I have the final results of the Vampire Family story from Critters. It seems that reaction was overall positive. Several people said they liked the concept. A few said it seemed pulpy and they didn't like it. When there's contradictions like that, especially regarding the central idea, I don't listen. It's one of those cases where I've got to write what I've got to write, and if I try to please everybody, I end up pleasing nobody.
I was especially pleased to find out one of my writing instincts was right, and I should have gone along with it. I made the beginning bulkier in order to show the relationship between the protagonist and antagonist, and to do what I thought was the "right thing" in terms of writing rules. It seems most people wanted me to skip over this part, get to the point faster, which I wanted to do too. So it seems I can abbreviate this exchange and still retain impact. Maybe that'll give me more space to work with too.
Most of the other consistent critiques seemed to do with the real consequences of having a vampire family, which I was worried about, and will probably be the most challenging. Things move fast in this story, and I've got little space for pacing.
I'm still not sure if its publishable. I wonder what genre it fits in. Horror? Fantasy? Is it too Full House to make an impact on the adult market? Is it too short to show the real consequences? Are characters accurately portrayed? These are all issues that people brought up, and to fix them, I don't know if I can fit it into 5,000 words.Labels: criticism, Vampire Family Story