November's Coming

Halloween is almost here with scary costumes and sugar highs. Right behind is November and the beginning of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month.)

I’m sure you have read about this on many blogs, but I’m a newbie at this and I’m going to do it. Not try, do. I’m determined. This will be the first time I will write a long piece in 30 days.

Criticism and Creativity

     How do we accept criticism?  We are taught to accept it with grace and say “thank you.” That may work for outwardly appearances, but what about inside?

     We’ve been doing it since kindergarten, first grade or whenever we first learned the lesson.  Sometimes we really do appreciate the criticism and sometimes we think “just consider the source” and blow it off.

     Now, we’re writers or aspiring writers and we cling to every word of that criticism. We join writer’s groups. We have beta readers and critique partners. Some are family or friends and some are complete strangers. Some may offer a free sample edit to introduce their services.