Can She Go Two For Two?

So I submitted my second short story to True Romance last night. Aside from an itty bitty desire to verify whether the first sale was a fluke, I actually enjoy writing these things. For tons of reasons, but today I’ll focus on just one.

It’s a whole lot easier to edit twenty-five pages than it is to wade through 400. Trust me.

And you’d think, what with the brevity and all, I could do it without help, right? Wrong.

I passed this latest one through two crit groups, collecting roughly 6 critiques. And, guess what? I missed a lot of stuff. Mostly minor, yes, but still…embarrassing stuff. Like, how about the time I accidentally called the hero NICK (Stealing Amy creeping in)? Or how about the time the 20-year reunion switched to a 25-year reunion? Yep, these are the things your trusty writing buddies find and point out for you.

Mind you, when I uploaded the story to my groups, I thought it was polished to a sheen. So you can imagine what shape Leftovers is in.

Lots of writers eschew critique groups, and sure, there are reasons not to use them. Mainly, when you’re in a bad one. But, ahhhhh….when you’re fortunate enough to land in a GOOD one (or two!) it’s magic, and the feedback you get is worth its weight in gold (I know, there’s a cliché for you, but it’s Sunday so that part of my brain has the day off).

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. Latest submission. It’s about a high school reunion cruise, and I’ll keep y’all posted if I hear anything.

P.S. On the subject of CPs (critique partners) another advantage to GOOD ones is that they do nice things for you. Check out what Carol did for me.

P.P.S. SEE?!?!?!!!! I just noticed a typo in the boredom poem I posted the other day. The last line should have been: To overcome MY boredom, not BY boredom. Geesh.