last week at this time i was full-on freaked out because i had a story to turn in for my fiction writing class. of course since i am the procrastinatrix, i waited until the very last minute possible to do write the story. as if writing short stories in the last possible minute is easy. ha.

so today i admit i was terrified to go to class. “The Toilet Duck Incident” was being workshopped. if you’re not familiar with the workshopping process, it goes a little something like this:
the workshoppers say whatever they want about your story and you can’t say anything.

it’s brutal. at least for me it is. not the critiques, those are fabulous. it is the the YOU CAN’T SAY ANYTHING part. NOTHING. you can’t talk. it sucks ass because when they are talking about my story, i totally remove myself and i want to offer up my opinions and what i think about it. like i’m some disinterested third party.

but i can’t say anything, instead i have to listen. and tonight i got an earful. like i said, i was more than a little nervous. i had never handed in something so rough. so rough in fact, that i hadn’t even read it over. so you can understand my total intrepidation at having this class of phenomenal readers tell me what they thought.

but it went so well. like amazingly, mind-blowingly well. of course they nailed me on the things i expected to get nailed on. . . the story is a little thin in spots, i only touch very briefly on the big issues that Margo, my main character, is dealing with, i need more description. sounds terrible, i know, but it was fabulous. so good. and best of all, they liked it. they really liked it. NESC told me he thought it was hilarious and during class he talked about how much he really liked Margo and kept thinking “GO virgin GO.” and another woman came up to me after class and said she was amazed by it and complimented my bravery in handing in something so rough to the class. she even offered to read something else.

so tonight, color me pleased.