This has been a really great process for me. I wanted to thank all of those that have read my story and given me such fantastic feedback. I appreciate your time and efforts. I figured I would give a little background on how and why I decided to participate.
I had wanted to participate in the first WIM but was on a tight schedule. I had finished my novel's first draft and I had planned on employing Ms. Chapelle's services to help me make it great in August, once I finished my own revisions. That thing is over 120k words and needed serious help. Did I mention it was a tight schedule? Simply put I could not fit in another project. So I skipped WIM one.
Then in the middle of revisions I found out my mom had stage four lung cancer. Everything came to a halt, especially my revisions. I live in Washington and my mom lived in Alabama, can't just drop by to check on her. Trips to and from there became a thing and as much as one might think a five hour plane ride would provide time to write, it really didn't. Not under those circumstances. Ms. Jeni was amazingly understanding and didn't hold me to the August deadline. I appreciate that Ms. Jeni.
We lost mom in July, barely four months after diagnosis. I was devastated, couldn't focused. Haven't been able to focus for months when Writer in Motion two rolled around. I took the opportunity to shake things up and put my novel on the shelf.
Now we are caught up to the process of Writer in Motion itself. It has been a great experience for me. Not only have I not shown much of my work to many people. So having somewhat random people see my work, was scary. It turned out to be okay and with the amazing help of Rebecca Fryar, Rebecca McWilliams, S.F. Roffey and Natalie Lockette even better. I figured I would break down each week.
Week 1 draft:
The prompt. I knew I wanted something snappy and short. I had the goal to make the writer feel the emotion through the intensity of movement. I think I accomplished that and several people gave the very 1st rendition positive reviews. Story came in at 423 words.
Week 2 draft:
I started tearing the story apart. I wanted to bring the reader closer to the character and with so little internal thoughts that was hard. So I thought about exploring the Father and his impact. I re-read this a dozen times and I felt okay about it but I knew it was only okay. Plus there was a pretty large plot hole. Maybe no one will notice.
Week 3 draft:
Plot hole identified by CP, darn. The other common comment here was that I relied too much on body parts and while it gave a good sensation by the third mention of the characters legs it became distracting. I grabbed the plot mortar to begin filling in the hole. Also mentioned was the lack of personal connection. So I took a dive into personal thoughts, trying to bring more the the character out.
Week 4 draft:
Hey look there is another plot hole, points one of my CP's. Rats! *drumming fingers* really? I stared at that hole for a bit before finally giving in and agreeing. Fixed final plot (I think), continue expanding the father and more of Carle. I really like the finish product though the word count ran a little long at 1014. I also feel like I lost the intensity that I captured in week one and two in those micro drafts. I think the story is more complete and better but I really want to revisit the intensity.
Final:
For the first time in months I feel I am ready to take my WIP back up and really put the effort in to finish. Not sure when I will finish it but I feel that I can finish it now. Thank you all for talking with me, helping me to be better. I appreciate it. If any of you need a reader in the future let me know and I will try to help when I can.
As my mom was fond of saying, 'Have a merry merry and a happy happy!'
Best Regards,
R. Pelham Hern
Topic: Welcome Home - WIM Final Thoughts (Read 2082 times)