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I am currently locked in a clash of wills over my spec Self-Helpless.
Okay, really not a clash of wills at all, more of an inner game of discussion about where a story is, and where it's going.
Reader feedback is always useful. Especially when you see perspectives that force your thinking on how the story is laid out for the viewer. What are they seeing? And more important, why do they view it this way?
My spec has had the luxury of being table-read 4 times, and each time has been another chance to see characters in natural habitat and reaction to the plot points. It is not a satisfying moment, however. It is another hard look in the mirror. Can they see the story as they're reading it? They tell me they can, but are they just being nice?
I give myself some quick coaching as I write, a mantra to keep in mind the result I desire.
I am reminded of a mantra by a golf teacher many years ago who said to the class: "Just because you love the game, it doesn't mean you will play it well."
Just because I love to write, it doesn't mean I will do it well.
Starting out, I was not a good golfer, but that didn't dampen my enthusiasm for the game. I would flail away wildly and/or stiffly at the ball. That golf instructor gave me a mantra after one particularly bad session: Rock on a Rope.
He had given me all the possible stances, addressing, takeaway swing, body-placement, and where my hands should be and where my knees should be. Nothing could keep me consistent. Then, he told me to block out the rest of the messages, and told me just say to myself before a shot: Rock on a Rope. Swing that club as if it were a rock on a rope. It changed everything. I was a feeling type of golfer, not mechanical as others.