The Most Important Critic

Mom reading a draft of the book

I’m visiting my parents this week and have a new reader — mom. When I pulled my current draft out of my bag and put it on the coffee table it was quickly scooped up. Mom dove in immediately and the editorial remarks have been coming in fast. She is noticing all sorts of details that are tucked into my writing. Some of it she is correcting I spelled her aunt’s name wrong and I have some of the time sequence off. I find myself following her around the house like a puppy dog. Wherever she settles down to read, I place myself strategically nearby so she can question or comment and tell me what she thinks. She is, of course, my most important critic. It is her story! It is her history! Whatever I come up with has to fit into her memories of the war.

So far the best thing she has said– “Heidi, you are making the whole story come alive!”

This praise will get me to sit and write the next couple of chapters quickly. Just like the puppy dog, I am soaking up the praise and ready to perform the next trick.