CRITIQUE GROUPS AND MORE

 

Hi Everyone:

When you make up your mind to write something, be it short story, novel, or essay, how do you know if it is any good?  When one is both author and critic, it is only natural to favor a positive outcome.

Sometimes, I read material several times while it is still on my computer screen, looking for errors that I can quickly correct, but I find that it is not until I have printed it out that I find some of its more obvious flaws. Just reading it a-loud helps me to locate other mistakes. I often read to my dog, but Pumpkin isn’t much of a critic, she yawns at my attempts at humor and sleeps through suspense scenes.

Some writers read their drafts to close friends and relatives. Unfortunately, many of these merely tell the author what they think he wants to hear, instead of those things he really needs to hear.

i.e. “I loved it!”

Or, “That’s very nice.”

I’m very fortunate, my wife, who is my first reader, has a great eye for mistakes, and often takes me to task when she thinks that something I’ve written is not realistic, or is too wordy.

 I’m also fortunate in that I am a member of an excellent critique group, The Writer’s Studio. I have been attending its weekly sessions for over ten years. Meetings last for about two and a half hours, during that time, writers read a portion of their material and listen as the members offer suggestions as to how it might be improved.  The comments typically include:

 Plot-- (It isn’t plausible);

 Setting-- (Are you sure people in that time behaved that way?)

 Characters-- (Your protagonist sounds one-dimensional),

 Dialogue-- (Your characters need to have different rhythms and vocabularies), and Action-- (Where is the conflict?)

After the meeting, I come home and review my notes. Do I take all of the suggestions? No. I’m still the author; it’s still my work.  I have to decide if the suggestions will make my work better. In truth, I consider them all, and usually find a way to include most of them.

While the large Publishing Houses and some of the smaller Independent Presses employ editors to review accepted submissions during the pre-publication process, some writers employ a professional editor to help polish their manuscripts in hopes of attracting a Literary Agent (the publisher’s gatekeeper) and ultimately a publishing contract.  

There are no professional requirements for advertising as an Editor (and Editors need to charge for their services) so the writer should be careful. In addition, not everyone can afford to pay for the service, making critique groups such as The Writer’s Studio all the more helpful.

You can read Cocoa Baby, a vignette written by Janet Kleinman, a member of The Writer’s Studio and a published author, by going to my website, joshswritingroom.com and clicking on the Short Story tab. Janet recently published Flirting with Disaster, a romantic thriller that includes love, adventure, and enough sex to make it exciting. She is busy working on a family saga. You can learn more about Janet and her novel at livingtheliterarylife.blogspot.com