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Q&A My kid's first story

Though he looks forward to my praise, which I surely do, he gets bored every time I try to outline his flaws in the story. That's pretty standard 11-year-old-boy behavior. I peeked at their h...

posted 6y ago by Caleb‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:08:35Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40005
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Caleb‭ · 2019-12-08T10:08:35Z (almost 5 years ago)
> Though he looks forward to my praise, which I surely do, he gets bored every time I try to outline his flaws in the story.

- That's pretty standard 11-year-old-boy behavior. I peeked at their handbook recently and there's a whole section on how to keep your parents from bugging you about stuff you don't want to do. I bet you'd get the same bored look if you were to point out mistakes in his math homework.

- As a new writer, he might be feeling especially defensive about his story. He might feel that making the corrections you've pointed out will make the story a little less _his_ and a little more _yours_.

- At some point in the future, separate from this story, have a discussion about what editors do, i.e. they help writers make what they mean to say clear to readers. Most writers have editors that give them good, honest feedback on all aspects of their work, from plots and themes to spelling and grammar. Assure him that despite that, it's still the author's story, not the editor's.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-11-08T18:14:27Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 5