Here’s the last check-in for ROW80 this year:

I had a couple of wishy-washy days, but most days this week were good. Not as much on the WIP as I’d like… more blog stuff than anything. But it’s progress!

Today I had my first up-close and personal critique with a group. I started going to the Burlington Writer’s Group a few months ago, and tonight was the night for them to critique my work.

A year and a half ago I had a great critique via e-mail from a published author. I blogged about it, calling it Giddy Crit because even though she was brutally honest, she really helped me correct some things I was doing and gave me a clear view of what I needed to do with my story. I was absolutely giddy by the time I finished going through all her comments!

I won’t say I was absolutely giddy tonight, but I was definitely happy. I didn’t hear wonderful praise and kudos for my writing… I would have been pretty pissed if I had. No, what I had was a collection of thoughts and opinions from a group of peers that led to a clear idea of where I need to go with my story. That’s exactly what I needed.

And now I need to go write.

Goodnight!