Oops
So, a funny thing happened on my way to a completed rough draft.
This whole thing has been a bit experimental. New genre, new time period, yada yada. And I’m doing the scenes in YWriter because a member of my writer’s group loves it. Just thought I’d check it out.
So my friend/personal coach/web guy/encourager and I were sitting in his living room Monday night chatting with his wonderful wife and he asked how I was doing on the book inspired by his presence and offhand comment in a dream. I told him I thought the bulk of the initial writing was done.
“Cool. Where is it?”
“On my laptop.”
“And where’s your laptop?”
“In my car.”
And the “look” commences. So I sigh and good naturedly roll my eyes and fetch my laptop. I open up YWriter and hand it to him.
That was the last word he said for a bit. Then he, with a funny look on his face, asks a question.
“Who’s Cassie?”
“Cassie my friend or Cassandra in the story?”
He shrugs. “Cassie in the New Zealanders email group.”
Oh. Um. “She’s my friend and beta reader.” Now I’m puzzled but he looks sheepish.
“Well, I was emailing it to myself and hit P and then realized I also sent it to this group.” His name begins with P and there’s a Paul in the email group. Oh boy.
“You sent it to Cassie and the others?!”
“Well…yeah. Just email them and tell them to destroy it.”
Now, at this point, the book is a collection of scenes that appear in the order I wrote them, not chronological or even story order. Just scenes with no spell check, no anything. He sent my writing at its most raw to other people! And here I thought he’d just skim it on my computer.
I panicked. I frowned. I sputtered. He made no reply because he was busy reading. In fact, that was pretty much the end of conversation as he sat reading for the rest of my time there.
“You do realize if she thinks I’m a sh*t writer because of this I’ll have to pop you one.”
He scrolls down.
“And if it makes her not want to beta for me any more, you’ll be sporting a black eye.”
He keeps reading. His wife snickers.
Cassie has been a very good sport. She’s reading, too, and I’m still putting the rough draft together. If it had been anyone else he had sent it to, his wonderful wife would have been packing his eye in ice!
Edit: So far they both like it. Whew!
Oh dear…!
Hahaha! Well, now they can all see what an amazing improver you are? I suppose that could have been worse!
OH wow! What a mistake! Hah, I talked about sending your work out to betas when it’s not ready. This isn’t what I mean though! Thanks for sharing. I’m glad they both like it!
hehe this really cracked me up.
I offhandedly mentioned to a friend I was chatting with at the time ‘Hmm BJ sent me an email with a story in it and nothing else…. thats weird.’ Thinking that she ALWAYS says something in the email.
Of course it wasn’t really her after all
Am still making my way through it, and enjoying it!
I am not dying of embarrassment any more but it was an interesting few days.
I don’t think I will have beta readers for this one. Just alphas. Grin.
Hehe. I confess, I wondered myself as well.