Writing goals and readers

I had a plan. It was a cunning plan. I was going to write a collection of short stories and self-publish them. There would be no editor. Friends and family would buy it and hey presto I am an author. A published author. That would be easy. That would be cheating.

So I'm going to listen to my friend Alan and take the more challenging route. I'm going to try to get someone to publish one of my stories. I think that's the only way to know if I have any kind of talent. I know I'll get quite familiar with the word 'no thanks'. I also know though that with rejection will come in some cases advice. Advice that I can use to make myself a better writer. I started this process this week and gave my very critical and analytical friend an early draft of a very short I have written that I plan to submit to Shotgun Honey, the home of short noir / hardboiled on the web. I love so many of the stories on there and have been introduced to some brilliant writers. Writers that I confess I'd never heard of before.

The initial advice I received from Alan was positive but with some brilliant advice. He picked up on an over use of a specific word that I had become completely blind to even though it was pretty bloody obvious. He also suggested I start the story later on in the piece to give me more scope to build the tension. I've now rewritten the piece twice, trying slightly different approaches. I have no doubt I'll try a few more before I am satisfied enough to submit it. Before I do though I'll once again send it to Alan for any further feedback.

I've read before about having a group of readers that can test early drafts and offer honest critical advice but to be frank I wasn't sure at first. I can't explain why but I think it has something to do with fear of being crucified and shattering the illusion that I could be a published writer. However my embryonic experience with my first reader (Alan) has convinced me that this will form a key part of my writing process.

I have another couple of readers in mind and it will be interesting to hear the different feedback I get from them.