In Case Anyone Cares

[quillbender]

So if anyone's paid much attention, Shooting Stars is undergoing some serious maintenance. Or maybe I am. Either way, serious maintenance and some of that good old-fashioned "I HATE THIS SO MUCH WHY DO I TRY TO WRITE ANYTHING EVER" syndrome. I'm in a low right now, in other words; a very LOW low. Hazard of having a creative mind (unless it's just

Comments

[alicornmoon]

It's not that bad o.o
Be careful though, sometimes rewriting too much can be as harmful as not rewriting but learning from what you did write...
Everyone learns differently though, and everyone has their own idea of what 'good' writing is :)

[quillbender]

Thanks, hun. :)

I've just gone so long being content with what I've written that I'm sick of it; I want some IMPROVEMENT, some legitimate progression. I'm not getting it by myself, and the best published writers always say to let someone else look at it, so...beta. :D

[alicornmoon]

Well progress is a funny thing, sometimes it seems like you've had none when you really have, you're just use to your own writing becuase it's yours :D

[quillbender]

Kinda like why girls take an entourage when they go wedding dress shopping; they need other opinions, because they're used to seeing themselves every day so much that they can't disassociate their personal squicks about their appearances from the gorgeous princess the dress is making them look like. Does that make any kind of sense? *watched too much Say Yes to the Dress before cable got cut*

[hermeown]

D: D: D:

Oh, man, I feel awful. Was it something I said? It was something I said, wasn't it? I am ridiculously critical, I should've mentioned that. Ohhh man. T___T

The only thing I can say to hopefully help is that long!fic is hard. Super, super, super hard. I mean, you read 30 Days, right? I had FIVE BETAS technically, all people I knew IRL, and it's still a mess. Plot holes, awkward phrasing, OOC, you name it. But I didn't know nor care at the time. Why? I was having fun.

Don't be so hard on yourself, especially since this is your first big endeavor. Even so, IT'S GOOD. Your story IS GOOD. Don't look at it so harshly.

If you feel you need some serious maintenance, by all means, go for it. But please don't be so hard on yourself.

I do offer my beta services, if you'd like. It'd be kind of a trade-off, I suppose. But I admit I can be ruthless. Ugh, creative writing class. *facepalm* And I don't want to contribute to your artistic crisis more than I already have. :( :( But if you want, I'm here.

<3333333

[quillbender]

Oh, sweetheart, no, you were fantastic! That's what made me realize I need an extra set of eyes on the thing; I know I'm my harshest critic, but still...I'm starting to take myself more seriously, which I guess is a good thing. It means I want improvement. :D

I'm feeling a little better about it (FIDDLER ON THE ROOF THERAPY, YEEEAH!), but still...someone else catching my mistakes before I make them would be beautiful.

HAVE I MENTIONED LATELY HOW WONDERFUL, AMAZING, AND GORGEOUS YOU ARE? ;) Trade-off sounds awesome. Would you object terribly from going back to the beginning and fixing this mess, or would you recommend pressing forward?

[hermeown]

I am happy to check back, if you give me some time. But you can also press forward. Since I already know your story fairly well, I can do both easily. It might also help with keeping track of characterization. :)

BUT YAY. ALL AROUND.

[quillbender]

I'd kinda like to go back and edit stuff...make everyone's characters more distinct, erase some characters (one character, really), change up some wording, but all in all I'd like to go forward. So, I will make changes to Chapter Nine and send them on, if you're willing, and thoughts about how to improve the past chapters would be spiffy.

YAY FEELING SO MUCH BETTER THANKS BB.

[hermeown]

Also: Moar loves, of course. :D