Just an update.

The reading went well. We had a small audience, but a good one. Each member of the workshop read well too. We had four vastly different stories which was great. There was a piece about knowing that there is something there in the dark that isn't in the light and going there anyway. Patricia read one about a woman who finds out what she must do to protect her child. Nancy's story was about being a child learning to be alone, and then not.
Mine? Well, you already know what mine was about.  Is about....  For the moment, anyway.  The big surprise there is that I am becoming fond of the story, which makes me feel a little good.
But, as I said, the reading, though small, was a success.  I hope that the next time (I'm still trying to decide if I want to do a next time), but the next time, there will be more people.  When I talk to other writers, I'm always surprised to hear that, yes, they're married, but no, their spouses (husbands, I've not really talked to many men who've said this) have never read anything they've written.  Maybe surprised is the wrong word. It makes me sad. How do you marry someone that you haven't met.  Because really? If you haven't read my work, you don't know me. 
But before you think I'm bashing men, let me say, that I don't believe that all husbands/partners are left out because they choose to be. I think that we, as writers are afraid of sharing, because what if the partner hates it?
I say it doesn't matter. I say you have to realize that your partner is not your editor, and thank him (okay, or her) for the effort. And keep asking them to make the effort. I don't think it's important for your partner/family/best friend to love your work to keep loving you. It's important that they appreciate it and support it. 
End of rant.

Fiction Workshop Writer's reading

I didn't get as much done as I would have hoped on the Workshop story as I would have liked this last week, but I did have the privilege of having everyone in the Workshop edit the new stuff for me. That was very nice. We are going to give a reading of our works in progress next Tuesday. This should be interesting. When I was thinking about what I wanted to do for this thing, I tried to hit all the high points of short story writing. Well, all the ones I know about. I think we talked about most of them. We talked all the reasons to write short fiction, we talked about some of the approaches we can use to tell a story, point of view, character--even a little bit about plot. Then we talked about editing, and even a bit about publishing.

The very bottom of my list of things to talk about was readings. Everybody knows that in order to sell your words, occasionally, you have to read them in public. I think most writers have a love-hate relationship with preforming. On paper, sitting in the booth at your diner with your headphones in? Yeah, sure, that's the best. For me, that's when the writing sounds exactly how I want it to. In my head, each character has her own voice, and even the right soundtrack behind them.

Now, standing in front of group of people, with my story in my hand? That's completely different. I can't shake the feeling that I'm going to fail the story because I know I can't make it sound like it does in my head-like it does when people read in for themselves. I know it's just going to be me, standing in front of a bunch of people, and who wants to see that?

So why did I insist on the reading at the end of the Workshop? Because I know that it's important. As important as posting a blog each week, or advertising your latest publications on Facebook. Maybe even more. It's important to read your words to people, to build you audience. And, like everything, it's important to start where you're starting. So, if you're so inclined, come and give us a listen, okay?