Let's talk critique - Help or hinder?

As tonight I am meeting some writers for a critique group, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss writing critiques.

Four of us are meeting at a local restaurant in Lowell to show what we have worked on. A couple of us will bring the start of a new story (like me), another will bring his ending to his WIP (Yea!), and yet another will bring her latest chapter in her WIP.


Do you have a critique partner or belong to a critique group? Or do you choose to go it alone and not get anyone's comments or feedback? Why?

What constitutes a good critique?

Do you listen to everything a critique partner says or suggests? Why or why not?

Where do you do your critiques? Are they online or do you meet someplace? What kind of place? Why?

Who are your critique partners? Are they published authors? Friends or family? Writers belonging to a national organization like RWA, MWA, ITW?

Are all the critique partners male or female, or do you have a mix of genders? How does that work for you?

How much do you take to critiwue when you get together? Do you read the pages in silent mode or do you read it aloud to the other person or group? Why? What's the benefit of one over the other?


Share what works for you and why.

Funny thing happened on the way to critique session

Funny thing happened on my way to a writer's critique session last night.

Actually, it happened after we all arrived. David Daniel (http://www.daviddanielbooks.com/), Steve Sack, and I left the local Lowell coffee house called Brewed Awakening and decided to go to Fortunato's. Why? Well, they have Stella Artois on tap. Except, theye didn't last night. So we had a quick drink and chat on the patio area then decided to go elsewhere.

Greek. We walked down to The Aethenian restaurant. We enjoyed great Greek food, terrific conversation that ranged anywhere from our writing, what we're reading, vacation plans, Lowell folk festival, and music. At the end of our meal, we had the wonderful opportunity to catch the entertainment at The Aethenian.

Can you guess what it was?? We got to see a belly dancing act. Terrific! I want to do that! And yeah, no, none of us got up and tried.

What happened to the critique session? Well, that was the funny thing that happened. We blew it off for an evening of friends, fun, and relaxtaion.

You never know what will happen when you put a group of writers together!

If you haven't joined a writing critique session, you really should. It's always fun and eventful.

Weekend Over

Ahh! The weekend is over. Did you get to enjoy some of the spring weather? Or did you stay indoors and write all weekend? HA!

Saturday I fought with my love scene off and on. Then the whole chapter ended up longer than anticipated. But, my editor will like that. And dad, minus the red marks, liked the chapter so that's cool.

I spent several hours Sunday doing outdoor clean up. I trimmed a bunch of stuff, moved leaves that I didn't get to in the fall, and saw tulips, pansies, and primrose all coming back up. Hoping for fruit on my trees this year.

After all that fresh air, I came inside and wrote. I actually managed to write about four pages in the next chapter and am hoping to get it finished today so I can take it and the love scene to critique tomorrow.

Nothing like a good critique session

Late this morning, I met my author friend Nora Le Duc at Panera to critique our works in progress. She just returned from Florida, the lucky dog. I mean that in the nicest way. Mostly.

Anyway, we chatted about her trip. She had a marvelous time! Chatted about politic stuff. Ick! Ate some good, warm soup on a miserably chilly day.

Then we got down to writing. It is amazing how someone else can pick up on nuances in a story that you the writer cannot catch. Afterwards, I came back home, put in the edits, and then was able to tweak a few spots Nora suggested which gave me almost another 1000 words. Yes! I have achieved the 30000 mark in my story.

Plus, thanks to Nora's and my Dad's effort, I concluded that they were both slacking on the job. As I read back through the story, I realized that we all forgot a piece of the story that happened a little earlier but then fell off the face of the earth.

The heroine had picked up an envelope, stuffed it in her pants and gee it never appeared again. And that was after she had been shot and taken a shower. HA! That letter must be pretty nasty by now. :-)

Long story short, well, not that short. Critiquing and editing right afterwards is a great way to motivate the writing.

My Manuscript is complete!

Yeehaw! Yes, this is me doing the happy dance!! I officially finished my second manuscript this morning and it feels EXCELLENT! Okay, it felt so good I actually teared up because I DID IT!

Now, I'm waiting hear back from my critique friends as to what they think and then send to my editor. YES! Throw my hand in the air in a sign of triumph.

What do you do after you complete a manuscript?? Go to Disney World?! NOT!
You edit. Yes, you've been doing that all along, but now you do the nasty search for those passive voice sentences, and as my father like to point out (too many contractions).

And yup, already did that today. Let me tell you, 318 pages takes a long time to go through to make certain you caught all the bad stuff. Hours and hours. And even after I went through once, I had MSFT Word do the grammar check on it and of course it still found some leftovers.

Anyway, big sigh. I feel good, no great, no flippin' fantastic! I did it, I did it!! Be jealous.
Now I gotta come up with the next in the series. :-) My hero Jake is going to take center stage. Stay tuned.

When the end is near

Have you ever gotten close to the end of a WIP and just wanted it over? Or you're so close, but you get writer's block? Or, my favorite, when a character from your next story creeps into your current WIP?

Yup! That's where I'm at now. I had a self-imposed goal of finishing my current WIP by December so it was completed and out the door to an editor before the first one is released in January. I am soo close, I can see the end, and I want to reach the finish line.

I had writer's block on Sunday, but today, thanks to my critique and brainstorming session with Nora I managed to write about 1500 words and get the latest chapter finished in my WIP and the start of the next. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter completed tomorrow morning. Keep fingers crossed.

And yes, I have this one character that I just adore. He's so cool and got this sexy southern drawl, and whenever he makes his way into my stories he manages to take over. Well, Jake has done that a couple of times while I've been trying to wrap up this story. He's become a PITA! :-)

The problem is, Jake wants his own book. Now I'm feeling the pressure to really finish this book so I can write his story. The funny thing is, I started another story with him in it for NaNoWriMo, only its not a romantic-suspense, it's a kid's mystery. I came up with the idea when I took a children's writing course over the summer and it's kind of stuck in my head.

Well, if I actually succeed in finishing my WIP soon (like maybe this week) then maybe Jake will have two stories, the kid's mystery and a romantic-suspense. Greedy guy!

NaNoWriMo Update

Day 2 - I wrote 1591 words, Day 3 - 1044.

How's it going for everyone else?

I'm getting ready to meet a writer friend this morning who is also participating in NaNoWriMo. We're getting together to critique what we've written so far that way we can either tweak what we've written and thereby add more words :-) or help with tweaking the plot to move forward (always my issue). Of course Nora LeDuc, my author friend can write way more words than me in one sitting. Ugh!!

Check out her site and books at www.noraleduc.com

Writing Critiques

Good Morning!
As I sit here getting ready to go on a job interview I thought I'd write a quick note.

This past weekend I met with some other writers to discuss our current Works-In-Progress. I tell you they are the best. When I'm stuck they criticize and brainstorm and then you walk away energized to write.

Wednesday I'm meeting some other writers to do the same thing. This group is a unique mix of men and women (my other group is all women). I like this because you get that "other" perspective, which is especially helpful for me when my current WIP is more of an action-adventure/romantic suspense. I love it when the guys say, "whoa. no guy would talk like that." hehe! :-)

Plus, there's usually someone who has knowledge on a particular topic you may need that can pony up some details. Way better to get firsthand information than reading it out of a book or off the internet.

My goal for this week is to come up with an outline to finish the last of my WIP. Keep your fingers crossed.

If you haven't taken the time to join a writing group you really should try one.

OH! and remind me to tell you about my trip to Barnes & Noble bookstore.

Writing Groups

What are your thoughts on writing groups/organizations and critique groups?

Personally, I have found most to be very helpful. I joined RWA and NHRWA back in 2003 and from the moment I went to my first meeting I found a great support group. There I was, this wannabe/inspriring writer and there they were, this group of professional, experienced, and new writers all there to help each other out.

What exactly do you get from these groups?

I guess that depends on what you want. My NHRWA group has a monthly meeting where they share the latest information from RWA, talk about/create special events that help us all move forward in our goals, and have a speaker who discusses a topic to help with your writing craft or getting published.

In addition to that, NHRWA has a writing critique session at the end of the meeting so anyone who has a chapter they want to read and share to get feedback/input can do so. The best part of that is if you've actually read something you're inspired to leave there and go write more. Heck, even if you didn't bring anything you'll probably be inspired to go home and write.

I also have a group of people I met in one of my college courses, including the teacher, who we now get together to share our work, critique each other, and brainstorm. Sometimes you just stall, but when you get together with these folks they're there to help.

Most of all, I believe these groups give you encouragement. There could be 5 or more people at a critique session all writing different story ideas, but everyone participates and gives feedback. It's even interesting to see 5 people all writing that same kind of story (mystery for example) but their voices and their styles are completely different.

Let me end this cheering for these groups by saying that I value these people and their opinions, but more than anything I cherish their support and friendship.