...at least it was for my writing critique group members. Just finished up my critiques of everyone's submissions for tomorrow's meeting. I reviewed all my notes from Saturday's conference first and tried to incorporate what I learned into my comments. No surprise that all this new knowledge makes me sound more critical. With any luck, my thoughts are more on point and more helpful as well. I'm working under the assumption that it's better to hear it from me (and the rest of the team) so they won't hear it from an agent or editor. Or worse yet, hear nothing because their submissions weren't quite ready to be sent out. I know that my skin is getting tougher and tougher as I move through this process and hope that they can also 'weather' the winds of suggested change.
One of the tips that I drew from was Donna Gephart's* comment that characters aren't described, they are revealed through action, thought and dialogue. It makes perfect sense with respect to picture books since the illustrations will show you the character and we've been schooled not to limit the illustrators options by describing the way a character looks. However, it seems less intuitive in a chapter book or novel where you're trying to paint a picture for the reader. What images enrich the story for the reader and what gets in the way of their own imprint and imagination? I guess if you can answer that, you're well on your way to a finished story.
* I'm pretty sure they told us that Donna's latest novel How to Survive Middle School had an initial printing of 100,000 copies and sold out in the first week!! Wow.
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Amen to 'hearing it from the critique group instead of an agent or editor.'
ReplyDeleteBring it on, Alison! I'm all for brutal (at least where my own stuff is concerned anyhow, lol). See ya tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteYes, I am up for this too. Well put Alison!
ReplyDeleteHey, Alison,
ReplyDeleteSo glad my comment in the workshop was helpful. And yes, I always prefer to hear comments from my critique group instead of from an editor or agent. They are a great first line of defense. And while my novel, How to Survive Middle School, did go into a second printing in its first week, think much, MUCH smaller numbers.
All best,
Donna