June 12, 2005
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My youngest daughter read what I wrote, in addition to what I sent in (for my final) so that’s 34 pages of totally finished work. And she hardly found anything wrong today, I mean that she didn’t like or that wasn’t a tense shift or something. I paced while she read. BUT SHE LIKED IT. She said it’s getting a lot better. She liked the frequency with which I switch back and forth between the characters and she said it was unusual for her to enjoy reading about “old people.” Most of the characters are my age. The only thing she changed today was a conversation between the kid and the mom. She rewrote the kid. I feel so lucky to have her help.
When she was just learning to talk, where she could tell a story, she would come to the dinner table and go on and on about something. This precluded actually eating and between going to the bathroom by herself and telling these stories she never did eat much dinner. She was probably almost three. And I remember thinking she would make a good writer. The detail this kid would come up with. But then she decided she didn’t like to read and for a long time she hated to write. But on our trip that changed. So after she read my pages tonight, she wrote a little story of her own (an overdue assignment). And I could see how much fun it was for her, how good she felt about herself. If all I do is allow her to see herself as a writer, that’s plenty.
Comments (11)
Mom told me about the wart story and I am dying to hear more. Please tell me.
I can related to how you must have felt with the reading by your daughter. Last night I read one of my poems and a family gathering (about 45 people) and while I was standing in one spot, I noticed that I did perspire during the reading. Cheers
old people….hmf….
RYC: The readers are people who critique my work. And I usually do theirs in turn. Most are internet friends but a few are not friends at all, just people I’ve worked with. One was an editor for Avon. They live all over the place from Nevada to Australia to right home here in Chicago. They are just people whose opinion I trust. But even one of them will say something really odd. Probably my most insightful reader kept putting “I’m confused” all over parts that every one else thought was perfectly clear. So you never get a clear insight from the readers, only a few points of consensus that help show where you are going wrong.
L.
Our children tend to be extremely honest with us, at least I find this when I want some honest appraisal – if it passes my daughter’s standards, it’s got to be ok. Maybe at 14 there’s no desire to sugar coat anything for your Mom, I don’t know. But if she shrugs, and says, “It’s ok,” I feel like I’ve passed the hardest test of all. She’ll tell me right out if an images looks dumb, or if something I’ve written is way off. So I know the feeling! And if our very smart, no-holds-barred children like our work, wowee! And, O yes, of course they are writers too… and if we can nurture their talent in ways that ours never was too. A wish, aim, goal, offering support… Yay you got everything done and handed in, bet that felt great. *hugs xo
I always hope my kid is not reading what I write. I don’t like freaking him out. I always feel most comfortable with “readers” who simply do not know me.
I am very uncomfortable with sharing anything I have wrote with my family. I think it comes with being severly critized for writing poetry at all when I was a teen. I’d rather share with strangers.
That’s exciting! On both fronts (her liking your stuff & her writing her own!)
And a very sweet tribute to a very good dog friend. Sorry about that.
It must have made you really proud to get kudos from your daughter! And it sounds like you’ve inspired her, as well. Good going all around!
a memorable night as you two begin to grow a new relationship formed on things other than genes!
I have the same feeling as you but from the other perspective. I write and think of myself as a writer. My mom used to talk about being a writer, also from her youth. I would like to see her writing more or thinking of herself as a writer again.
that is great that you two can collaborate. What a way to add to bonding.