New Project... Well, Not Exactly NEW, But Another Stab At It...

So I joined a new Meetup group.  It was initially named 2 Pages, but has since changed to 5 Pages, allowing participants to read more than that each week.  Essentially, it's a group of writers getting together to read a few pages of a piece on which they're currently working for comments and  (hopefully) helpful criticism.  I've been for the past couple weeks, and there were three of us who were there both weeks.  There's the organizer, Kevin, who is an amateur writer who intends to submit fiction for publication but has yet to do so. There's also Zoe, who is an Italian-born immigrant working on her second novel.  Her first novel is written, but she wants to have a second book ready to go because, she told us, publishers like to know that a writer will have more than one book to publish.  When I mentioned this to Peter, he surmised that new authors typically don't sell very many copies of their first book, but, after developing a following, their subsequent books sell much better.  He used the example of the Harry Potter books.  JK Rowling sold very few (relatively speaking) of the first run of The Sorcerer's Stone, and it wasn't until she developed a following through word of mouth that her subsequent books experienced their phenomenal sales, leading to greater sales for the earlier books, as well.

Yes, so my "new" project, or at least a project that I've been kicking around in my head for about the last decade, looks like fiction.  Fiction, yes, or more accurately, reality-inspired fiction.  I'm injecting a bit more phantasy than I would allow myself if I were to aim for a memoir.  When Peter read the first few pages, he commented that it looks like the names of the innocent have been changed, but the guilty characters all remain, notably my sister, though that might change in future drafts.  I've already changed the name of her husband, so it's not unlikely that I'll end up changing the character who is loosely based on her, as well. Giving the characters based on them their own names rather than stealing their names from existing people would aid in allowing me to create and not merely report.  Peter also said that upon first reading, he couldn't tell who the author was, since I had sent it to him as an email attachment without appropriation.  His comment actually pleased me, because it meant that the voice I was using came across as genuine.

One thing I've noticed about the Meetup group so far, and remember, I've only been twice, is that the writers who come either have a strong command of the English language, including proper grammar, or they really don't.  It looks like the vast majority of people who aspire to the "writing life" are woefully inadequate at the basics of English grammar.  Am I'm being just way too judgmental and picky?   The refrain that irks me to no end is "Well, you understood what I meant, right?  That's the point!"  And my answer is, "No!  The point is that I don't know what you mean because you're not expressing it clearly!  You shouldn't expect your readers to make leaps and bounds to understand you!"  Language is meant to convey meaning, and one does not do that by failing to understand how to use language...

I know perfectly well that I'm not the paragon of grammar, but I aspire to be a good grammarian, nonetheless.  It appears that some people don't even try...  One woman used an adjective where an adverb was required, and to me, it is either sloppy writing or a sign of an uneducated writer.  That's just how such writing comes across to me.  I won't apologize for judging her writing on such minutiae because I make the effort to avoid such mistakes, and I expect no less from others who expect me to respect them and their writing.

Okay, so what was originally intended to be merely a report of my activities has turned into a rant.  I shan't apologize it.  But what I will include is a recipe for cashew-coconut cookies that I made the other day:

Coconut-Cashew Cookies

1 c	coconut powder (this I bought at the Indian grocery)
1 c	cashew meal (I took some roasted cashews and chopped them in my processor)
¼ c	egg whites, scant
½ t	vanilla extract (be liberal)
1/8 t	salt
¼ c	coconut oil

Mix coconut powder and cashew meal throughly, mashing all lumps to create a consistent texture.

Blend wet ingredients, then pour into dry ingredients and incorporate thoroughly. The mixture will be thick. Allow mixture to stand for ten minutes to allow the moisture to distribute more evenly.  

Scoop by liberal quarter-cup measures onto a baking sheet lined with either a silicone mat or parchment paper.

Bake at 325°F for 20-25 minutes until they start to brown on top.

This recipe will produce about 6 large cookies.

I may start putting some of my "novel" here in serial form, at least to try to elicit comments and constructive criticism.  Right now, however, I'm still feeling a tad less than confident.  I'd love to hear any words of encouragement anyone may have to offer.  I could surely use it.