Results from A Reader

Jessianodel

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Okay so I haven't officially finished my first draft yet (but I just banged out 2 chapters in 3 days! Eh? Eh? Okay never mind...) But my friend wanted to see it. She's very honest so I thought she'd say it was 'okay' and 'kinda funny'. Instead she read the first paragraph and called me laughing.

Apparently it was hilarious (it wasn't even the funniest part yet). For the rest of the first chapter she kept texting me about how many questions she needed answers to NOW. And how I had the kind of book where she would stay up all night just because she needed to know how it ended.

Now I know that friends/family may not make very good betas and i should get someone impartial or cruel with a red pen, but still, for an average reader that's a pretty good reaction right????

Okay so I might be a tad overboard on the happy thing seeing as most people are posting about how they got published. But yay I'm happy!!!!

Okay done now. Carry on.
 

Mr. Anonymous

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You have every right to be happy. You wrote something that a reader really enjoyed. :) You EARNED the right to be happy.

That said, it is a good idea to temper this happiness with a dab of realism. As you yourself implied, your friend is not a professional, and ultimately, it is the professionals you need to appeal to in order to get published.

But this is definitely a very good sign. Now KEEP WRITING. ;)
 

Jessianodel

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You have every right to be happy. You wrote something that a reader really enjoyed. :) You EARNED the right to be happy. Thank you :D

That said, it is a good idea to temper this happiness with a dab of realism. As you yourself implied, your friend is not a professional, and ultimately, it is the professionals you need to appeal to in order to get published. as long as they're human beings, I'm okay. I think. Unfortunately no one has yet proved they're not just clever robots....

But this is definitely a very good sign. Now KEEP WRITING. ;) And that right there is the key. I'm hoping to average a chapter every two or three days. The first draft should be finished before thanksgiving. Well I hope it won't take that long, but I have school so I'm giving myself wiggle room.

Thank you! Now back to the notebook.....
 

Mr. Anonymous

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You're welcome, they're definitely not robots because if they were it wouldn't take nearly so long for them to get back to us, and a chapter every few days sounds like good progress to me. Good luck! (I'm trying to finish a novel too, hopefully by the end of this month, am 31,000/45,000 atm.)
 

Daddyo

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Yah! Is right! Hang on to that friend. I've yet to have one ask to read anything that I've written. When my book comes out they'll expect a free copy, though.
 

mccardey

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Well done! Funny is hard to write. Hang on to that friend, and as Mr A says - keep writing!
 
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Jessianodel

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Good Luck Mr.A! Wow you're way closer than I am. But I'm catching up ;)
And you're right about the robots....hmm.....maybe last year's model?

Daddyo: Thank you so much! Yeah, it took me a while to let people see it. For a while when they asked me what I was writing I was just like "oh just a little.....thing I've been doing...it's not really done....or worth reading so walk away quickly"

Mccardey: Thank you! Funny is hard to do well. Luckily I specialize in sarcasm which is the most widely accepted and easiest form of humor. I lucked out :D
 

Daddyo

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Yeah, when people ask me what I'm writing about, I balk at the question. I don't know why it seems so difficult. I'm guessing that it's because an oral synopsis is harder for me than a written one--and those are tough enough.
 

Yeshanu

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Keep going, Jessi. Even if this novel eventually tanks (and most first novels do) your friend's reaction tells you that you've got one of the things it takes to make it as a writer--an interesting and unique voice. Now you can work on developing that other quality--persistence. BIC, FOK. (Butt in chair, fingers on keyboard. :))

Go! Go! Go!
 

regdog

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