19 Nov
1

Way-Word Journey #10: Writers Anonymous (The Power of Support)

Posted by admin in Uncategorized, Way-Word Journey, Writing

Writing had become an addiction, and rejection made it a downer. If I didn’t write, I was depressed. If I did write and got rejected, I was depressed. There was no winning this thing.

I stopped telling people I wrote books. I moved to another state. (Not because of that, though it didn’t hurt.)

Then in one bold and crazy feat, which nearly gave me a heart attack, I went to a local writing association at my new city.

A key to my progress as a writer started when I began reading for other novelists. They read for me. We chatted and became friends. They’d been through rejection, were going through the frustration of that steep learning curve of newer writers, and they got me. They understood.

Within a couple years, one of us was published with a small press. The excitement of his success fueled the rest of us with renewed hope.

The reading and critiquing had made us all better writers.

While we didn’t last as a group, they will always be my friends.

The one who published left the group to get a masters degree. It’s okay to have a goal, meet it, and then try new things.

One of us got an agent and became a Pitch Wars Mentor, then later self published. Everyone has their own path. Every path is valid.

One of us died suddenly, which made me realize I had to do what I loved and forget the little stuff.

One of us went on to become a NaNoWriMo leader and still writes as a hobby. She never lost the love of writing and didn’t mind not getting published.

All of these people helped me on my journey, and I’ll never forget them for what they taught me. I went on to become other things in the publishing industry. I’ve been a professional editor for a company in the UK and US. I was Managing Director of Pitch Wars, Pitch Madness, and #PitMad. I’ve interned for agents, reading and managing the queries. I’ve worked as a reader and editor for small presses.

Every person I’ve met on my writing journey strengthened my foundation and gave me support as I progressed in the art of writing and the business of publishing.

Even the negative things, the people who never said one positive thing about my writing, the people who told me I should quit, the people who said I needed to learn basic writing skills after being a professional editor for years, the people who threw out pages and rewrote them because my writing wasn’t good enough–all of those things helped me learn what kind of critique partner, editor, and writer I want to be.

And not everyone has to love it. If my writing improves one life, it’s all worth it. And that’s already happened by making me happier when I write it.

14 Nov
1

Making Sandwiches: The Perfect Critique Method for Writers

Posted by admin in Writing, Writing Tips

I’ve learned many things over the years after collaborating both personally and professionally with hundreds of authors. What we need most is support and a leg up. Whether paying or trading or gifting advice, there are things you should always do when critiquing.

Whether it’s bread or lettuce or lavash, every good sandwich has something on either side or wrapped around it. For a good critique sandwich, that’s pointing out the positive. You can fill it in with whatever else you’ve got around. Maybe it’s plot holes, character issues, or the world doesn’t add up or add much. You can fill the sandwich with tasty advice. If it’s wrapped in a way that’s digestible, the writer will be able to move forward rather than reject your critique.

Here are some steps to giving a good critique…

Be Positive

There should be at least three positive things you can say about any writing. It could be the way a single sentence is phrased, the voice, the title, the imagery, the pacing. Anything that you like or think might resonate with the audience that the writing is intended for will help. And remember, this work might not be intended for you. So read it as if you were the audience. What they would think should come before what you think.

For instance, I can’t stand books about poo or farts, but it’s a whole thing in picture and chapter books. That can’t stop me from seeing the plot, the character arc, and the world they’ve built for the young readers who love this s**t. 😉

Read the Whole Piece

Art should be seen as a whole. Books are no exception. It isn’t until you can understand the entire novel that you what to say. The theme, the character arc, etc.–each piece weaves together to form a united statement that leaves the reader with a resonating feeling, a changed worldview, a question about themselves.

Giving a critique to a specific scene or line editing is fine. But if the scene doesn’t fit into the overall structure of the book, why waste the time with one scene if you’re going to toss it out? In fact, it makes it harder to toss when you’ve worked to polish it.

The publishing industry standard is three general types edits, in this order…

Developmental: the plot, characters, and world in general are working.

Consistency: the chapters and scenes follow one another and work together.

Line: the words and voice and phrasing in each paragraph and sentence and phrase.

Be Honest

If you only ever say things that are positive, you’re not helping the writer improve. It’s rare that a submission to a critique group is so near perfect that there’s nothing you can help them improve on some level. If there aren’t any issues with big stuff, keep going down to the line edits.

Just Do Your Best

Not everyone is at the same level. But we’re all readers. Where are you upset and why? (Maybe you’re supposed to be.) Happy, sad, frustrated. Note why in the sidebar comments. Don’t go overboard, but especially at emotional turning points. Where do you want to skim? Where do you want to put the book down? Is there anything that confuses you? Did you have to reread any sentences?

Even if you can’t say why there’s a problem, that’s okay. Just noting that a problem exists is often enough for the writer to figure out a way to improve it.

A lot of times, even when an editor or agent spots a problem, they don’t know exactly what the problem is, only that it exists. It’s up to the author to know their story well enough that they know what the chapter, scene, and words are supposed to be doing and figure out why they’re not.

Some Things to Look For

If you’re an experienced writer, here’s a list of some basic things to look for in addition to the last section.

  1. Character depth and arc
  2. Plot that keeps the page turning but also gives the reader time to recover
  3. Voice
  4. Language and diction
  5. Pacing
  6. Style Issues
  7. World building inconsistencies or improvements
  8. Plausibility, suspension of disbelief

Check Yourself

How are you phrasing the critique? Are you intending to help them or make yourself feel like a better writer?

The focus of a critique should always be to uplift other writers. Make sure your comments are gentle and kind while being informative and truthful.

This is not your work. Do not ever rewrite someone else’s work. You can suggest how to rephrase, give ideas to get them brainstorming, but when you try to supersede their writing with your own, you’re invalidating them as a writer.

Be Positive Again

Always end on a good note. Find one more thing you like about the work. If you’re critiquing a whole book, point out the things that work for you along the way, what made you laugh, lines that resonate.

Often we as writers toss out the good stuff along with the bad because all we’ve heard is the negative, what’s not working, which could be surrounded or embedded in a lot of great writing.