I just realized I didn't post on Monday for the first time since I started this blog. Granted, some of those posts have been at 9:PM, but at least I posted SOMETHING.
Between the job hunt and my editing jobs and web connectivity problems I haven't been on much, so it passed me by.
Curious about our internet problems?
Our phone needed to be replaced. We've been looking for a new phone for a while, but nothing fit. So my Dad decided that rather than buying a new phone he would just fix the old one.
He pulled it apart, fiddled with wiring, (even got out the soldering gun, which made me shake my head) then put the phone back together and declared it Fixed. That's when the internet problems started. Connectivity is sporadic and the troubleshooter says the router isn't working.
A few years ago I got some advice from a beta reader. I gleefully tore apart my story on the basis of her advice--she KNEW how to fix the problems, you know--and it came out worse than before. I couldn't figure out what was wrong--after all, she knew her stuff. Why didn't her advice fix the problems?
It took a while (and that particular story still hasn't recovered) but eventually I realized what the problem was.
We weren't connecting. My vision for this story and her vision for this story were entirely different. She knew how to fix the story to fit her vision--she couldn't see mine. Her vision was interfering with mine.
Most human beings can't read minds. She didn't know what my vision was. I couldn't see hers. But the two visions interfered with each other and made a mess it's taken years to fix.
Hopefully my internet problems won't take years to fix, but it's a similar situation--a broken phone is interfering with my internet. Two visions interfering with each other.
But as the author, it's my choice. Not a crit partner, not a beta reader, not even an expert.
Don't let your vision be buried under someone else's expectations. They know their vision, not yours.
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