Saturday, July 7, 2007

Losing Aimee

My CP Aimee is moving to Missouri. In TWO WEEKS!

Okay, okay, she told me a couple of months ago about her plans. But I’ve been in denial (my favorite river in Egypt). After all, we’ve been face-to-face CPs for almost two years now and we’ve worked really hard at our writing and at being supportive and helpful to each other. No small feat!

I’ve had a number of critique partners and participated in lots of groups (both formal classes and organizations and less formal ones) over the years, both online and face-to-face. Finding a “good one” is %#&#@) DIFFICULT!

Losing one is an absolute B*TCH!

Finding a CP who “fits” is hard work. You need to find someone who “gets” your writing, and vice versa. You need someone who is equally dedicated to his/her writing and to critiquing. But most of all, you have to find someone you can “trust.”

The trustworthiness of a CP goes far beyond the trust in many other relationships. Like it or not, every writer imbues her work with a certain amount of herself. What you write definitely reflects who you are, but it goes beyond a mere reflection. In so many ways, our writing truly becomes “our baby.” Finding someone you trust enough to criticize “your baby” is tricky indeed!

Aimee and I will continue being CPs, but online rather than face-to-face. And I will begin my search for a new face-to-face CP. But I know it will take a lot of time and effort for me to find someone, and no one will completely fill Aimee’s ballet slippers.
2balletshoes

I MISS YOU ALREADY, Kiddo!


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