Here We Go

So there I was, re-writing my stories and re-inventing my characters. There were tons of problems to fix (least of which were just bad ideas). But I knew I could do this. You know, eventually.

I signed up for a Fiction Writing class in my community college. I ended up taking the advanced one three times in a row for the experience (I had not yet discovered that there are HOSTS of writers ONLINE for FREE…usually). But I’ll begin with the first classes.

WHOO BOY. My reader friend, you are about to hear the story about Gollum and how “pop culture references don’t work.” It has been ten years or so and I am still steaming about this.

In one assignment, we were instructed to write one of a few genres. One of them was something horror based. I’ve never written horror, but I LOVE the genre in all forms, and so I was willing to try it out. I had just come straight off the game Until Dawn, and I was INVIGORATED.

Long story short, that story wasn’t great. I don’t even look at it anymore. BUT. In that story, I described a monster (very much like the *spoiler?* Until Dawn creatures). In narration, from the POV of the female MC, she described the thing as (something along the lines of) “…like Sméagol from Lord of the Rings.”

Probably not the best description ever (I mean, I did describe it physically as well). But it felt natural. Something I’d think if I saw that thing!

But you know what critique I got?

“You shouldn’t use pop culture references in writing. People might not know what you’re talking about.”

HAHA WHAT? So I guess I’ll call up Rick Riordan, international best seller, and tell him his Apollo books really aren’t working for me because someone might not know who Britney Spears is, or why her melt down in the early 2000’s was a big deal.

Also…come on. LORD OF THE RINGS?

Anyway, I could rant about this one for DAYS. Suffice to say that this bit of critique taught me probably the most important lesson in writing:

Accept criticism. Recognize if it works for you. If not, brush it the fuck off.

I went onward with this new confidence, knowing I still had plenty of potential to be ripped a new ass (none of my main work, a la Kari, had entered the eyes of ANY public. Yet.) But I was determined to face it bravely. If I wanted to grow, and eventually publish, I had to.

And so I stepped into Advanced Fiction Writing…and shared Kari’s story.