Who Do I Believe -- My Gut Or My Critique Partners?

Last week I submitted the latest chapter of my story to my crit group, and while the response was positive (several members said it was my best chapter yet), one of the members expressed concern that even though there were some bits of action near the end, not enough had occurred that pushed the story forward.

In one sense, I have to agree with her. This chapter was meant to be more of a sequel, a time for the character to regroup after the excitement of the previous chapters. A chance for her to learn both about the trouble she’s in and about the new character she’d just found herself partnered with. There’s some action at the end, while she’s trying to escape the bad guys and make it to the bus station, but my CP didn’t think that this wasn’t enough to justify the chapter.

Which leaves me with a dilemma. Do I listen to her and get rid of some of the non-actiony stuff, or do I go with what my gut tells me: that the reader needs (and wants) me to spend some time establishing the relationship between the MC and her paranormal partner before the next wave of action engulfs them. I mean, isn't that pushing the story forward too?

Some of you may suggest the old adage that I should always go with my gut. Unfortunately, my gut has led to plenty of “too much dialogue, not enough action” comments peppering my critiques over the past year, so I know I still don’t have a good feel for the proper proportions. So what's a writer to do?

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what my other crit group thinks when they get the chance to read the chapter.

Isn’t procrastination wonderful?


ChemistKen

P.S.  How do you decide who to believe?

The Insecure Writer and Critiques

Today is February's contribution to Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.




Why am I an Insecure Writer this month? 

Because of the comments I receive from my critique partners.

Don't get me wrong. I expect my CPs to find problems in the chapters I send them. To be honest, I expect them to find quite a lot. Places where I've left the reader scratching their heads because I didn't add enough interior thoughts. Sections where my choice of wording led them astray. Paragraphs with too much confusing dialogue. It’s all part of the learning process and I happily accept that.

Every once in a while, though, I'll receive a comment I just don't understand. It's like they're reading a totally different chapter than the one I sent. And that's when I become discouraged. I'll wonder why I can't see what they see. I'll wonder why they think the MC is thinking or doing things that aren't even close to what I intended. And I'll wonder if I have any clue as to what I'm doing, and whether I'll ever have what it takes to properly express the ideas bouncing around inside my head.

But then I'll spend some time thinking about the chapter and I'll eventually come up with a new way to write it. It doesn't mean my CPs will like it any better than the first version, but at least I'm learning. I hope.

ChemistKen


Question: What comments do your critique partners make that bother you the most?

The Value in Being a Critiquer

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve run into a bit of a stone wall with regards to my new MG fantasy. So this week I dedicated myself to going back and working on my fan fiction story. Since it’s in the revision stage, I get to utilize a different part of my brain, which lets the creative side get some much needed rest.

One of the things I’ve noticed is that the quality of my chapters varies significantly. The first several chapters flow nicely (finally!), but later chapters aren’t as smooth as I remember them being. I suppose this should make me sad (and it does), but not as much as I would have expected. Though I’m disappointed these chapters need more work, I’m pleased my inner editor’s eye is getting better at spotting problems. Paragraphs that seemed fine six months ago now seem weak and flabby.

So why is my inner editor improving? I suspect it’s because of all the critiquing I’ve been doing lately. Searching for bloated paragraphs and inconsistent logic in someone else’s work makes it easier to spot the same problems in your own work. After I've dinged an author for using an awkward sentence structure several times in a chapter, I can't help but spot the same problem in my chapters.  So my advice is to never stop critiquing. And remember, no matter how great your inner editor becomes, you still need to let someone else critique your own work. You’re too close to your own story to see all the problems. Besides, by letting someone else critique your story, you’re helping their inner editor grow too. It’s a win-win situation.

Hmmmm… Will my inner editor ever stop getting better or am I doomed to forever return to my previous chapters and discover they need more work?  Scary thought.

If You Want to Make Your Story Better, Read It To Someone

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I've spent so much time getting my garden ready for summer, I haven't had time to post -- even though I have plenty to post about.
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One piece of advice you hear from agents and writers alike is that you should always read your work out loud to yourself. This gives your ear a chance to catch mistakes and pacing problems that your eyes might miss. Sound advice. But here’s a suggestion to make that advice even better.

Read the text out loud to someone else.

The previous sentence may have caused more than a few skipped heartbeats among the more bashful of writers out there. It’s hard enough handing your baby over to someone who’ll read it in silence. Trust me, I understand. But I cannot overstate the power of this technique.

Some critique groups operate by having everyone send in their submissions ahead of time, so that each member has a chance to critique the work prior to the meeting, saving the meeting for the actual discussions and arguments. My local critique group does things a bit differently. There are no pre-submissions. We show up and read our pages out loud. We often provide hard copies so that the group can read along and mark up the pages with comments as they wish, but many of the group members close their eyes and focus on their initial reactions to the words.

And one thing I’ve learned is that no matter how clever your words looked on paper, or sounded when you read them out loud to yourself, you’ll be stunned by their apparent lameness when you read them to someone else. The parts of your chapter that need work will stand out like spaghetti stains on a white shirt. Flabby passages will sear your eyeballs and make you wonder why you ever thought you could write. Most of the time, you’ll find far more problems with your work than your critique partners ever will.

Reading out loud also makes it easier for your partners to spot pacing problems. As readers, we’re used to skimming over sections of a story that don’t hold our attention—even if we’re not always aware we’re doing it. But when we listen to a story, scenes that drag stick out like a sore thumb. Try listening to a book on tape sometime and you’ll see what I mean.

I remember listening to a chapter at my critique group a few months ago that had a slow beginning. When I read back over the hard copy to mark the offending pages, I was shocked to discover that the boring section was only two paragraphs long. It had only seemed liked two pages when I was listening.

So if you really want your words to shine, force yourself to read them to someone else. You might be embarrassed, but you’ll be glad you did.

The Value of Not Leaving Your Character Alone

My CP dinged me the other day as being too stingy with my MC’s thoughts. And she’s right. It’s one of the (many) areas of writing I need to work on. Interior monologue is a necessary part of fiction, the time when the character ponders what has happened or what is happening or what might be about to happen. It can be used to deliver necessary information and to keep the reader firmly in the mind of the character. After all, stories can’t always be about non-stop action. Sometime the MC just needs to stop and think about things.

This problem often manifests itself when I write a scene with lots of dialogue. I forget to add the character’s thoughts because I assume the reader can figure out what the MC is thinking by his words and actions. This may be true in some cases, but without those bits of interior thought, my characters can seem emotionless and distant.

My biggest challenge occurs when my character is alone and he’s feeling some sort of emotion (nervousness, fear, confusion). Other writers seem to be able to write pages and pages of interior monologue without sounding either overdramatic or heavy handed. Not me. My attempts to write emotionally charged interior thoughts tend to devolve into a morass of cringe-worthy prose within two or three sentences.

The solution? My CP suggested I bring in a throwaway character to solve the problem. Instead of my MC waiting at a train station by himself, thinking about how nervous he is, I'll have a chatterbox show up. That way my MC’s nervousness can be shown by how he responds to the incessant chatter. I'm looking forward to see how well that works.

Question: Do you consider yourself good or bad at adding interior thoughts?

The Best Time to Write?

It’s weekends like this that make me happy when Monday rolls around. After two birthday parties for my son, attending a two hour Tae Kwon Do class to watch my daughter test for her green belt, and running the local Robofest computer club meeting (the big competition is next week!), going to work today seems like a breeze. And this doesn’t include the two chapters I critiqued for my CPs or the many hours I spent attempting to solve a major problem with my own manuscript. Not bad for a weekend.

I learned one thing this weekend. The part of my brain I depend on for writing works best during the morning and early afternoon. After staying up till 1:30 on Friday trying to fix my second chapter – with little success – I woke up the next morning and promptly solved the problem in less than thirty minutes while vacuuming the house in preparation for the first of the birthday parties. I suppose it could have been the act of pushing the vacuum around that set my creative juices flowing, but I doubt it. I always do my best writing during the early part of the day.

Too bad that all my free time comes at night.

So when do you guys do your best work?

The Insecure Writer and Critiques

Today is March's contribution to Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.






What makes me most insecure as a writer this month? Something which I’m sure you all can relate to. Critiques of my first chapter just arrived in my Inbox.

My very first critiques.

Ever.

It’s not the first time someone has read this chapter. I let both my wife and daughter read them before I sent them out to my shiny new CPs, but neither my wife nor daughter have any experience with writing and I knew they’d say nice things no matter what I wrote. But taking the words you’ve sweated over for months and sending them to complete strangers, people who actually know something about writing fiction, can be a wee bit intimidating.

Fortunately, both CPs had some good things to say about my chapter. They also pointed out plenty of errors as well, which are fixable, along with suggestions which I think will make it a better chapter. However – and you knew there had to be a however, right? – one of them mentioned something that took me by surprise.

You see, in this opening chapter, I tried to show that the MC is a nice guy who is disorganized and easily walked over by others. (I did all this by showing instead of telling by the way, a fact of which I’m proud.) Unfortunately, one of the CPs came away with the impression that my MC was lazy, messy, mean, and a liar. Someone she found unsympathetic.

Whoa!

Worried, I read back through the chapter and, sure enough, I saw her point. Without knowing his backstory the way I did, it was easy to construe his actions in a way I hadn’t intended. Since I knew his backstory, his actions made sense to me, but the reader wouldn’t understand any of this until they had gotten deeper into the story. Definitely time for some editing!

I’ve scarcely begun the journey to being a writer and I already know the importance of critique partners.

Does any remember their first critiques?