Artsy Tips
December 23, 2007 by haziamyperspective
I had a productive stories discussion yesterday although only 3 people turned up.
This lady gave me very constructive feedback on Lost and Found, my Hajj piece; that was after running it by 4 people already. She said I should heighten up the drama by emphasising the personality contrast between the narrator and main character. (My mum said I should make the setting description more lively too, I still have no clue how to do that.)
As for Nose Job, she said I should weave in the Italic facts into the story more so people could follow the character transformation process better. She agreed that it would be something ‘different’ coming from me, people won’t expect that. I was trying to meet my instructor’s comment to ‘broaden’ my stories. This is 1 of my 5 ‘Hurricane’ stories, these range from surreal to sci-fi to psychological.
I came home and looked at my other stories. I need to cut out some flowery bits in The Kebaya King. As for When Fat Girl Meets Italian Stud, the chemistry between them needs to come out earlier. I’ve added in a warm ending to tie up H2O. And I’m still struggling with the hi-tech Flush, Papa, Flush.
By now, I have received enough reviews and comments on my published stories to form a fair conclusion. Everybody’s favourite was Chestnut Chocolate Mooncake (except my Adik). It wasn’t so much because of the Chefs, it was rather the seriousness of the message relayed ie ethics. Next come A Peppery Affair (quirky and entertaining) and The 50Sen Queens (light but with clear message).
I was glad that the bookstore manager mentioned Mat Taiqo, she’s a pro and knows her stuff, so far only my Adik likes that piece. She mentioned Tomorrow’s Headline too, what a relief. Singles’ Honeymoon was something else though, people who knew about Ad loved it while others hardly noticed it.
The bookstore manager stressed that I shoud mind that readers are different. They wanting to know more (a typical comment for me) doesn’t mean that the story is not complete/polished. It’s just that their interest is different. This is not a standard exam, there’s no perfect score. It’s a very subjective matter, more like a work of art:)
