by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
My gut tells me this novel is getting a lot better — a lot better. And I’ve started to get at least not-bad impressions from people I’ve let read the latest version of the first chapter. Some people have ghosted me randomly without giving me any kind of input, which is unnerving.
I get if they thought it was too bad to give me a response, but to agree to read the third draft of the first chapter then ghost me when I know it’s good….I dunno. It’s a mystery.
It’s times like these when I wish I had a wife or a girlfriend like Garp’s Helen in The World According to Garp. But I got squat. No one and nobody. All I got is my own views on what makes a good story. I have some very high — if arbitrary — standards.
Working on a novel all these years has all but ruined my ability to enjoy anyone else’s story. If a story doesn’t meet my standards, it’s really, really difficult for me consume it.
Anyway. Wish me luck, I guess.
