Blogger: Rachelle Gardner
Are you in a critique group or do you have a critique partner?
Do you regularly share your writing with a friend/writer/editor who gives you suggestions for changes and corrections?
Are you frequently sharing pages of your work-in-progress (WIP) with someone who copyedits you along the way?
If so, there may be too many cooks in your kitchen. And you may be in danger of any number of pitfalls: losing your voice, losing your motivation, or getting STUCK.
I’ve had conversations with two authors recently who each told me they were “stuck” and needed my help. They couldn’t seem to move forward on their manuscripts. Careful digging on my part revealed that both of these authors were writing chapters, then allowing a writer/editor friend to look them over, offering critique and feedback. Sounds normal, right? Wrong. In both cases, the person offering the advice wasn’t clear on what type of advice is appropriate for an author working on the first draft of a creative piece.
Here’s what’s not appropriate: any type of copyediting or line editing. That means: correcting grammar, punctuation, capitalization, redundancies, typos, format, specific word choices, awkward phrasings.
Here’s what’s appropriate to discuss in the first-draft stage.
For fiction: plot, characterization, dialogue, pacing, flow, scene-crafting, dramatic structure, hook, point-of-view, suspense, readability, author’s style and voice, general appeal and overall fiction technique.
For non fiction: structure, clarity of ideas, logical flow, continuity, readability, transitions, author voice, clear and concise arguments and explanations, interest level and general appeal.
When you’re in the first-draft writing stage, you need to pay attention to big picture issues. Later, in revisions, you will worry about more detailed concerns.
If you get too concerned about a word here and a comma there, you risk becoming flat stuck in no time. It’s a left-brain, right-brain thing. Let those right-brain creative juices flow, unhampered by the logical, rational left-brain. The right brain is known for looking at wholes, i.e. big picture. That’s where your creativity comes from. The left brain is characterized by looking at parts, i.e. tiny details. That’s where your ability to edit and rewrite comes from. Don’t try to do both at one time! That’s why you get stuck. Your right and left brain are tripping over one another.
I recommend critique groups all the time. What concerns me is the critique groups that are not functioning in their intended manner. The members may not be aware of what level of feedback is necessary and appropriate at which stage of the writing process.
Evaluate your crit group and editorial helpers. Determine if what they’re doing is helping you or hampering you. Decide if you can gently lead your partners in a more productive direction, or if you need to stop showing them your work. Sometimes all it takes is to clearly ask them for what you need: “I’m not interested in detail editing, I want to know what you think of my overall voice in these few pages and if you think the plot is headed in the right direction. How’s my character development? Am I maintaining reader interest?”
Tell me about your critique group or anyone who helps you with your writing. Is it working? What could be improved?
Ah, Rachelle, clarity! I have been part of two on-line critique groups that fell apart. Your post explains why the groups didn’t work. Too much right advice at the wrong stage. Punctuation tweaks tacked on shaky foundations.
*Our Andrew, on the other hand, gave me big-picture advice. Changed the whole nature of the book. Do-over! I am grateful, but I confess to an agitated conversation with God about the timing (“Really, Lord, this couldn’t have come before I was almost done?” **sigh**).
Shirlee, thank you…reading your work was a privilege, and it changed me, opening my eyes to an aspect of the ALmighty I had never before seen.
I’m blessed to be in an amazing critique group. Each person brings different points to my attention. Thanks for reminding us to keep the big picture in mind as we start this process.
Great post, Rachelle, and something that definitely needed to be addressed. I think a lot of people will come away from this with fresh eyes.
* For a complementary look at professional editors, y’all might want to check Jamie Chavez’ current post –
http://www.jamiechavez.com/blog/2016/03/ive-looked-up-ive-looked-down-are-you-my-editor/
* I’m not a member of a crit group; it wouldn’t be a good idea for me now, as an issue unrelated to writing has made me lose confidence in my message and voice, and it is NOT the function of a crit group to act as a cheering section and bolster self-esteem. That’s an unfair burden to place on anyone.
* When I have critiqued other work, I’ve tried to maintain the big-picture approach but keeping in mind the proviso – which may be wrong – that small issues of phrasing can cause some pretty big ripples, and throw off the intended tone.
* When I was learning about writing, under Marvin Mudrick, he ran a class in which he would, for three hours, sit at a desk in a lecture hall and read aloud (and anonymously) the work placed before him at the beginning of the session, and then open up a time for comments on each.
* It could be acutely embarrassing, when one realized that one’s voice was either unintentionally funny, or hopelessly maudlin, but that a disinterested person was reading did both remove some of the sting (it wasn’t really ME they were laughing at in the tearjerking bits!) and offer a measure of clarity (I am going to burn this when I get home).
* But this literary version of a Red Chinese re-education camp was probably the best thing that happened to me; it made me realize that while my writing was then hopeless, so was everyone else’s, and that there were some relatively obvious things to avoid – and chief among these was the biggest trap for young players, the Sensibility Story, in which the protagonists feelings, rather than actions, are showcased.
* Once you stop writing Sensibility Stories, said the esteemed Dr. Mudrick, the sky’s the limit. Nothing can stop you except getting hit by a bus.
Helpful and interesting, Andrew.. Sensibility vs action, that’s new to me.
Thank you, Andrew, for your kind mention!
Good thoughts here.
Andrew, I’d love to know more of what you mean about the Sensibility Story. That’s a concept that has really struck my interest. 🙂
Natalie, the Sensibility Story is one that revolves around how ‘sensitive’ the protagonist (often first-person) is, in his or her response to the events of the plot.
* It’s something like the bathetic “I feel your pain” that we often here from politicians. In the end, it’s a kind of hijacking of emotion, to make the protag or narrator seem like a paragon of understanding, and to make this individual the center of attention, rather than the person who’s actually hurting.
* Does this help?
Forgot to mention one thing, sorry…but it could be important.
* You don’t have to incorporate the changes suggested by crit partners…and as a critiquer, you should never be hurt if your suggestions are not used. There has to be an impartiality in the relationship, in both directions.
What a great post, Rachelle. Being able to look at a work based on the stage of the process it’s in is an important aspect of critiquing.
*I’m not currently part of a crit group. When I was in one, I learned that it was important not to cut out someone’s voice, no matter the draft.
*I have a reader friend who reads my first draft for those big picture things. From the beginning I’ve told her not to go easy on me and to be honest about characterizations, plausibility issues and plot. She’s been very helpful in giving me insight to see strengths and weaknesses in my story as I’m writing. Her perspective from a reader has been so helpful for me in developing my stories.
*I know it’s also important to have writers looking at my stories, and networking with other writers is helping me find those who can help me and whom I can help.
Thank you for clarifying the “what to do and when” while critiquing, especially regarding the battle of right-brain vs left-brain. Your advice not only explains what to expect from a good critique partner, but also why there were times when I needed to stop writing and ask for specific feedback on an MS. I was personally sabotaging my own first draft, creative progress.
In a conversation with a friend I once said, “I’ve half a mind to…”
* He interrupted, “Well, we do the best with what we’ve got.”
I have a rock solid crit partner who I trust with my work. She trusts me with hers. I also have a few reader friends/beta readers who will tell me the non-writer observations. And a few writer friends I toss things at.
The system I have works for me, and there aren’t people trying to change my voice.
Although, my husband would really, really like it if I included the phrase “a hail of bullets” in at least one of my books. He’s kinda cute, so maybe in the dedication.
Shouldn’t it correctly be “a ballistium of bullets”?
Not a clue.
But I’m certain it isn’t “a bail of hullets”.
Perhaps “a ballot of bullets”? (That might actually make a good title.)
* If it’s not ballistium, it should be, as it has the appropriate root, and ballistii are musical/lyrical compositions that accompany dance.
I don’t have a critique group of fellow writers but I would dearly love to. I’m not sure how to find that right person or set of a few people who can tell me what’s good and what’s bad from the professional point of view of a writer. When you live in the 5th largest state in the U.S. and there are fewer than 20 ACFW members in almost 122,000 square miles, it’s hard to connect with any writers, let alone the right ones to be critique partners. I’m heading to the Colorado Springs chapter workshop this weekend hoping to make some connections and learn something helpful for starting a chapter in the greater Albuquerque area (that’s about a 100-mile radius).
*What I do have is about half a dozen friends who love to read who are willing to read my manuscripts upon completion and give me negative comments. One is a former school teacher familiar with literature, one is a tech writer who is writing his first novel, and the rest are people who love to read and have good language skills. I ask them to watch for places that drag, for places where something seems to be missing or not believable, where the characters don’t talk and act like real men and women would in the same situations, where something seems inconsistent with the culture of the historical period, and where the spiritual conversations and internal musings don’t feel like real people talking or thinking, i.e., not preachy or stilted. I tell them it’s the negative comments that I want most of all because that helps me fix problems I can’t see myself. I do get some negative comments with real substance, but it’s hard to know if I should be getting more.
Appreciate this. It gives us some structure where needed. It’s like the saying, ‘You can’t see the forest for the trees,’ by getting hung up on the details rather than the big picture too early in the process. I am not in a critique group right now, but it’s on the horizon. . .I’m working on it. This gives me some guidelines. Great post.
Mrs. Brumbaugh, we have a saying that the woodcutter need not be concerned with the extent of the forest, except upon leaving and entering it, and in considering its summation of resources. While the English translation is awkward in the extreme, perhaps one might paraphrase by saying that, like Jonah, we as writers are concerned with the details of the experience of being in the belly of the literary whale. The larger view is a place we can only reach through the individual footsteps of detail.
If you are able to spare a moment, I would be most interested to hear your views.
I would say, it helps to have clear, clean thinking as to where you’re heading with your book and your critiques. I recently completed a 105,000 word nonfiction manuscript. Then I had the opportunity to enter it into a book contest where the limit was 90,000 words. Without too much trouble, I removed 15,000 words from the body of the manuscript without minimizing its message/content. What that little exercise showed me is that I have a lot of unnecessary add-on’so (fluff), digressions, in my writing, and that I do too much expanding when it is really not all that necessary. It also taught me to tighten my writing and make every detail relate back to the topic in some way. That is an example of seeing the forest, the ‘big’ idea. The way I understand it, the details are all the supporting facts and the mechanics of grammar and structure. Thank you for sharing your ‘forest’ saying. I liked it.
I am not certain that what I shall endeavour to say is within the purview of this post, but I ask your indulgence, Mrs. Gardner, and that of your readers.
In the telling of stories that necessarily involve a multicultural setting, I have assembled a coterie of trusted confidants who are Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, and Christian, and to these I entrust my thoughts and words. I do not want to misrepresent other viewpoints, particularly now, when so much of the basis of all religion has been lost.
Would you expand on “…basis of all religion has been lost.” I am curious what you mean by this. I write spiritual material on my blog, so I am curious what you mean in your statement. You may privately respond if you wish. My email address: nlbrumbaugh@gmail.com
As I see it, Mrs. Brumbaugh, all have strayed far from the simple principles of non-judgemental compassion that leaves the Godhead as the final arbiter. The starkest discrepancy seems to be between Islam and Christianity; every sura in the Qu’ran begins with “Bis’mallah ar-rahman ar-rachim”, but compassion and mercy are far from the teachings found in many mosques; and whilst Christians are enjoined to “judge not, lest ye be judged” many are quick to judge temporal affairs, and even eternal destinies, without calling to mind that “with man nothing is possible, but with God all things are possible”.
I’m not in a crit group at the moment either. I have a few readers … one in particular is an avid reader and not afraid to express her opinion. I appreciate that. But I usually go to them after my MS is complete, and I’ve had time to edit it a few times. I don’t like to stop once I get started writing … after I’ve plotted my story and know the major points I need to hit and where, I want to press through till the end. It would be hard for me to stop after each chapter and wait for feedback, etc. In the first draft, I don’t trust others to guide my story more than I trust myself. 🙂
I sure agree with you, Shelli…I’ve done the chapter-by-chapter thing once, with someone to whom I would literally trust my life (who is part of this community). That worked out well, because of my friend’s grace and wisdom…but without a person of that stature, I’d dare not try it.
Like you, Shelli, I like feedback on the completed manuscript. I’m a plotter, but I don’t write in strict sequence. I try out ideas verbally on my husband to check the reasonableness of particular scenes written from the male POV, but that’s the only real-time feedback I get. Since I write 300-2000 words a day, virtually every day with no desire for a day off, I couldn’t stand waiting for a chapter-by-chapter feedback delay.
What that does mean is that the request to critique is a pretty big request in terms of the critiquer’s time commitment.
I would love to read one of your MS, Shelli, if you ever want me to.
Carol, that is so, so sweet!! I may take you up on that. 🙂
Great subject, Rachelle! I was confused on this when I first started working with a critique group. I didn’t think the group could help with my content because it was stepfamily-related and most in the group lived in traditional homes. I thought they would give suggestions related to grammar, sentence structure, etc. Over time, however, I’ve learned you don’t have to live in a stepfamily to understand the dynamics and they’ve offered wonderful advice on the content of my manuscript. Thankfully, the leader of our group understands your advice that we need to stay on track regarding clarity, flow, author voice, etc. and always gets us back on track if we start to stray.
It is so hard to find a good critique group. I’ve tried to start one several times, and each time it fell apart for various reasons. I wish there was a good online critique group available, but you have to be careful of that, too, really.
Hi Rachelle,
This comment doesn’t answer your question, but I’ve given a lot of thought to your post.
Different writers/readers/critiquers bring different gifts to the critique table.
I appreciate people who can recognize and articulate the large problems I need to address with my stories. Because I may need to tear apart a story and delete paragraphs, scenes, or even entire chapters, I consider big-picture comments before I address suggestions about grammar and word choices.
I appreciate your wise advice to ask for what we need in critique group. Yet, this is the place where grace meets discernment. Some people are better at the big picture, and others are better with the details. I appreciate the time and effort others expend to critique my work. I know they are giving me the best they can at the time, even if I can’t use it all.
We can ask for what we need and thank everyone for their comments. However, when we dive into a rewrite we also maintain authorship when we address each comment and decide whether to accept it or not.
Recently I met with some other writers to discuss what is and isn’t working in our critique groups. I’m sending them the link to this blog article. Thank you for your helpful post.
Thanks Rachelle, I totally agree. Too much editing, too soon can really interrupt the process.
Thank you for giving us permission to identify the “big picture” things we newer authors feel we need from our critique groups. Your clarity on this is appreciated.
I ask my beta readers/critiquers to look for three things.
Like-ability, plause-ablity and snooze-ability. Did you like the characters? Did you believe the premise? Did it put you to sleep?
Everything else will be between me and a coach/agent or editor.