RE: Seven Days of Terror (now with an epilogue)
PMJ said:
As Biggoron once said, "Woooooowwww!!!!"
I can't believe it. I haven't spammed my fic link at anyone in a long time, and I log in to find my story brought back from the dead by some unknown who I later find has 1 post, and what a post! Man....never in a million years would I have guessed anyone would sign up solely to try to get me back into hearting this story.
...In short, yes, it worked, although not so much from guilt trip as it was a little self-realization after reading your post, lol....
I hope you'll stick around our forums longer than it takes me to finish this story; you sound like you could offer opinions on other stories here.
Omigod, it worked...I inspired someone...I actually helped somebody with my unsolicited advice...(has hardly ever happened before, at least so spectacularly). Guilt was never my intention, really, I just added that to be funny (trying to guilt-trip a writer is usually counterproductive anyway. Muses are temperamental creatures).
Yes, it's me, the unknown dude...well, dudette, technically.
I haven't had a chance to check for a while, and I actually wasn't sure if I'd gone ahead and posted that message or just saved it to finish later (procrastination, thy name is me)...so I drop in and not only do I find that I posted it, but you saw it almost right away, it actually helped, and you've already finished everything and it's waiting right here for me to read it. And it's some fine slam-bang action, to boot. And you even let Brock live, and gave him and Tracey and everyone who survived a happy ending. This makes me very happy.
What makes me truly, insanely happy, however, is that you actually did regain your affection for your story. I love that you give me credit for that, but I wouldn't have been able to help if you hadn't already had such a good grasp on why you lost interest, and said so in so many words . It reminded me of a writing book I have where the author told how his editor rejected a mystery novel of his because "when the main character left town, you lost all your local color." The author wrote back and said "Okay, how bout I fix it so he never leaves town?" D'oh! I've always remembered that and tried to keep it in mind when my own stories wander off track.
Really,then, I think you have that author (Jack Bickham,
Scene and Structure) to thank more than me, as well as your own perceptiveness about how you felt about your story. That's a very good trait to have - to be able to look objectively at how you feel about what you're creating and diagnose what your difficulties may be. That ability will serve you well in your future, and that's part of what I meant when I said you had "good writing instincts."
...and I've run out of time to respond more elaborately about the actual story, now. Blerg. Ah, well, I'll return again, hopefully sooner than before. And no doubt I'll explore the rest of the forums, too, when I have a little more time...
Stay creative, and good luck with your no doubt numerous future endeavors...
ShinyAeon