Dear Writer,

A story may fall from a leaky mind, turn to ink, then trickle and tickle its way to dry paper.  Consider for a moment, dear writer, that the pipeline from imagination, to final draft is clogged.  Debris, trash, and sloppy slush impedes ideas from taking shape into sacred words.  Writing emerges flawed, and saturated with muck.  The triage of story is full.  But, you are writing!  You are in the fight!  Don’t give up!

1. Draft 1: Severely wounded, ideas are weak and dying!
2. Draft 2: Grammar Transplant, terminal wounds!
3. Draft 3: Character Blender, Blood Bath!
4. Draft 4: Beta Readers, are not impressed…
5. Draft 5: Draft is breathing on its own…  more bandages.
6. Draft 6: Plot Surgery, the story crawls…
7. Draft 7:  The real editing begins…  Limb grafts…

Soon, writing is strong enough to conquer the hearts of the readers.  Eventually the battle to tell your tale, is won!

Critisism, dear writer, may be your friend.  There are 318.9 million people in the United States alone.  Billions in the world.  If your writing, becomes an etched monument in the town square, shouldn’t it be as good as it can be?  If it has 1 million readers, that enjoyed the experience, isn’t all the criticism worth it?  If the seventh book written is the one that makes it, then the heavily criticized and wreckage of the first six, becomes, worth it?  Yes!

Dear writer, there good criticism.  Beta readers that are story inspectors.  They point at flaws, and reveal concerns.  You, dear writer, are the Engineer, Architect, and Mechanic of your tale.  Will you allow criticism to be your flashlight to see the necessary repairs needed?

Remember, dear writer, there is dark criticism.  Avoid it.  If you believe your topic, then write about it.  If someone attacks your topic, then ignore it.  Pay attention to those who would criticize the format and nature of the delivery truck, not the product it carries.  Remember, there are those who attack writers, simply just to attack.  You are in motion, you are in the fight.  You are writing, dear writer.  There will always be more people in the crowd shouting insults, then will be warriors in the arena willing to swing the sword (or pens and keyboards in your case).  Insults of topic and beliefs are not criticism.

When the reader is given a experience and a journey, though a clean and unclogged pipe of finished writing, you dear writer, with good criticism, have won!

Copyright © 2017 Zachary W Gilbert