Raven O'Fiernan

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III – The Empress

February 13, 2021 By ravenofiernan 16 Comments

III – The Empress

The cold wetness of a tongue awakens me. The dog is jumping up and down, but all I see is barren land. Just dirt. Within myself, I know instinctively that this land isn’t sterile, just dormant with potential. Someone or something has stomped out all the dreams and just abandoned it. I stand up, seeing myself clothed in a skirt of green leaves, and a top made of red flower petals, the only spot of brightness here. But I am sad; I don’t belong in this place that is so dead.

I walk around the dirt in the pale morning light of dawn. There is nothing for miles and miles.

Even the air smells like dust.

I am tempted to walk away. To find my real home, because this is not it. I belong with lush greenery and humming insects, not this dead land of nothingness. But even as I turn to go, I can’t. I can feel the pull of the land, the potential it still holds. Knowing that it has been abandoned again and again means that I can’t abandon it now. Not even for my true home.

I hunch over and cry.

I cry for all the lost children, all the abandoned pets, all the gardens gone to fallow. I cry for those who’ve lost those things, too: the parents standing at too-small graves, the little boy crying out the window for his cat, the woman in the nursing home watering a single plant every day with the same attention she once paid to a huge vegetable garden.

As I cry, I notice something. Under my hand, where the tears fall, a small sprout has timidly peeked its head up. Maybe that’s all this place needs: someone to care.

I care.

I feel the watery pools behind my eyes as I take in the world’s sorrow.

I just let it all rain out of me. Rain, rain, rain nourishing the land.

In no time, this once barren place has become home, my real home.

The dog yips and dances around, then disappears into the undergrowth. I am alone now, but no, never alone.

My tears dry and my face lights up in joy, as I once more stand straight and tall. I smile at a bud of an iris, and it slowly blooms, proudly presenting its golden beard against its deep purple petals.

I whistle to a bee, and it begins to dance. As I watch and continue to whistle, hundreds of bees join the first and follow a choreography brilliant enough to dazzle the world’s most prestigious ballet company. I sit on a stump and a shy rabbit hops up to my feet, then settles in my lap. A butterfly flutters over and kisses my nose, then kisses several of the most upstanding gentlemen flowers, then flies off again, coquette that she is.

All this land needed was compassion and tears and feeling. A mother. I have come home again.

The End.

Filed Under: Flash Fiction

Routine Friendships and Friendly Routines #IWSG 02-03-2021

February 3, 2021 By ravenofiernan 8 Comments

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Find out more at The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Monthly Report

So, you may or may not have noticed, but I forgot to update last week. Whoops! I’m still not used to the weekly blogging thing, I guess. In any case, I write these on Sundays, so even though you will be reading this on Wednesday, February 3, today is actually the last day of January. So it feels right to return to a monthly report. On the whole, January was, as many have been before, a rather fractured month. Inspired by the hopeful energy of the New Year, I must admit I chose to start WAY TOO MANY new classes. There’s a meditation class, a health class, a WordPress class, and a Mailerlite class, and I am now behind on all of them. The meditation, despite being one of the classes without a deadline, is the one that is doing the best. On the other hand, my routines have been solid, which is a new and refreshing thing, and possibly the reason the meditation class is going so well, since it is part of my evening routine. I now have five items on my morning routine, seven on my evening (around dinner) routine, and six on my night (right before bed) routine. I have been getting most things done every day, though there is usually one of the evening or night that just doesn’t get done. I try not to let it be the same one as the day before, but since I have been doing guided meditation in the evening, I sometimes skip the unguided meditation at night. Writing and the peripheral activities (January was for the website) have also been doing well, thanks to the routines and the new streaming on Sundays. I get a story done each week during the stream, and I’ve also been able to do a blog post each week. I stream for 3 hours, so there is plenty of time. I will see at the end of this post if I managed my 10,000 word goal for the month, but if I don’t make it, I will at least be close.

Optional Monthly Question

February 3 question -Blogging is often more than just sharing stories. It’s often the start of special friendships and relationships. Have you made any friends through the blogosphere?

I hate to say this, but no. Actually not at all, unless you count my earliest days of online journaling when I had an Open Diary account. I made friends through that, but they have all passed on over time. Most of the friendships I have with posters on my blog have actually come from other areas, such as NaNoWriMo and Holly’s Writing Classes. I’ll give a quick shout out to those because Holly Lisle has temporarily lowered the prices to 50% off all classes over $20 due to the economic struggles we are all facing. I’ll be returning to How To Revise Your Novel in February, and I maintain that it is the very best writing class I have ever taken. Getting it for half off would be a steal. In fair disclosure, that is an affiliate link. If you prefer not to use it, you can do an internet search on Holly’s Writing Classes, and you will find all her offerings including that class. I have made a lot of friends through the forums, so even if all you get is the free flash fiction class, it comes with free, perpetual access to the forums*.

It is one of the best places on the internet, full of empathetic and compassionate people trying to help each other on the writing journey. My affiliate link to the free flash fiction course is here: How to Write Flash Fiction that Doesn’t SUCK

Of course, the lack of blog-related friendships is on me. I’m not very social. I recognize that to have good success with blogging, I need to go to other blogs and comment, and somehow, that part of the equation always gets skipped. It’s something I need to work on because when I do take the time, I am amazed by all the wonderful insights and perspectives I encounter. To link this to the previous section, it seems like, once the current routines are 100% solid rather than just mostly solid, I could add blog-reading to either the morning or evening routines (before bed would be silly!). Something I’ll have to consider!

INSECURE WRITER’S SUPPORT GROUP

FOUNDED BY

Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh

Twitter is @TheIWSG Hashtag: #IWSG

Join in here!

IWSG Website

The awesome co-hosts for the February 3 posting of the IWSG are Louise – Fundy Blue , Jennifer Lane, Mary Aalgaard, Patsy Collins at Womagwriter, and Nancy Gideon!

*assuming good behavior, of course, as is true of all forums.

Filed Under: #IWSG, Reflection, Writing

January 2021 Book Review: Daily Meditations

January 20, 2021 By ravenofiernan Leave a Comment

So, the third week of each month will be a book review.  This month’s is a little unconventional.  I normally read fiction, but this month I am reviewing two non-fiction books, both of them daily readers.  But first, here’s what I’ve been up to this week!

Weekly Update

This week has been fairly uneventful on the writing front. I got another flash fiction piece done for the Tarot collection and did some website work (mostly learning stuff and applying it to local test sites, not too many changes to the actual live website yet), as well as starting to learn my way around Mailerlite so I can get a newsletter going again, this time without sending myself (and possibly others) lots of spam from who knows where. THAT was an eye-opener and the reason I don’t currently have a list. But yeah, moving slowly, but still making progress.

The main thing is that I have been more committed to my routines. I have a morning, evening, and night routine, and these help me stay sane and also help me to be more productive overall. On that note, one of the things I do is read inspirational passages from day books, and it has been hard to find some that I like, so I thought I’d share the ones I’m currently using for morning and night. I explain more about my morning routine later.

Book Review: Open Mind by Diane Mariechild and Every Day Spirit by Mary Davis

We will start with the night book, because I’ve had it the longest.

When I was in college, my mom bought me Open Mind: Women’s Daily Inspiration for Becoming Mindful by Diane Mariechild. I have returned to it over and over again in my life. Each day is on a separate page with the date at the top, then a quote by a spiritual woman, and finally a few paragraphs by Diane Mariechild explaining what that quote means to her and how we can use it. Today’s quote is from Izumi Shikibu:

Listen, listen;
longing and loss.
In the struck bell’s
recurrent calling,
no moment in which to forget.

And her explanation is about the importance of dealing with loss in a meaningful way.

I recently decided that I wanted to supplement Open Mind. I wanted to read Open Mind at night, but another passage in the morning. It took me a long time, but I finally decided on Every Day Spirit: A Dayabook of Wisdom, Joy, and Peace by Mary Davis.

This book is similar to Open Mind in several ways. Like Open Mind, it has a different entry for each day of the year. Also it was written by a woman. The main difference is that Davis’s book has a more personal overriding theme: some time she spent in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. So there are entries that can be more like diary entries where she discusses something that happened that day. Other entries do have a quote and commentary like Mariechild’s, but not all of them. Finally, Davis’s has two suggestions for focus during the day. A focus for how to approach the world/your daily life/external events called “In The World” and a more internal focus called “In The Heart”.

Appropriately, today’s entry is about developing a morning spiritual practice.

My morning routine consists of the following:

1. Reading a passage from a spiritual book (currently this one)

2. Drawing a Tarot card for the day

3. Doing my coffee ritual, see here:

4. Committing to my ideals

5. Connecting with content related to my ideals.

And that’s what I do, pretty much every day. There are days I miss, particularly when I have to work early on Thursdays and Saturdays, but I often get at least one of those in.

In Closing:

Do you have a spiritual practice or morning routine that gives meaning to your life? What are the key points in your spirituality or non-spirituality?

Note: All ideas/philosophies/faiths are welcome in the comments as long as they do not demonize any others or any living beings, but please do not argue about any being better than others.

Filed Under: Book Review, Reflection, Writing

Welcome to 2021!

January 13, 2021 By ravenofiernan Leave a Comment

Welcome!

So, I am going to finally start blogging more regularly. This comes as a result of starting to stream on Twitch once a week. I started doing that during NaNoWriMo this year, so in November 2020. And I was still finishing up the novel during December, but starting in January, I ran out of things to be actually writing. So, naturally decided to work on blog posts.

And this is the first one! So, here is what you can expect:

The first Wednesday of every month is still going to be the IWSG – Insecure Writer’s Support Group – post. The second Wednesday, for now, is just going to be a reflection of some kind. The third Wednesday will be a book review. And the fourth and/or fifth Wednesdays will be for flash fiction. This is because I will also be doing the Storytime Blog Hops and those are the last Wednesdays of January, April, July, and October.

The flash fiction for the foreseeable future will be the Tarot flash pieces I have been working on. 0 – The Fool will remain free and visible. As I add each new one, however, the one before will disappear. So every month, you will have 0 – The Fool and whichever one is most recent to read at your leisure.

On the months with five Wednesdays, I will be taking them as I go, maybe seeing what others are interested in, or just writing about what is on my mind.

During November, I am not going to have full blog posts, but rather just have a weekly update and then word count. That way, I can still focus on writing my novel during my Twitch stream.

Weekly Update:

Normally, this will be the first part of the post, but since this week, we have an introductory post, it made sense to put it first.

In any case, this was a good week for productivity. I mostly worked on the website and getting a mailing list/newsletter started, but not done with either of those yet. I am behind on the website class I signed up with through Udemy, but still made some progress on one or the other every day, and I also figured out what book(s) I am going to review for next week’s blog.

In Closing:

So, I hope you will stick around to read what I have coming. Next week, I will have a book review for some daily readers I use to keep me centered.

What would you like me to write about?

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Filed Under: Reflection, Writing

Pet Peeves Worth Their Weight in Gold #IWSG 01/06/2021

January 6, 2021 By ravenofiernan 4 Comments

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Find out more at The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Monthly Status Report

December was a quiet month for me. As usual, my monthly goal was just to finish up loose ends, and I am happy to report that I have finished the rough draft of Prime Tower. I wrote most of it in November for National Novel Writing Month, but didn’t quite finish. I was able to get it done on Sunday, December 27 during my weekly writing stream.

Speaking of which, that has become a new part of my life, and it has become completely habitual. I still fumble around when I don’t know what to say during the chatting breaks, but they are still nice to have, and it is enjoyable to converse with the people who show up while also getting work done!

I did create my loose yearly plan, which looks like this currently:
December 2020: Loose Ends
January 2021: Website work
February 2021: Revision of Cipher
March 2021: Covers/Copy for the Hazel Kanetzki short story
April 2021: Camp Nano: Revision of Cipher
May 2021: Revision
June 2021: Website work
July 2021: Revision
August 2021: Revision
September 2021: Covers/Copy
October 2021: Nano Prep
November 2021: NaNoWriMo
December 2021: Loose Ends

If I happen to finish the whole revision before the end of August, I think I will work on developing either the Hazel Kanetzki or Cipher series. I think it is highly unlikely, though, because I am a very slow reviser!

Optional Monthly Question

January 6 question – Being a writer, when you’re reading someone else’s work, what stops you from finishing a book/throws you out of the story/frustrates you the most about other people’s books?

This is a difficult question. It’s pretty rare that I don’t finish something I have started reading. Besides being a completionist in general, I am also almost always curious about what will happen next. So, most of the things I can think of are not actually deal breakers, just things I am tired of or get frustrated with. So here they are, in no particular order:

  • Redemption arcs that fall apart: If I think a character has a chance for redemption, it irritates me to no end if the author makes them slide back to being evil.
  • Turning every M/F friendship into a romance or a failed part of a love triangle, but never turning other friendships into romances.
  • Sexy vampire romance.
  • Hot cop love interest in cozy mysteries.
  • Potential vampires who want to remain human.
  • Sex scenes that take away from the main plot.

I’m sure there are others, but these are the main ones. You may notice that I don’t have anything like “bad writing” or “grammar mistakes” or anything like that. That’s because I actually tend not to notice those things unless I am trying to. And I don’t like trying to unless I have a good reason. When I am reading for pleasure, it all goes right past me as I devour the story. But the things above will distract me and irritate me. I may not put the book down, but I may sigh . . . and wish it had been something else.

Which is why these books are often ones of great value. Because it’s these missed moments that give me the inspiration for my own works, and why I continue to write and find great joy in the writing. Because I’m writing the stuff I can’t find anywhere else. And maybe others will appreciate the novelty as well.

INSECURE WRITER’S SUPPORT GROUP

FOUNDED BY

Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh

Twitter is @TheIWSG Hashtag: #IWSG

Join in here!

IWSG Website

The awesome co-hosts for the January 6 posting of the IWSG are Ronel Janse van Vuuren , J Lenni Dorner, Gwen Gardner Sandra Cox, and Louise – Fundy Blue!

Filed Under: #IWSG, Reflection, Writing

Slumps and Spurts #IWSG 12/02/2020

December 2, 2020 By ravenofiernan Leave a Comment

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Find out more at The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Monthly Status Report

So first off, I missed an IWSG post for the first time last month. I should have done it at the end of October, but I was working on the stories for the Storytime blog hop (mine and V. S. Stark’s – not writing hers, obviously, but getting it set up), which were due October 31, and then suddenly it was November.

And November is National Novel Writing Month. I did write something for IWSG, but I never got around to revising. And because the first Wednesday of December is the second… Well, it is STILL November, but this time, I am writing directly on my website and being careful so it actually gets done.

On the upside, November is National Novel Writing Month, and probably my favorite time of the year! This year got off to a slower than usual start, but I am making up for it. I may not get to my 111,111 word dream goal, but I am currently at 82,000 and nearing the end of the novel, so it’s been a good month.

I also discovered something else about myself this month. I don’t actually want to write better first drafts. I mean, I do, but not that much. I received an email newsletter containing some advice about when to write description, and my immediate response was to dismiss it — not as bad advice, but as advice for revision. I started thinking of all the times I have needed to write badly in order to get a better story, and I realized that I’m not actually willing to let go of that. My fear of stifling my writing into boredom is stronger than my desire to have less revision work. It was an eye-opener to be sure, but a valuable one. Of course, that does mean I need to actually finish my revisions, yes?

I also started streaming on Twitch. I will need to add a button alongside the other social icons I have on this website, but in the meantime, you can catch me at https://www.twitch.tv/ravenofiernan where I will be streaming writing sessions and answering questions. Overall, November has been a fun and productive month.

Optional Monthly Question


December 2 question – Are there months or times of the year that you are more productive with your writing than other months, and why?

If you have gotten this far in the post, you can probably guess the answer. YES! I am NOT a tortoise in the writing world. I am definitely the hare, and I have to agree with the moral of that story: slow and steady WOULD be better. I have serious spurts and slumps, even within the month. Yesterday was my wordiest day of the year so far at 13,645 words, but on the 19th, I only wrote two words. And let’s not talk about the rest of the year.

As for why? I don’t know actually. I think I just go through cycles. There are times when I am very productive with writing, and then other times when I am more productive with other things (cooking, modding Skyrim, doing cover/website work, etc.), and still other times when I just want to curl up and do nothing but read or watch TV/movies, or consume fiction in other ways.

I would like, at some point, to actually level these out a bit, but in the meantime, I enjoy my process. I am never truly bored!

INSECURE WRITER’S SUPPORT GROUP

FOUNDED BY

Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh

Twitter is @TheIWSG Hashtag: #IWSG

Join in here!

IWSG Website

The awesome co-hosts for the December 2 posting of the IWSG are Pat Garcia, Sylvia Ney, Liesbet @ Roaming About Cathrina Constantine, and Natalie Aguirre!

Filed Under: #IWSG, Reflection

II – The Priestess

October 31, 2020 By ravenofiernan 10 Comments

II – The Priestess

As the sky turns golden, then crimson, then turquoise, the crescent moon appears in the western sky. A silver trail, too bright to have come from the moon, sparkles off in the distance. A howl rises in the night. Somehow, I know it is still the same dog I’ve been following, now enchanted by the moon. What mystery is this? I need to know, and something in me knows I just need to listen.

Crickets, owls, the rustling of leaves, distant yips and howls from wolves or coyotes accompany me down the silver path. These sounds are the expected music of nighttime in the woods. But as I walk the trail, I hear a chant. Dissonant and ethereal, it grows louder the further along the path I go.

Eventually, I arrive at a cave. A small stream flows out of it, back down the mountain, growing from a slender tendril of water into a raging river. A sense of the tides and waves rising and falling in my blood awakens me to the ancient primordial flow of river to sea to clouds to rain to streams to river . . . One of the Mysteries I needed to learn — but the longing still drives me forward along the silver path, right into the large opening of the cave.

No, not a cave. A cathedral. The walls rise high, to a point, with elaborate stalagmites and stalactites reaching toward each other, the sacred pillars of the Earth. Water drips, and the sound echoes off the earthen walls, giving percussion to the chant, which continues to grow while the other sounds of the night are hushed, smothered by the darkness. And I too am smothered, devoured.

In the center of this cavern is a small pond, the source of the stream. An opalescent stone seat faces me from across the pond, drawing me forward. As I approach, the mournful melody surrounds me.

It is too much; I fall onto the stone, the song infusing me, somehow nowhere and everywhere. Trapped, and yet longing, I begin to sing, my voice creating a descant harmony rising above and below the melody of the stone. My vision blurs; I no longer see the cave, but something beyond. Shapes form in the water of the pond as the light of the moon dances across the surface. A blue ball becomes green, gardens grow, my mother smiles as she stirs soup, the spotted dog leaps from the cliff — I see everything up to this point, and then the dog again, now in a lush green garden, jumping and bouncing at the skirt of a golden-haired goddess clothed in red.

I am leaning too close to the pond. As I fall in, the world dissolves, and I know where I am going. I have been granted a Mystery of the future: the Garden of Life.

The End.

Filed Under: Flash Fiction

A Perfect Match by V. S. Stark

October 31, 2020 By ravenofiernan 6 Comments

Welcome to the October 2020 Storytime Blog Hop!

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This October, I am happy to present a darkly humorous short story by V. S. Stark, A Perfect Match. Perfect for Halloween in the time of COVID, too! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, as well as the other stories featured during this month’s blog hop! I even have one of my own this time!

A Perfect Match

“I’d been worried that Jerry would have nothing to do when he retired” Shelly said. “but he’s gotten so into gardening and cooking, I just can’t believe it.” The other women nodded politely, utterly bored by now with stories about Jerry’s latest creation. Shelly smiled to herself. The shelter-in-place order was starting at midnight. She was going to look after her “invalid” sister for the duration, as domestic help was not considered essential. The freezer here at home was packed with lovely meals, all garnished with a little bit of the “herbs” from the garden snipped over the top. Jerry never cooked or gardened, just watched tv and drank beer. She would be at her sister’s when he died. With the expected death toll, nobody would look too closely at a heart attack in an overweight, middle-aged man. All of her friends would confirm that he did the cooking since he retired.

Jerry settled back into his recliner. He’d done a good job on her capsules. You couldn’t tell that he’d tampered with them. She’d die at Alice’s house, serve her conniving snake of a sister right. All of his buddies would commiserate with him, given how often he’d told them about begging her not to buy supplements on the internet. Besides, all eyes were on the Covid numbers right now.

“Goodbye, darling!” they called to each other as Shelly drove away.

Filed Under: Flash Fiction

What is a Working Writer? #IWSG 10/07/2020

October 7, 2020 By ravenofiernan 2 Comments

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Find out more at The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Monthly Status Report

It seems odd that a whole month has gone by. I got an idea for NaNoWriMo, so there is that, but otherwise, really nothing much happened at all. Life was pretty much the same, both writing-wise and in general. I had off for a whole week for my birthday, but mostly just relaxed and enjoyed myself. The food situation has gotten off track, so I definitely need to tighten up there in October. I have a lot of food in the freezer, but it wouldn’t hurt to have more. I also started working on mods for Skyrim again, and have been enjoying that.

Optional Monthly Question

October 7 question – When you think of the term working writer, what does that look like to you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if latter two, what does that look like?

When I think of the term “working writer” I generally think of someone who works at the business of writing every work day, and for “work days” to be at least four per week, probably the same days each week, as if it were another type of job. I think it can coincide with another job, so it does not have to be full time to be considered “working”, but it does need to be more than 10 minutes a day or just on week-ends or during NaNo or something.

I think the work can and should include things other than actual first draft writing, things like revision, editing, promotion, book covers (if doing them yourself), formatting, cover letters, synopses, etc. In other words, the business side as well as the creative side. If you have a platform and fans, this would also include maintaining the platform and engaging with fans.

Where I fall? Well, lately, more of an aspiring writer or hobbyist… I have not been working consistently. But there have been times in my past where I would say I absolutely was a working writer. It’s probably something I should get back to, but not sure when or how. I will be doing NaNo, but for me this year, that definitely doesn’t count since I will be writing something that will actually take me away from my current “working writer” goals and adding to my pile of more revision work. I might do some “working writer” work in October, but since it is only one month, that’s not really consistent, so maybe December as a good, real starting place? I guess we will see.

Wishing everyone a great month!

INSECURE WRITER’S SUPPORT GROUP

FOUNDED BY

Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh

Twitter is @TheIWSG Hashtag: #IWSG

Join in here!

IWSG Website

The awesome co-hosts for this posting of the IWSG are Jemima Pett, Beth Camp, Beverly Stowe McClure, and Gwen Gardner!

Filed Under: #IWSG, Reflection, Writing

Qualities I Look for in a Beta Reader #IWSG 09/02/2020

September 2, 2020 By ravenofiernan 4 Comments

Find out more at The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Monthly Status Report

This was a very scatterbrained month. Maybe I am not cut out for self-directed work. I have not gotten much done on the writing front at all, though I have spent every day doing at least some reading/analyzing of The Firm. Very minimal progress, though, and nothing of my own writing. I still have the two short stories I finished in June sitting on my table to read and revise. I also signed up to be a Municipal Liaison for NaNoWriMo, this year, which I’m excited about, and starting to learn about. Lots of new stuff, just very little actual writing.

As for food, I did much better this month than last month, but as usual, still struggling with food prep. I did get some frozen vegetables, which might help in that department, but haven’t actually used any yet since, well, it’s summer, and there are so many good fresh vegetables.

Optional Monthly Question

September 2 question – If you could choose one author, living or dead, to be your beta partner, who would it be and why?

I don’t know, honestly. I don’t think I know anyone well enough to know if they would be a good beta partner. I look more for personality traits than writing traits, to be honest. And my writing goals are very personal. My number one reason for writing is to write the stuff I want to read, but that doesn’t exist because everyone is convinced no one wants to read it, so advice on what will increase my readership based on what “everyone is reading” is not going to be at all helpful, and I could see it leading to conversations that make me look like I am not interested in improving or not willing to take advice from people who are more successful, when that’s not the issue at all. I do want to improve, I just want to improve in a way that leaves my core values and core reason for writing untouched. I think that’s probably true of most writers, but I think a lot of people are afraid to say so.

So, understanding that motivation and willing to put up with my countless “Yes, but what about . . . ?” types of responses would be at the top of my list. I don’t want to just take a suggestion that might end up messing up a different part of the story. It doesn’t mean I don’t want to solve the initial problem, it’s just that I’m not likely to take the very first suggestion I get. I want to be able to have a lot of give and take and discussion to find the very best solution, rather than just the first one.

I’m also highly sensitive. I have a post on why I think writers don’t need thick skin, because I take the metaphor to mean not letting things affect you in the first place, and I think part of what makes us good writers is the fact that we DO feel things, we ARE affected. We need to learn not to act unprofessionally based on our feelings, but to me, this is very different than not feeling it at all. So, another quality I would look for in a beta reader is someone who understands that I will probably be upset when I get their feedback, and to give me time to process it, rather than chiding me for not having “thick skin”. Granted, I tend to throw it back on myself first (“I’m a terrible writer, there’s no point in fixing this because it still won’t be any good,” etc.) rather than aimed at the critique-giver (I don’t think I’ve ever had a reaction of “You’re so stupid to not see how brilliant this is” — though I was flabbergasted once when I was told my secondary character wasn’t believable because he drove a truck, and the vehicle he drove was a Dodge Spirit, which is a sedan), but it’s something I need to get out of my system before I can look at it with a clear head, so I would want a beta willing to get that out of my system without thinking I’m a “special snowflake” who can’t take criticism.

I guess these are similar in that I don’t want to be pegged as a defensive crybaby just because I don’t immediately agree with everything they say and might specifically ask if there are any good points that make the story WORTH revising, rather than just throwing out.

I didn’t think I was going to have much to say about this topic, but I see I was wrong! Have a wonderful September, and let me know your own thoughts on finding a good beta reader, and whether you look for similar or different qualities. Thanks for reading!

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