Telling Tales

Yesterday it was my turn to read out loud my short story and await the critiques from my classmates and teacher. At first I was bummed about having to read it yesterday because it was a Day of the Dead story – which was last week, folks. We had too many stories to read last week though and mine got pushed to this week.

Then it occurred to me that people may not get spooked by my tale, or may not get it at all. Okay, not good thoughts to have right as I’m about to read it because I started to get nervous. Luckily, we don’t stand up and read so I could scrunch down in my seat but the more I was getting in my story, the more I found myself sitting up straighter and I was actually enjoying telling my tale.

When I spoke the last sentence I felt really good. Reading it out loud made me realize that I have improved my dialogue writing and I liked my characters. I think they did come across as believable.

Everyone had very encouraging words. They all liked the twist at the end of the story, they thought my dialogue was credible and they offered some great suggestions for tightening up my story.

I have three more classes left and I want to write another story and get more feedback, but here’s where things get tricky. I always seem to get a bit of writer’s block after creating something I like. By no means do I think this work is the best. I will always have a lot to learn, but every time I complete some writing for which I’ve received good feedback I always think, “That’s it – that was my one good piece.” So I’m hoping those thoughts of insecurity stay way behind in my consciousness and let me do some writing.