# 25 Beautiful Dreamer

Subtitled:  Don't Get Discouraged.

Went to my Skyline writers group today. Eleven of us. That's a good number. We critiqued four manuscripts. Two were from brand new members to the group. They'd done their mandatory critique for a couple months before they could offer their own. Both had strong stories. Both had stories I'd want to continue reading. But they were new to writing. 

Now - let me tell you that this critique group is a really good one. Solid critiquing with positivity. But we've been together for a long time now. When I first joined the group, one of the members had just sold her first book and she no longer comes to the meetings. Author duties are difficult.

The group has grown in skill. Two current members have been published this last year. One of these is going to have her sequel party on March 16th. Another member is in negotiations with a publisher. As you have noted from my squeals, my book is with the editor and I have high hopes that it will be published within the next year or two.

As I said, we've been together for a long time and this kind of dogged determination and learning from each other has made each one of us a better author.

Along come these two, with their first attempts ever, and I could sense, even though the critiques were lovingly given, that the writers hopes were not as strong, once the critique was done. 

I counsel you - it takes time to become a good writer. I don't think their are many out there who are instant successes. It takes a lot of reading and writing and experimenting to finally be able to come up with a manuscript that is truly publishable. 

I know - been there. I thought my first book was the best ever. I still do, but I now know its weaknesses. I plan on going back to it, one day soon, and rewrite it, cause I love the story and the characters. 

Dreaming is incredibly good for me. I'm dreaming this book will be published. More importantly, I'm sure it will be published. But it's the culmination of a lot of work and a lot of help learning.

Life is a school.