What makes me happy

Red marks on my paper
Make me happy

To improve as a writer you must write. However, this will only take you so far. You must also finely tune your craft. Find weak spots and weed them out. How do you do this? When I read my "stuff" I smile at my brilliance. What weak spots? I wonder. The best people to find your flaws are other writers. Lay your writing bare and allow others to run through it with red pen in hand. Does this hurt? Yup. This is why you must pick these critics with care. A careless (some may say mean) critic can damage a new writer. A critic may even end a career before it has begun. Alternatively, caring, competent critics can lead you to higher heights. Heights you never knew you could attain. Last night Mayne's Islands writers group meet. Five writers, five friends, five seeking to soar or helping to find wings. Three of us laid our babies bare. Great care was taken but it was still criticism. Not for the weak of heart. We all survived. We all grew.