Of course, today was a work day, so I didn’t get much actual writing done, even though I worked at home. However, during breaks I reviewed some of the outstanding critiques I received on my short story “Indications”, and I’m finding ways to make the writing tighter and smoother and less obscure. Sometimes it hurts to delete some words and phrases that you’ve been fond of for years and years, but the Story is all important; you gotta do what you can to make the story work. John Gardner, in his book The Art of Fiction, talks about the “Dream of Fiction” (or something like that), where the reader, reading the story, falls into an almost dream-like state, completely caught up in the story, forgetting that there’s nothing more than words on the page conveying that dream. The job of the writer is to convey that dream and encourage it, and to eliminate any words or phrases or plot devices that detract from that dream. I’m slowly learning how to get there, but I have a long way to go.

This evening I went to my regular writers’ group meeting, and brought along “The Divergents”, a short short that I put together the other day (actually in our group, we post our stories to our group’s website so that we all have a chance to read them and comment on them over the period of a few days). I love my writers’ group; not only is everyone a talented writer, but we’re also all harsh critiquers; my friend B. and I have spoken recently about the difference between a “Crit Circle” and a “Validation Circle”, where the only feedback you get on your writing is of the positive sort, and nothing constructive is ever given; validation circles can doom a promising writer’s career before they ever get started.

“The Divergents” received very high praise, and I’m pretty fond of it myself. Most of my stories, even the ones that I’ve published, I don’t feel are really “there”, wherever “there” is. Except for “The Divergents”. That one is definitely There. It needs some minor polishing, of course, but it’s solid, and I can expand it into something which I think will be Truly Good.

Next up on the “To Be Hacked At” list: “Hollow”, “The Winds of Patwin County”, “Who Remembers Molly”, and “Burying Uncle Albert”. Still on my “Finish It” list: “The Flashlight Man”, and “Sparrow Court”. And, of course, The Road to Gilead, and a framing story (perhaps) for the novelized Who Remembers Molly.