Had a writing teacher tear apart my first prompt in front of everyone

I was in a creative writing workshop at the local library downtown last fall. This older guy named Dave pointed at my 3 paragraph sci-fi prompt and said, 'This reads like a grocery list with spaceships.' He wasn't mean about it, but it hit me hard because he was right. It got me thinking, when did you get feedback that actually changed how you write instead of just making you feel bad?

3 comments

3 Comments

val22326d ago

I don't know, sounds like you're making a bigger deal out of this than it really was. Older guy Dave told you your writing was a grocery list, which is pretty tame feedback honestly. Writers get way worse than that all the time. The real question is why are you still thinking about this months later? He wasn't mean about it, you said that yourself. Sometimes people need to hear the truth about their work, even if it stings a bit. Maybe focus on what you learned from it instead of treating it like some kind of traumatic event.

christopher_west126d ago

Yeah people do this all the time outside of writing too. My neighbor got told his lawn chairs were "practical" by someone and he's still mad about it three years later. We all latch onto one offhand comment and let it live rent free in our heads. The grocery list thing probably stuck because it's a vivid image, not because it was actually harsh.

reese_bell6d ago

Same thing happened to me when someone said my BBQ sauce was "fine." That was four years ago and I still think about it every time I fire up the grill.