Thank you dotsie for the excellent advice. I am a member of a writing group and I really think that is helpful. We get together almost weekly to read our material aloud for critique and suggestions.

I may have taken too many suggestions by now though. I keep making changes and I'm not sure they are all good. My daughter read it and said the stuff I wrote in the beginning unedited was the best. I'm simply confused. I no longer know what is good and what is bad.

I started out with something to say (pretty much that the adventures aren't over at middle age) and it just said itself. Then I began to edit. The story line hasn't changed. Just the language and the timing. Seems like every time I go to a writing workshop I come home and rewrite it again. Maybe I just need to go on to something else.

Gee, it's so frustrating. Why do we do it? I begin to think about it and just get overloaded with ideas and give up.

Thanks for the encouragement.

smile