Critique Group Case Study - The Critecta

Finding the special someone(s) who can complete your writing life is a lot like finding the special someone in your love life - damn hard. Where can you find these excellent people? How do you know when it's a good fit? What should you look for in a critique buddy? And what do you have to offer?

Our little trio met when we serendipitously crossed paths over at AgentQuery Connect, and we quickly discovered that ours was the kind of chemical balance you only find in a room full of professionals wearing white coats. We may all three end up in a room very much like that one day, but that's besides the point. Together, we're going to triple-team the concept of our Critecta—the guest poster here on my blog today is RC Lewis, sharing her approach to our trio.  You can read my post on From the Write Angle, and Caroline is on RC's blog, Crossing the Helix.

My Plan of Attack:

Whenever I read (even published books), there are certain things that make me pause, and in a critiquing situation, leave a comment.

Positives:
(1) It makes me laugh.
(2) It makes me cry.
(3) It makes me think, “Sheesh, why can’t I write like that?”
(4) It surprises me (in a good way).
(5) It makes me think, “MUST TURN PAGE. READ MORE NOW!”

Not-So-Positives:
(1) I’m confused.
(2) I’m annoyed/frustrated.
(3) I’m bored.
(4) I’m jarred out of the story.

#4 in the Not-So’s is an interesting one. It can come from style/voice issues, structure choices, or—thanks to my OCD—technical nitpicks. Depending on the critiquing situation, I may not point out every technical boo-boo, especially if they’re rampant. (Those situations usually get a broad statement of, “Be careful with your commas,” or similar.)

With the Critecta, though, I’ll point out anything I find. Often teasing them about it. (I only wish I’d been the one to first spot Mindy’s “lip floss.”) If it’s clearly a typo and not a tricky grammatical concept they might struggle with, I’ll just offer an “Oops!” and a smile. I know they’re not idiots, and they don’t really need me to belabor the difference between its and it’s.

Occasionally I’ll offer suggestions, but mostly point out what throws me, and (if possible) why. They’ll find a way to fix it with their voice and style, and if they’re not sure, we spitball some ideas.

My Co-Conspirators:

I’ve also gotten awesome feedback and help from larger critique groups and random beta readers. So why are these two my go-to gals? We’re huge fans of each other’s work, yet are able to be blunt and honest with each other, without hurting anyone’s feelings. More specifically, we feel like we’re roughly at the same level of know-how, but with different strengths and weaknesses to complement each other.

Caroline is our queen of Contemporary YA. The characters’ emotions radiate off the page, and she can vividly describe a setting without droning on. She won’t let me skimp on my own characters’ emotional reactions, and she brings a very human element to writing that my analytical brain doesn’t always come to naturally. Since she’s not big into science, she can also call me out when I go too heavy on the geek.

Mindy is mega-versatile. One novel is full of funny, while another is a gritty, stark dystopian. Being a school librarian, she reads like some people breathe, and she’s more of an intellectual than she might let on. She’ll catch subtexts and themes, letting me know if my threads are weaving together properly. She also wields the Hatchet of Excess Wordage Death. (I’ve renamed that hatchet at least five times.)

And that’s why it works. Mindy can put in comments about killing my excessive eyebrow-raising with a sniper rifle, and instead of thinking I’m a crap writer, I’m laughing as I make changes. I don’t recommend highlighting phrases and noting “Kill it!” over and over with someone you haven’t established a rapport with yet.

We're no longer limited by geography, and while some people do prefer a "physical" critique group to meet with, there are wonderful online resources where you can perhaps cross paths with that perfect partner. AgentQueryConnect offers a friendly, open forum where you can talk out your fears, discuss the market, and get query reviews. QueryTracker is a free service you can use to track your query rates, and read other user's comments regarding agent response time. Ladies Who Critique is a new service that operates much like Match.com, but for women looking for women to read their stuff. And as always, industry and book blogs are great grounds for meeting like-minded individuals.

Do have your own Critecta? (Or duo, or quartet, or whatever...) How did you find them? What’s your process, and why does it work for you?

There's A Forum For That - Guest Post by AM Supinger

I'm madly writing the sequel to NOT A DROP TO DRINK, so some of my ultra-helpful talented e-friends over at AgentQuery took me up on an invitation to guest post here on the blog.  My guest today is Ashlee Supinger (A.M.Supinger to AQ'ers), who runs an adorable blog over at Inner Owlet and tweets from @AMSupinger.  You should follow her.  She RT's me. :)  Ashlee debated about topics for her guest post, and asked me what I thought.  I know I push AQ a LOT - I'm a veteran, plus a Mod over there.  So I asked her to write about being a "guppy" at AQ (a new fish in the pond), in the hopes that my readers will understand the awesome feeling of community over there extends to all.

I’m a guppy. If you’ve never been to the site AgentQuery Connect that probably doesn’t mean anything to you, but it’s a title I claim proudly.

It takes courage to write. I’ve never been lion-hearted, but I accepted the NaNoWriMo challenge last year and ended up with a 50,000 word manuscript and no idea what to do next. My attempts at editing were well-intentioned and heartfelt, but my first draft was a disaster. Still, I hoped to polish my novel and get published – and I recognized that I needed help.

I searched for weeks and found several cut-throat forums for writers, but I always left them feeling like a naïve idiot. Every critique was a stab at my talent, a crushing blow to my inky ego. In despair, on the brink of tossing out everything I’d ever written, I went back to the NaNoWriMo website. I browsed and felt my hopeful heart sink when I found a page devoted to published WriMos. That will never be me, I thought.

That depressing thought led to a dumb idea and one of those lucky instances when a dumb idea turns out to be inspired. I arbitrarily picked a name and emailed the former WriMo (I really did! Me, an unrepentant chicken!). Against all odds, a day later I actually got an email back. In that email, bless this woman’s kind heart, were links to Miss Snark, Query Shark, and AgentQuery Connect. My sheer good fortune is almost unbelievable in retrospect.

I spent a whole night – from three in the afternoon until five the next morning – on Miss Snark’s blog. It was funny, scary, and completely overwhelming. Query Shark was the same. It was AgentQuery Connect that kept me from falling to pieces. I went to the site and peered into the forums, looking for a hint of the mean-spiritedness found on other websites…but nothing punched me, bit me, or asked for a credit card number. I created a free account, made up a username, and (figuratively) dove in.

I’m a lucky guppy. Not only is AQC a nice place for newbies like me, but they have agented writers willing to answer questions, critique groups for all genres, and forums that I’ve yet to fully explore. Oh, and weekly chats discussing everything an inexperienced guppy needs to know about the business side of writing.

It sounded too good to be true at first. My novel had almost been garbage-fodder and because of this one website I had hope again. I may have wept ink; I know I did cry. After a week of no hidden charges and no rude, snide, or degrading comments, I settled in. With my natural optimism bubbling, I found critique partners for my novel, wrote several terrible queries, and entered the forums with my humble opinions.

To be honest, the only problem I had with AQC was that I felt so welcomed I didn’t write for a week. I just lurked in forums and chatted. Fortunately, AQC moderators are omniscient. ‘The Odometer’ is a new forum where daily, weekly, or long-term writing goals are posted – a place where your word count is scrutinized by friendly AQCers.

I’m not agented or published – I may never be – but I am a writer. AgentQuery Connect helped me recognize the value of my words, and, in honor of their awesomeness, the tattoo GUPPY is forever emblazoned on my forehead (ha, ha-ha. Not really, but I dreamed about doing it).
THANK YOU AQC!

Writing WisDUMB with Michelle Simkins

I'm madly writing the sequel to NOT A DROP TO DRINK, so some of my ultra-helpful talented e-friends over at AgentQuery took me up on an invitation to guest post here on the blog.

My first guest is Michelle Simkins (M_Simkins to AQ'ers), who runs a wonderfully eclectic blog over at Greenwoman and tweets from @MichelleSimkins.  You should follow her.  She RT's me. :)  Michelle decided to write a post about writing advice.  BAD writing advice, or as she calls it - WisDUMB.

You know, there's a lot of advice for writers out there. You could spend ALL of your time "learning how to write" and never get a single word on the screen or on paper. The thing is--who ARE these people giving this advice? Do they know what they're talking about? Have you read their writing? Is it any good? The internet gives everyone a platform, but it does not make everyone an expert. In other words: there's a lot of bad advice out there, y'all.

For the most part I've been lucky in the writing advice I've received. I had (mostly) good teachers in high school and college who gave me a wealth of useful information on the craft of writing (No, really, they were great. Anything wrong with my writing is ALL MY FAULT). But I've received a few pieces of very silly advice over the years. Here are my top four (or would that be BOTTOM four?):

1. Don't use semicolons. After I read this comment in a critique from a writing coach, I wondered, "Is she telling me this because I'm using them WRONG?" So I asked The Chicago Manual of style. I was using the semicolon correctly. I'm not sure where my instructors punctuation prejudice came from. She was, in all other respects, a sensible woman with very sound advice.

I think punctuation marks, like vocabulary, are valuable tools when used appropriately. Of course moderation should be practiced, but sometimes nothing but a semicolon will do. Roy Peter Clark, author of The Glamour of Grammar (which I highly recommend), describes the semicolon as "a gate that stands between two thoughts, a barrier that forces the separation but invites you to pass through to the other side." When a period is too much, but a comma isn't enough, I reach for my semicolon.
In the grand scheme of things, "don't use semicolons" isn't an especially horrible piece of advice. But I'm wary of any advice that tells me not to use one of the weapons in my arsenal.

2. Write what you know. We've all heard it, haven't we? But I think it's a load of horse pucky. You want me to write what I know? What I know is working dead-end clerical jobs and spending too much time on the internet. If I write what I know, it will be therapy, not fiction. YES, I think you need to have a life outside of fiction to write fiction that feels real. YES, I think you need to do your research if you don't want to sound like an idiot. YES, I think it's a good idea to infuse your fiction with real-life details from your own experiences and the experiences of people you know. But in my opinion, if you want to actually finish that novel, and have people read it with pleasure? Write what you love. You can learn what you need to know.

3. Write something meaningful. To be honest, I'm not sure if this advice was given to me by someone else, or if I made it up myself. But during my adolescence I got this idea that if you're going to write, it should serve a PURPOSE.

While it's GREAT to want to make the world a better place, you will kill your novel if you try to force your agenda on it. Whether you want to entertain, raise awareness of kitten abuse, or suggest a cure for cancer, your first duty as a novelist is to tell a good story. If your story sucks, your message will NOT hit home, no matter how sincere your intentions. If you sacrifice good storytelling for a message, you fail as a writer AND you fail your cause. Sure, there is truth in fiction. A lot of delightful novels are thought provoking and explore important issues. But the thoughts and explorations should evolve organically out of a good story. Put the story first, and its truth will shine through in the end.

4. Eliminate all distractions when you work! INTENSE FOCUS IS THE ONLY WAY. You know what happens when I eliminate all distractions? I get bored. out. of. my. mind. And I abandon whatever I'm working on.

This might not be true for everyone, but it's certainly true for me: Distractions help me get more done. Not just in writing, but in all areas of life. I can focus very, very intensely on something . . . for about 15 to 30 minutes at a time. Then I need to come up for air, look around, Tweet something silly, check my email, sweep the floor, something. Often my distraction is as brief as clicking on my Gmail tab to see if I have a new email, but it's kind of essential. It's like blinking or something.

Maybe I'm weird. Maybe I have undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder. Maybe it's a nervous tension/anxiety thing. Maybe it's just a product of growing up with television (though I didn't watch very much of that) or maybe I'm spoiled by the internet, I don't know. But I do my best work when I have something pleasant to distract me every so often.

That said, I have trouble working in really noisy environments, and (I know everyone will find it shocking) I can't work when my kids are having an argument in my immediate vicinity. So if the advice were re-worded as "Choose your distractions carefully"? Then it would be golden.