The Writing Critique: Sign Up and Show Up and Stick Around

“This is your writing. It’s important. I’m not advocating shoving yourself into the middle of someone else’s discussion or waving a red flag in the bathroom line, but put yourself out there.” ~ Becky Levine, in The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide.

One Sunday afternoon, it took all I had to get out of my house and into the car. It would be my first time, walking into a circle of strangers, sharing a short story that I had worked on for too long, putting my work and myself out there. Giddy and nervous, I worried I might talk too much or not at all. I wondered if I would leave elated or deflated. I was tempted to rest the fate of my whole writing career (what little there was of it at the time) on this two-hour experience, sitting in the basement of a mall at table with other writers. Luckily, the words of Becky Levine pressed on my conscious.

This is your writing. It’s important.

At some point in every Writer’s life, we enter into the critique zone. It’s inevitable and necessary, because, while most writing happens in isolation, our stories rarely succeed without others. So, we sign up and show up. And, some of us fret every time we traverse the stairs and walk into the room. 

Critiques aren’t easy. Never mind the vulnerability factor, when our work goes under the eyes of our peers. Critiques take skill, in giving them as much as in receiving them. A couple of books I’ve read have helped me survive moments with my writing groups in one way or another: Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive by Joni B. Cole and The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide by Becky Levine. Both authors make clear that how we give feedback is as important as how we receive it, because we learn from each side of the experience.

In the writing group in which I participate right now, critiques happen on the spot. The author reads his or her story, and we listen, write our thoughts down in the moment, share our comments right away. I much more prefer to read a story, let it digest, and then give my feedback a day or two later. The challenge for me then is, while I know when a passage or a character bumps me, I don’t always know why. Not immediately. Enter Becky Levine again, this time with her excellent article in the February issue of Writer’s Digest: “Critique Your Way to Better Writing.” Becky’s insights in this article on giving and receiving feedback hit home for me again..

“…[T]hink about the elements that make up our projects…such as character, explanatory narrative, scenes, dialogue, description and voice. Pretty much every weakness in a manuscript is a weakness in one of the big elements….”

I might not be able to pin-point exactly what throws me off during a writer’s reading of one story at a single critique session, but I can go home and think on it, even after I’ve submitted my comments. Then, in subsequent weeks, I will be more prepared to offer valuable feedback.

“Home in on the story element that’s creating the problem. Then…analyze what is and isn’t working. The more you critique, the easier answering these questions will become – and the more those answers will reveal themselves in your own work.”

That happens to me all the time. The more specific I am with my feedback, in things as simple as dialogue tags or as complex as creating more tension (or stretching out that tension) in a scene, the more I return to my own work and see areas that need the same kind of attention.

Writer’s reciprocity in its most genuine form. We learn from each other.

If you’re new to a writing group, stick around. If you haven’t joined a group, find one (even a soiree of writing friends will do). Pick up a copy of Joni B. Cole’s book on Toxic Feedback and one of Becky Levine’s Survival Guide. Better yet, pop over to Becky Levine’s webpage. She’s soliciting guest bloggers to post on their writing critique experiences, and she’s offering up copies of her book in return. Even if you don’t have an essay to submit, you can still enter to win a copy of her book by leaving a comment on these guest posts.

Want to read more on critique groups? Here are some other blog posts to check out:

“Getting the Most from a Critique” Lisa Hall-Wilson (on Girls with Pens) talks about the tone of a group, setting goals, and strengths and weaknesses.

“How Writing Groups Can Work for You” Susan Bearman (on Write It Sideways) highlights two important points: make a commitment to show up consistently and don’t minimize how much you can learn from hearing the work of writers outside your preferred genre.

How about you? What’s the greatest lesson you’ve learned by sitting around a table with other writers? Or, do you have a favorite book on surviving critiques?

“…[W]riting is a solitary effort, but it doesn’t have to be a lonely one — and
that is the real gift of feedback” ~ Joni B. Cole

 

Stephen Penner: From Children’s Books to Paranormal

Both social networking and blogging benefit writers in a myriad of ways, creating connections and community. Since signing up and logging on, I’ve met authors and writers who live near or far, some who publish from one end of the spectrum to the other in terms of genre. My guest today, Stephen Penner, is a perfect example of such — the versatile author.

I met Stephen when we both worked on stories for the anthology, The Dead Shoe Society. Stephen coordinated deadlines and acted as the group cheerleader, kick-starting our own NaNoShoeMo in the month of October, with the goal of finishing that 10K short story in 31 days…or else (the “or else” being my threat to myself. Stephen is a very nice fellow). He also wrote a titillating line to his own great story:

Assistant District Attorney David Brunelle looked down and admired his shoes: three-inch, red leather stilettos.

I’m thrilled to host Stephen here to share on his road to publication — one that began with children’s literature and has since branched out into so much more.

~

My Writing Journey

First of all, I’d like to thank Christi for giving me an opportunity to share a bit about my writing journey. She and I recently collaborated, each contributing a short story to THE DEAD SHOE SOCIETY anthology, seven very different and very excellent short stories dealing with the unexpected theme of death and shoes. As it turns out, THE DEAD SHOE SOCIETY and my story, “Lady Justice Wears Heels,” are perfectly illustrative of my writing journey and the one thing above all else that’s made it possible: the support and passion of other writers.

Several years ago I wrote a pair of paranormal mystery novels (SCOTTISH RITE and BLOOD RITE). I started the traditional agent querying process, and had a few requests to see the manuscript. But it never got past that stage and my life got busy in other areas. I set those manuscripts aside and figured I might get back to writing in a couple years.

Well, it turned out to be more like six or seven, and rather than an adult mystery, I had written and illustrated a children’s book. Times were starting to change in the publishing industry. Rather than seek an agent, I secured a publisher directly: Nimble Books, a small press in Michigan. They have now published four of my PROFESSOR BARRISTER’S DINOSAUR MYSTERIES books, and number five will be available soon.

This gave me some new motivation in my writing career. I joined Twitter and Facebook and began networking, mostly with other writers. One such writer, Michelle Anderson-Picarella, invited me to contribute to a short story anthology about the Seven Deadly Sins. I was happy to do it and wrote a decidedly un-kid friendly story about Wrath. What was great about that was the feedback I got from the other writers. Not only pointers on how to make it better, but a general acknowledgement that I could write a pretty good story.

Next came THE DEAD SHOE SOCIETY. Again, somehow I got invited to contribute. Again, it was an adult story. And again, I got encouragement and feedback from some very talented writers. Writers like Christi and Jonas Saul; Kate Cornwell and Mark Souza; Lori Gordon and E. Victoria Flynn. Very good writers. And we were going in together on a good book. Jonas and Kate knew a lot about the publishing industry and they were kind enough to share their insights.

In the meantime, I’d been watching the industry continue to change and thinking about those novels I’d written a few years back. In fact, I’d written two more novels between the children’s books (MARS STATION ALPHA and THE GODLING CLUB). So I had four finished novels just sitting on my hard drive. I wanted people to read my books. And I finally believed I was a good enough writer to put them out there and see if anyone wanted to read them.

Well, turns out they did. I’m no John Grisham or Stephen King, but people are buying and reading my books. As an author there’s no better feeling. I’ll be writing more now; my journey is just beginning.

For information on all my books, please visit http://stephenpenner.com

~

Thanks, Stephen! Now to you, reader. Are you a writer who’s dedicated to one genre but thinking of another? Maybe you write young adult fiction but have an itch to publish a memoir? Or, you’ve penned a romance novel but are secretly drawn to the challenges of science-fiction. Could it be, you just toss up the story cards and wait to see where they land? Spill it.

How to Stay Abreast of Your Writing Goals

writing in the journal

The beginning of the year is a great time to set new goals, or cut and paste last year’s goals onto the “new” list. I mean, that’s how it works sometimes, right? We all have good intentions come January 1st, but there are always certain goals that get pushed around but never accomplished. I’m tired of moving the same goal around into list after list, feeling the weight of it push down on my shoulders and smother my muse. So, this year, I have a different plan. I’m still setting goals, but I’m approaching them in a new way.

1. Make sure goals are reasonable and measurable.

Sarah Callender wrote a wonderful post on Write It Sideways about the difference between Dreamers and Goalers, saying writers must be a little of both:

A dream is shiny and pretty and probably quite heavy. Like a coconut cream pie. Or an ocean at sunset. Dreams sit on our shoulder and whisper things like, But what about me? Don’t forget about me! . . . But if you dream of getting published in a prestigious publication, in any publication at all, then create a SMART goal, something over which you have total control.

Writing a novel is my dream. One goal I set in the past to help me reach that dream was to get the draft ready for Beta readers. By March. Okay, June. Um…by the end of the year, dammit. My original goal wasn’t specific enough. Now, I know that I need to break down the idea of finishing the draft into more reasonable, bit-size chunks, like “write the next chapter by the end of the week.”

And speaking of weeks….

2. Use whatever tools you can find to organize weekly goals.

I read about Jane Friedman’s weekly goal sheets long before I started using them, but since I’ve been filling them out, my brain feels more in tune with where my heart wants to go. I love these worksheets for two reasons. First, they are weekly. Period. As Friedman says in her post about the sheets, “If you have to-dos that stretch out further than a week, it can become overwhelming and meaningless.” Overwhelming and meaningless, that’s when I start crying and feel like quitting. The second reason I love these worksheets is because they allow space to write down what might be stopping me from achieving the goals and space to write down long-range goals that I can’t work on in that one week but don’t want to forget. On this, Friedman say, “Writing them down helps free my mental energy, so I can focus on other things.” Be gone, Overwhelming fiend.

So, I have reasonable and measurable goals and a nifty worksheet. Now what?

3. Join a writer’s group. Stat.

Attending a writing group, bi-weekly or monthly, isn’t always an option because of time or money or location. But, when I have the resources, that’s where I go. Those groups make me accountable, push me forward on writing projects, large or small, and feed me with an energy that I can’t ignore. By the time you read this, I will have attended my first Roundtable in too long of a while. All the anxiety of reading out loud and sharing a rough story is worth it if it means this next project, a collection of flash fiction, will move beyond an idea.

Your turn. What’s your secret to staying on top of your goals? Spill it here, because if anything, we will learn from each other.

* Photo credit: redcargurl on Flickr.com