Where to begin…

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(Hey Dave, maybe at the beginning?)

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No, I don’t know if this is going to be a linear thing. This feels more like a misshapen rant.

So… I’m old(ish)

I’m a part of a writing group where I’m the youngest* person.

*(I could be wrong)

My current story, which I’ve been putzing with over the past few years, is A New Day. It’s basically a story of a downed pilot who befriends an escaped slave girl on a lost world. They fight to survive as Jessica’s goal is to find a means of contacting fleet for a rescue. The first 10 chapters dealt with them learning to cope with each other in order to survive while working towards their goals. Jessica becomes ill and slips into a comatose state. The next few chapters deal with Cerbril, the young x-slave girl, tending to her new friend. While this is ongoing, Jessica’s mind is reeling from dealing with the alien poisons that incapacitated her. To put it simply, her life flashes before her eyes. The next few chapters deal with Jessica’s life in these flashes and this is where I’ve run into a problem.

My story jumps to new and different characters that play a part in how Jessica gets stranded on this world in the first place as well as how she is eventually found. No, it’s not all part of her memory as she couldn’t be at every place at once. It is in effect, a new start, an earlier start. The part where Jessica crash’s lands on the planet is actually the middle part of the story. I’m now telling the beginning part of how Jessica got there. Confusing? My reviewers seem to think so. In my defense, I’ve read plenty of other novels where there is an ensemble cast and each chapter or section is played out by one of those characters. This is apparently too jarring for my review group. They are complaining they can’t follow as they don’t understand who these people are. (sarcasm)News flash, all original stories contain characters you don’t know at first.

Do they have merit? Or am I an artist that nobody understands? Or am I being delusional and is my work is to0 scattered? Am I the Dwight that can’t see the forest of suck since all the trees of my brilliance are blocking my view?

I’m not trying to belittle these people, I like them. But there is the saying, know your audience.

Are they the right fit for my stuff? I’m not a romance novel reader and so I’m not going to be the best person to evaluate your hunky broad-shouldered biff story. I had to explain to one of them what a ‘Fleet’ is in the context of the story. This person got confused between the various characters mentioning the word throughout the material. “Think pearl harbor during World War 2 where the Japanese used their fleet to attack our fleet. The good guys have one and the bad guys have one.”

Yeah, I get it… wrong audience.

That being said, my story could still genuinely be a piece of crap.

Enter in my lack of faith and case of imposter syndrome.

What the frick do I do?

Give up writing? Give up on the group? Give up on this particular story?

OR

Stand firm? Know these people are not wrong so much as they aren’t the best fit?

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This is where I am…

For now at least, my rant is over.

🙁