JoanB

I  invite you to read the short diary of my daily struggle as a writer. No clear update but I will try to write every day. Don't expect very long chapters.

Started as an entry for fun and submitted for writing prompt #63: One chapter post but still ongoing.

 Please add tags: #diary #drama #comedy #author #writing

Please read my ongoing story:
The Sorceress' Heir: Blossoming Youth and Power

Daily Struggle of an Author

It's still six in the morning. I need to write now or the workers will come back again and the noise starts again.


Yesterday was partly enjoyable and partly another prologue and chapter 1 remaking again. It all started when one of my author friend, who gave me his honest review of what I wrote. What he said was not entirely bad but disturbing on my side.


These were some of our actual chat in discord(direct messaging):


FRIEND: Even your prologue is a bit complex history


ME: I've read a best selling book which has longer descriptions than what I have.


I overshadowed a lot of things so as not to expose them early.


FRIEND: Different expectations when people peruse random webnovels online 😂 if you're a nobody and you're doing something questionable, they're more likely to assume you don't know what you're doing. On the other hand, I see best selling book and assume I'm the idiot


I want to hide. 😔 What I thought was good, was complex and boring to others.


Then I asked for the opinions of some of my classmates in my mentor's class. One of them said that my Prologue was more on telling and no showing. That's totally true but it's more on presenting the world background in my story. He also said that my chapter 1 can stand without the prologue.


Then another person said that my way of writing is sage-like and it is not his cup of tea. He added my prologue is too heavy, but he is afraid that if he skipped it, which is a massive information drop, he would not understand the novel. These were his own words. I only changed the 'I' to 'he'.


All the comments disturbed me greatly. Men, please I know I suck when it comes to a synopsis. I'm terrible at it.


But one good thing to have a mentor is that he is there to teach, guide, and encourage. Well, I can't write everything he said here because every time he speaks it is always long. He explained some things I needed to see and showed me to trust myself more.


I'll quote here some of the things he said:


As one of my family sayings goes, "Once upon a time, Mercury was used for medicine and considered safe. Once upon a time, the world was flat to everyone. Opinions change once someone proves otherwise, don't be afraid to prove yourself."


One final thing that I tell all students privately is to remember that all other students are at varying stages of writing skill and understanding, and to always take what they learn from other candidates with a grain of salt until they verify it.


Everyone is here to improve their writing from various levels and styles.


It's quite a bit at once, but the moral of the story is to make sure you trust yourself regardless of what you hear from one or two people.


I was really encouraged by what he said. 


Also, after listening to my Friend's suggestions, I cut out those things he said was irrelevant. The result, I've written something better for chapter 1. It's not quite bad to listen and start analyzing. Instead of sticking too much on what I thought was good, I've come up with a better one. Just like what my mentor said, take everything with a grain of salt until verified.


Write, refine, write, refine until I'm satisfied. Somehow, my Prologue is still in the process. Yet, I've progressed with my chapters. Slow but sure.


Trust Yourself