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Third-party Validation

So, I entered a local writing competition with my piece Leavening Vendetta. And I won. I didn't think I'd feel as happy as I do right now, but this is the first outside validation I have had that maybe my work might be pretty not bad. It's a nice feeling.

So tell me, what was that moment for you. The moment where some stranger said maybe your work might be pretty not bad.
 

Chessie2

Staff
Article Team
Congratulations! Did you win anything special?

Far as your question goes...I don't know. My childhood friends always seemed to like my stories so I guess that encouraged me from a young age. But I love to write so much outside validation wouldn't necessarily stop me from writing. Emails from readers always warm my heart though.
 

Russ

Istar
It's storey telling man...third party validation is the name of the game!

I have a way of describing writing just for yourself and writing for others, that is a little too racy for posting.

Congrats on your success, and I hope you have many more. My wife won a bunch of smaller local contests on her path to her traditional contract, let's hope this is a good omen for your future as well.

For me that moment was when two really good spec fic authors I was studying with in courses praised the quality of my work. My feet didn't touch the ground for weeks after those two events.
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
Well, my “funniest” validation after those of my youth, was from a producer in H-wood after reading a screenplay I sent her. To paraphrase:

Wow, I laughed my ass off. If there was a flaw it was your jokes came too fast, you need to give an audience more time to breathe. BUT vampire comedies don’t make money, so if you want this picked up I recommend novelizing it to gain a base audience to entice more producers. Same screenplay got a recommend to shop it at Sci-Fi channel, but tv scripts are a different ballgame.

It wasn’t the first or last time I was told to novelize my screenplays... just when I thought to escape giant books!

More recently, beta readers have had fun comments, and an editor/ex-publisher who read my epic said she was a fan and I should definately pursue traditional before going self-pub, despite the fact it’ll be a hard sell. And I know she’s a hard sell.
 

Rkcapps

Sage
I have two moments. First when a writing friend finished my book in a day and praised it. Second was when the same book was picked up by an agent in a week. That was my memoir though and fiction is a gigantic step up! I like a challenge!

Great praise Demesnedenoir! To make a reader laugh is an awesome skill!
 
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