The Writing Laundry List

I post in two places … because yes I am insane. It is this same illness that compels me to be in the 3 book clubs, 2 dinner groups, attend 2 church services (although only one Sunday School Class) and otherwise over commit my time.

That’s a nice little piece of information about me, but really who cares? What I really want to talk about is the difference in the two audiences I'm writing for. They always say knowing your audience is key to a good presentation and reception.

I figured the audience would be the same. One is an online community designed up to facilitate interaction between individuals. The other is not so much a community but a vast ocean. It has no easily discernible structure. Only by “advertising” yourself do you get guests. All the work is incumbent upon yourself to generate the community – but still the purpose it to meet people and express yourself.

The audiences, they are NOT the same. On my blog, the “Pot Roast” story has generated 9 comments. The other online community, one comment. (By a dear friend who comments on everything, more about him in a moment.) However the online community my brief screed on “The cost of perfectionism” 13 comments. The other audience? NO comments. (although I did find a very, very kind compliment about it on someone else’s blog.)>

Which finally leads up to this reflection. I have a friend who is an author. We made a barter deal. I’d teach him how to cook, he teaches me how to be a better writer. Today, after my love letter to San Francisco, I received the following comment from him, “Will you please explain to me again why you feel you need writing lessons? :)” I think he’s overly generous and doesn’t want to be put into the role of critic. I can understand. But, I think I have a lot of areas I could improve upon.

So here’s my writing laundry list:

1. I feel like I start all of my sentences with “but”, “and then”, “although”, “anyway” , over and over again.I want to construct better sentences.
2. I end some of my sentences with prepostions. I'm not so sure why that's wrong. Nor how to restructure them so they don't end like that.
3. I am afraid I’m one of those writers that “tells” you, but doesn’t “show” you. Another more educated definition is I lack the “employment of metaphors” in my writing. My current favorite metaphor is this description, “leopard spots of rain”. What a great visual. I would have said, there were sporadic spots of rain, slowly covering up the dryness of the sidewalk. Yes, it’s descriptive, but doesn’t the other reach out and grab you?
4. I know how to report. But how do you invent? I can invent stories about myself, but a fictional person?! How? I barely know why "I" act and react the way I do, how can I possibly construct ONE other human, much less a whole community?
5. “The Story Arc” … okay, I don’t even know what a story arc is, but I suspect it has a beginning, middle and end. I can do that – it’s just that I seem to add so much in between. *sigh*
6. Which brings us to brevity. (see I did it, once) (ooooh, now I just ruined it) (My mother would tell you it’s because I “must have the last word”) (I think she’s wrong.)
7. I think I loose my way between my idea and my story. Sometimes I don’t even think the story I tell relates to my title. (Which is more obvious when I’m assigned a topic, as opposed to rambling on what ever it is I was to pontificate on.)
8. I think small; one incident. Not many years worth of narrative.

Perhaps I'll become more accomplished in the next 12 days.