[stylist] my entry1 weird thanksgiving

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Vejas,

I don't have much to say that Eve and Chris haven't already said. I
agree with their assessments of your story, and I think you should
consider their opinions, reflect upon them and not just defend your
reasoning. They have given you really great feedback and something to
think about. We can defend our stories over and over, but at the end of
the day, if readers aren't getting what we are doing, we need to revisit
the story and consider how we can craft it so our audience enjoys it.

Vejas, you are a highly imaginative person, and I really appreciate this
about you. When developing your stories, I agree with Chris that you
need to focus on making your stories and characters believable and
relatable. Like Chris said, Harry Potter is fantasy, yet we believe and
relate to the characters. We need something more compelling in your
characters to care about them; to want to follow your journey.

Your characters are often one-dimensional, flat. Don't focus so much on
plot but developing fully-realized characters. Great stories derive from
fully developed characters. And your inclusion of multiples doesn't help
your case right now. I think you can totally have multiples in your
stories, but you really need to focus on character development. Your
characters just don't leap off the page right now, and this is what I
suggest you work on.

Analyze your favorite books; consider what those authors are doing, how
they are writing. Research character development, and try writing a
single character profile. See what happens when you create a
three-dimensional character. J. K. Rowling has pages and pages of
character profiles and back stories on each Potter character that was
never included in the books. I'm not suggesting you follow suit, but
this just shows you how important it is to capture a character. And as
the architect of the story, you need to know these things even if they
will never make it into the pages of your story.

I love your determination and imagination though. These are precious
gifts you should be thankful for and cultivate. Happy belated
Thanksgiving.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter, editor, Slate & Style
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan