Friday, December 11, 2009

Too Perfect?

Had a review of the first 6 chapters of my 2008 nanowrimo novel on writing.com today. It was a surprise because books don't often get reviews and they read that far even though they aren't a fan of gay erotica. One comment caught my attention. The person said that the dialogue on it was too perfect and that people don't talk like that.

Granted, the first draft does have some problems. I mean, it is a first draft. Most the contractions were kept as separate words because of the goal. Trying to write 50,000 words in one month is tough and every word counts. However, all of those chapters have received a minor edit because they have been critiqued by a writing group. So, they are still too perfect?

I have had a comment on perfect language one other time on a different novel. For Blood Prophesy I am using a more formal language in the writing. One critic actually thought English wasn't my first language because it was too perfect.

It is an odd predicament. I can't imagine it is common that people would find the writing to be too perfect in rough drafts. Yet here I am, with too perfect dialogue and language in two different novels.

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