BEDIA #12 Lunches with Denny and Lloyd

When I'm in Cedar City I like to have lunch (or dinner) with two friends: Denny and Lloyd. We meet at the bowling alley here and eat. Trust me, the food's really quite good. We get together at least once a month, if not more often.

I enjoy the food, of course, but even more important is what we talk about.

We discuss our writing. We talk about the projects we're working on. We talk about the struggles we're having with a particular story. We talk about cool ideas we came up with.

The nice part about discussing these ideas is that we get to see if the ideas are really good or just good inside our heads. Plus we give each other suggestions and ideas to make the ideas even better.

One thing we're planning on doing is workshopping drafts of our stories. This may make the lunches (dinners) last longer, but I think it will be worth it. Every writer needs someone to read what he is writing. I mean, what is the point of writing if no one is going to read the story. Second, fresh perspectives are essential for any good story. I know the story in my head. I know the backstory of the characters, I know what they want and what they don't like. Having someone read my story lets me see if I managed to convey the story effectively on paper. It lets me know if the words I chose were sufficient. And it lets me know if the story really needs to be rewritten. 

I'm looking forward to workshopping with Denny and Lloyd. They're both great writers and help me be better myself. We work well together, see different aspects of story.

Plus we laugh a lot. It's a good thing for me to do. I can't wait for the next one. Think I'll have to set it up.