I finally got honest feedback from a stranger at a coffee shop writing session

Was at this little spot in Portland last Saturday, working on a short story about a guy who can hear colors. This older woman at the next table leans over and says 'your protagonist sounds like a gimmick, not a person.' She wasn't nasty about it, just blunt. She said she used to edit for a small press and could tell I was hiding behind the weird premise instead of building a real character. It stung for a second, but she was right. Has anyone else had a random person point out something obvious about your writing that you'd been avoiding?

2 comments

2 Comments

seth_nguyen3d ago

Trust those gut punches, they're usually true.

the_ben3d ago

Wait, she used to edit for a small press and she just dropped that on you out of nowhere at a coffee shop? That's wild, most people would just say they like the idea and move on. Sounds like she did you a real solid though, even if it hurt at first.