Writing Comments

A strange thing is happening as I put out stories on writing.com. I'm getting so many different comments that if I were to take all of them to heart, then who knows what I'd write!

Actually, when I was younger, I did just that. I tried to please everyone who offered comments. It led to my not writing because it can't be done. So I now take them all with a grain of salt. Those with constructive comments on my grammar or how to format something, I listen to. Those who want to change my style of writing, I don't. Simple, huh? *grin*

See, I write with a lot of emotion and detail. The goal of my writing is to have others feel what I'm feeling as I write it. That can take a lot of words. To get the widest range of people to feel it, I have to put in various details that mean nothing to someone else.

I mean, really. If I tell someone who hates football and could care less that someone walked out on their favorite football team to go do something, would that mean anything? Of course not. If I told someone who hates sewing or doesn't understand sewing machines every detail of a new sewing machine I got, would that mean anything? No. (I don't have a new one, unfortunately. *grin*) If someone doesn't understand how men work, would they understand how guys can become good friends over something silly as a shared football game? Absolutely not.

I don't watch football, but I know how important it is to some. I sew, so that machine is really darn important. LOL All of my life, most of my friends have been male and I now only have little boys. I know a lot about those odd quirks men display that women are clueless about. Do I understand them? No. But can I tell what I see? Absolutely. I'm comfortable enough with men, and have enough male friends, that I can ask them why does it work that way? Why do you do that? It's great research.

However, what makes me really sad is that some people just can't buy the idea that a man would give up a night of sleep and his favorite football game to go buy someone ELSE a present. Oh, well. I guess I'm just blessed with a wonderful husband who would do something exactly like that. He's just that kind of a guy and I'm so incredibly blessed to be married to him. Now, hands off! He's mine! LOL

I'll admit that all of this comes from a few reviews from a single story. Maybe I'm taking it WAY too much to heart, but I have to analyze my feelings and come out of it without being changed too much by it. I have to remember that there are authors out there that I just plain flat won't read because I don't like the author's style. I'll just have to accept that there are people out there who won't read what I write because they don't like my style. That's all. *smile* It's a hard truth. Authors want everyone to love them. Too bad it doesn't work that way.

So that is my current 'truth' that I'm working through. It's a tough one, but I will come out of it better for the understanding. I will keep writing and that's all that's important. *smile*

I was blessed to run across a wonderful lady out there who is encouraging me left and right to keep going. I actually "met" her over this one story. So even though it didn't win the contest (the other entry was much better), it brought me this one "writing angel" to help me along. She's also an ex-medical transcriptionist so we have quite a bit in common. I feel as if I can share many of my writing dreams with her and find that she has many of the same. However, she's further ahead on them and is able to show me that it really does work. As a matter of fact, she published a book of short stories. I'm tempted to go buy it myself. *smile* She also has another book published (Home of the Red Fox). So, she's a great one to have on my side cheering me on. Oh, her name is J.A. Buxton by the way.

With all of that rambling, I'm going to take off. My house is a mess and I have a short story that needs edited. *smile* As they say on writing.com: "Write On!'