The crit that was supposed to break my brain…

…actually didn’t.
Jeff VDM ROCKS. Yes, that’s right, I put myself in the firing line with not one, but TWO stories this morning, and instead of feeling like a little puddle of puke that has no business being here, or that I should give up any idea of writing ever again, I feel pretty great. Why? Short answer: VDM. He is all that and a bag of chips. Plus, he commented that I have a "rich and muscular writing style" that is "highly ambitious and ritualistic." This by no means suggests that my work is without fault, and it by no means suggests that I can or should base everything I do on these (flattering) comments. In fact, I have a metric shitload of work to do on all of the stories I’ve circulated here in the past 6 weeks. But still, the positive comments are nice to hear. 🙂
VDM (and the other Clarionites, mostly) gave me two sensitive yet thorough crits. He cut to the quick without making me feel like my head was about to fall off. Pointed out the positives even though he didn’t pull the punches on the negatives. All criticisms were carefully presented in a rational, logical, and ultimately constructive fashion.
And this was *after* we brought out the sock puppets…
I’m really looking forward to our one-on-one session this afternoon, so that I can pick VDM’s intense brain about a thousand different things. All in all, today’s crits were the ideal way to conclude my Clarion critting experience: positive, encouraging, and also a fair reminder that there’s still much to do…