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Monday, August 1, 2011

Are Your Stories Ripe?

It is peach season and I spent a little time bottling peaches this morning.  Tomorrow will be peach and blueberry pies. 

Don’t they look good? 



Looks can be deceiving.  These peaches are hard as rocks. 

Writing can be like that too.  Sometimes we have a story that looks ready.  We think it’s planned out enough to start drafting, or we think it’s edited enough to send out.  But when we bite into it we find it’s still green.  Just as unripe fruit can cause indigestion our unfinished stories can turn readers off. 

Before you take that big step, take the time to make sure the fruit of your labors is ripe and sweet and ready to be read.

6 comments:

  1. Hey Spesh,

    I agree with you. It's pretty easy to tell when a story 'isn't quite there yet.' Another pass to look it over again is never a bad idea.

    Peach pie is one of my favorites. Hope it comes out great for you - enjoy!

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  2. We work so hard on our manuscripts it's easy to want to send it out before it's ready.

    If you're ever in Georgia I'll make you one! Georgia peaches really are the best.

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  3. Spesh, you are so right! Georgia peaches are the tops and the rest of them can just go rot. ; )

    You're also right about wanting to send out our writing before time. It's a craft issue. Learning how to go from good to best is hard.

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  4. Reminds me of the peach cobbler my grandfather used to make. Was never a big fan of peaches in general, but when put in that cobbler, I found myself asking for seconds more often than not.

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  5. Zan, It's hard but can make the difference between a page turner and meh.

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  6. Bane of Anubis, we want stories like that. The ones that keep pulling people back.

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