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and most opinions are bound not to align with mine. I'll let you have your opinion if you let me have mine. But sometimes it's best not to get me started on these matters, because neither of us will end up very happy.
  
  

• Wednesday 21 September 2011 (Peace Day) - Peace Through Connection
  Bringing people together in celebration should be the goal for this day! What can YOU DO to be peaceful and to continue spread the word about peace?
          I really do try to keep an open mind, though I have very strong opinions that I feel passionate about. I love to hear others' opinions, and I work hard to respect them. But at the same time I get frustrated if I feel I'm not being heard or respected. As for what I can do to be peaceful and spread the word about it? I guess I can only continue to try and remind everyone that we are all humans, and yes some of us are twisted and have gone down the wrong path (or what I perceive as the wrong path), but we all started out as babies and I really can't wrap my head around the idea that anyone starts out "evil". People are victims of circumstance, and yeah they have to take responsibility for their actions...but I think it's essential that we stop and try to think what it would be like to walk in their shoes before we leap to conclusions and judge them.

Check out my favourite blog posts

I have a page on this blog called "Me Likey" (hey, I was trying to fit the title into my tabs so they didn't take up two rows...) on which I have listed some of my favourite blog posts written by other bloggers. However, until a few days ago, I had totally forgotten the page existed. I read a blog post today on C.A. Marshall's blog, and though it belonged on the page (so added it). Then I figured some of the other posts on there might be useful to you guys too! However, this is also a call for more ideas. Are there any awesome blog posts you've read lately that you think I'd like?

In other news, I'm getting excited about NaNoWriMo this year! I have a bunch of friends who are already talking about it, including some folks who will be new to the experience this year (YEAH!!), and it made me realise that it's not too far away. Exciting!! Are you participating in NaNoWriMo 2011?

In closing, I thought I'd share a couple of photos I took recently of where I work (okay, so the library isn't RIGHT HERE, but this is a few hundred meters' walk from where I do work, in Fremantle, WA):