Writer's Fallout Shelter

 (This message was edited by birol on 07-12-05 @ 12:58 pm EDT)

Family and friends have a reputation for being bad betas and crits of our writing. They are either not able to be objective or worry overmuch about hurting our feelings. This does not mean this is true of every non-writing family member and friend we writers have, but it is true of most of them. In some cases, they may even try to 'help' but inadvertently influencing the direction the story takes.

The thing about our stories is, most of them are not original. They've been told before. What makes them special is the way we as individuals tell the story, our unique take on them. It's all about storytelling technique. I don't know what errors others have pointed out to you, but it may be your technique they are trying to assist with.

Reading your epilogue (prologue?) I would say you have a good grasp of the English language and are able to see the images from the story in your mind. Both are good traits for a writer. You also have a good grasp of dialogue.

As far as being blocked, when did this happen? Are you in midbook? Do you know what happens next? Did you go back and read what you had written and begin to doubt yourself? I only list these as options and possibilities because almost every writer I know, including me, has done something like this and blocked themselves at some point.

What can we do to help?