At 06:36 PM 4/18/97 -0500, G.L. Sandborn wrote:

    Over a long weekend of Fosters and pipe smoke, I started thinking
about what actually goes in to producing an enjoyable story or series. 
My conclusion was so obvious I felt embarrassed at not noticing it
right away.  While talent and experience certainly play a major role
in any successful story, those factors can only be drawn into their
sharpest relief with the subtle collaborative efforts of several
people - his (or her) support staff.  There is a name we use for this
in the real world - Team Building.

You have a very good point.  I don't have a regular 'team', but about the
time I start feeling comfortable with a story (or feel stuck) I will show it
to a few people.  They will, I hope, tell me what's right, what's wrong,
what's working, what's not, make suggestions, and generally help me the info
I need to make it work better.

And, I think, a good writer (or someone who wants to be a good writer) will
take what their pre-readers have to say as constructively meant, however it
comes across (heaven knows, *I'm* not the most tactful person in the world
when it comes to C+C).  But it's still up to the writer to decide what to do
with these comments.

I learned a very good lesson when I was writing "True Love".  It was
finished, I was happy with it, but Charles Lewis (a former member of the
FFML - I don't think he's subbed any more) really got all over me about it.
His overall comment was "if you're happy with it, fine, but this could be so
much better and now's your only chance to do it."

Well, I looked at it again, and he was right.  There were many things I
could do to make it better... things I, in my comfort zone, hadn't noticed
or bothered with.  Because of his comments, I ended up dumping the last 1/3
of the story and doing a total rewrite. The entire ending changed.  And I
was a lot happier with the results.

And then I sent this revised version out for comment, waited for the kudos
to come in, and got my chair kicked out from under my by Hitomi Ichinohei
because I'd messed up my depiction of the Japanese penal system.  (<heh> We
managed to work that little problem out to our mutual satisfaction.... I think.)

And *then* there was Andy, and Bert, and The Pig, and Marco....  I had a
regular list of "subject matter experts" working with me on that one <g>

Moral: 
<cliche mode = ON> your pre-readers can save you from making a total fool of
yourself, and are worth their weight in gold. Listen to them! <cliche mode =
OFF>



Jeanne Hedge
http://www.accsyst.com/jhedge/

Assistant SysOp
Compuserve Anime/Manga Forum