Le Critique
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| See all photos from our radio morning here |
You must have a solid ego to have your story critiqued live on the air. I don’t mean a large head or pompous self-importance (though I’ve been accused of both at times). What I mean is this: I read my story to an audience, according to Jim Freund, that could be anywhere from zero to a hundred thousand or so. Maybe more. Probably less. Then, my writers group took turns placing my story through the paper shredder. Okay, they liked a lot of it, but they found many places for improvement. It’s always a reality check to the ego when you are in love with a story and your writers group points out its flaws. It’s another thing to have this done live on 99.5 FM WBAI with thousands of listeners. I do think, however, that my self-esteem is sufficiently strong to survive the blow. I just wish we had more time to discuss their opinions, because after, outside in the hallway, I had a eureka moment and realized how I could fix and improve the story.
Anyway, for those interested, you can listen to the mp3 stream here. The show doesn’t really get going until about 35 minutes in as it was fundraising time for WBAI, and Jim had to devote a lot of his time to that.
Altered Fluid is a speculative fiction writing group based in Manhattan. We have been meeting bi-monthly or more often since 2001.
Mercurio Rivera
12 May, 2008
Hey, are those words directed at me?!?
You put on a good show, my friend, so no worries or regrets. It would have been cool for you to have had that “eureka!” moment live on the air, but such are the time constraints of live radio during a pledge drive. I’m looking forward to reading the rewrite!
Matthew Kressel
12 May, 2008
Yes — for your unduly harsh crit.
Mercurio Rivera
12 May, 2008
I’ve never been called #7 before….
Matthew Kressel
12 May, 2008
Well maybe you need to hear it, Mr. Rivera.