Am I Flawed, Unique, or Just Plain Odd?
I have been interviewing, The Short Story Group, and Angela Kelman, from the group, will be interviewing me. 🙂
One of the questions on the interview is, ‘How many books, do you have out?’
I have four, but two of them are going through revisions. Anyway, I went to see if, The Good Dr. Grant, was still live on Amazon (it is) and found that it has a new review.
I am the type of person who would rather point out all my flaws to you, before you can point them out to me.
Case in point; I gave a proof copy of ‘Chris’ Journey’ to a friend (who happens to be a teacher) And I told her up front, “It’s a good story, but I suck at writing.” Terrible thing to say, isn’t it? Anyway, I haven’t heard if she’s read it, liked it, or tossed it in the trash. Maybe she’s afraid to point out my flaws. Wait! Karen (Yes, her name is Karen also) has never been afraid of pointing out other’s flaws, in a kind gentle way, of course. The next time I see her, she will probably hand me back my book with sentences crossed out in red, words highlighted, etc.
Oh! I was supposed to be telling you about my review! Haha! Sorry, I got sidetracked.
The Good Dr. Grant received a new 3 star review. Not bad, but not great. Average you could say, but it was what the reviewer said that got to me.
She said, “I had trouble with this book. Loved the story line, but found the writing very difficult. Very odd way of writing with many errors. Would not read again.”
Now for the most part, I know there are errors. I jumped the gun and published, but…Odd way of writing? Could you be more specific, please.
The only thing I can think of is, I probably write the way I talk…Backwards.
My favorite fictional character of all time is, Yoda. Why? Because I love the way he talks. “Odd, you are.” As a matter of fact, I am. And I always have been. 🙂
My brother and I both would use the phrase, ‘Are you being have?’ (Not have, with a short A sound, but haaaave with a long A sound), instead of ‘Are you behaving?‘ Strange right? I know! And I have (short A) no idea where we got that!
I am writing a short story to submit to a literary magazine and one sentence stands out to me. I have stared at it countless times, reworded it and changed it back only to reword it again. Which way should it be written? You tell me…
“No, I was just wondering why you are wearing white pants out here.”
OR
“No, I was just wondering, why are you wearing white pants out here?”
Actually to me, they both make sense, but then again, Odd, I am. Or is it, Flawed, I am. Oh well, either way, I know I am unique. 🙂
And Bad reviews sometimes feel like rejection letters. Click on the link below to see how many times some very successful authors had their highly successful books rejected before they were published.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/stmartinspress/20-brilliant-authors-whose-work-was-initially-reje-7rut
Loved #13. “Rudyard Kipling was told he didn’t know how to use the English language.”
Maybe he wrote backwards like me.
Happy Saturday everyone and enjoy your weekend!
Don’t forget to stop by Monday when I will be interviewing Sam Croft!
- Posted in: Reviews ♦ short story group ♦ The Good Dr Grant ♦ Uncategorized
- Tagged: books, buzzfeed, flawed, karen einsel, karens different corners, odd, reviews, rudyard kipling, the good dr grant, unique, yoda
karensdifferentcorners 
Syntax is one thing but, have you considered this is your voice? And so many authors sound exactly the same. I know, you may be taking a chance, but voices catch on. Some readers savor this. Some click with it.
And okay, maybe some don’t.
Who wants to be like everyone else?
Opinions are just one person’s point of view. You shine as a human being, as a blogger, as a unique voice. Perfect it. Polish it. Be unique.
We need a parade. 🙂
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Hi Anna
I know not to let reviews bother me because not everyone is going to like what I write or how I write it. Maybe I should contact her and ask what she means by “Very odd way of writing” I always try and find out about the people who leave me reviews. I read other reviews they’ve written and if they have a blog, I check it out. Come to find out she has a proofreading business and I just had to laugh when the first page I landed on, had typos 🙂
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I like that idea. Specifics will make all the difference. 🙂
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Hi Karen, just stumbled across this. Regarding your two alternative sentences: “No, I was just wondering why you are wearing white pants out here.” This, of course, is a statement with an implied, fairly rhetorical, question. You’re not really expecting an answer, though one might be forthcoming.
The second one should really be: “No, I was just wondering, Why are you wearing white pants out here?” This is a clear question that expects an answer. Both forms – the second, with the capital letter – are equally correct.
Though why someone should be wondering about white pants… Most odd. 🙂
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Hi Tony
Thank you. I see the difference now. As for the white pants, they are walking down a steep, slippery embankment to the river to investigate a dead body.
I guess you would have to read the entire story to get the full picture. 🙂
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