Welcome

This is the blog of children's book author and elementary school teacher, Stacy Barnett Mozer. I blog about my own writing journey, the journey of other kidlit authors, my classroom, and talk about books. Thanks for stopping by. Your thoughts are always welcome (and encouraged).

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Results of Critique

In my last post I wrote about handling critique. Now I have to face reality... My WIP is a quiet story about two sisters who go on a camping trip, not an epic journey across America.

Positives:
* Great dialogue
* Well developed family relationships
* Beautiful setting description
* Interesting supporting characters
* Well-written small moments

Negatives:
* Main character isn't distinct
* It's an adventure story without much adventure

How did this happen?
Well, the story is based on a camping trip I took with my own family in 1982. While I changed some characters, introduced new characters, and changed the motivation behind the trip, I had so much fun researching the real trip that I forced the story line into the setting instead of allowing the story to take its own path. My story map was an actual map made on mapquest.

What to do now?
Take to re-plot, rethink, and get to know my character a bit better. Why is she on this trip?

And then?
And then I can decide if this is a story I need to tell or if the book is just a memory best written for my own family.

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