Writing and Reading

Last night was my writers group. I usually enjoy going, but I'm getting so that when we critique a story I feel so stupid. I never see the same things in a story that it seems everyone else does. The mechanics of writing, beyond the basics, eludes me. People talk about tense and mood and subject and verb agreement and themes within themes and on and on - I get so lost I have no idea what they are talking about.

When I read a story - I go into it with my heart and eyes wide open. That way I can feel the story and somehow connect to the characters and maybe with the author. Each story whether my own or someone else's brings something new into my life - or as with some authors, a comfort that yes, that's the way their stories always end (like Dean Koontz - no matter how horrifying his stories get or how horrendous the evil is, you always know that good will triumph in the end). Or you go on a journey either fanciful as with Terry Brooks and J.R.R. Tolkien who both take you to the land where elves, wizards, dwarfs, orcs and people live. Sometimes an author will take you to another planet like Mars with Ray Bradbury's stories. Or you can go on a journey with H.P. Lovecraft to places where the eldritch gods still live. Stephen King is another story (no pun intended) altogether, his stories are always rides into the unknown - you know when you pick up one of his books that you can no longer take everyday life for granted.

So, I could tell someone whether their story reads well and holds together all the way through, if their dialogue is believable and if their characters are real. As in Shari Whyte's "Finding Tir Na Nog". I loved the imagery and pictures she painted of life on Bainbridge Island - in fact you could almost taste the baked goods in the Blackberry Bakery. Her main character Reilly, is easy to identify with - especially if you were a kid who other kids picked on. Her other characters feel (to me) rounded and whole people - just like someone you'd meet on the street or waiting in line at a bakery. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of her story - I believe that Shari, like Terry Brooks can make ordinary lives become extrodinary by letting them come into contact with the fanciful.

Maybe just being able to tell someone that their story and characters work, is a valid way to critique a story. At this point in time, I just don't know.