The Value of Critique Partners

Priceless, if you have the right ones.

Critique partners don't just read your manuscripts. They read, love, hate (really!), tear apart, encourage, advise, brainstorm, and are there for you whether you get rejections or acceptances.

• Example 1:

My first three critique partners were unique in that we all wrote different genres. Two got how I wrote, one didn't. But the one that didn't gave me a piece of advice I've never forgotten.

One of the best of the three in critiquing told me that I should hack away (not in so many words) how I'd started the romance they were reading, and begin the story with the scene from around the second chapter, I think it was.

Wow. I couldn't get my mind around that one. I loved my baby the way I'd created it. There wasn't anything wrong with the way I wrote the beginning chapter. Blah, blah, blah.

So, the CP that didn't always get my type of writing, said, "Put it away. Don't look at it for a few days, weeks, whatever. Give yourself time. Then revisit it and see what you think."

I did. I listened. I cut.

Now I can't understand why I ever thought differently. The story is MUCH stronger because I listened to those CPs' advice.

• Example 2:

One of the novels I'm working on is an edgy (dealing with strong subjects such as abuse) contemporary. Recently, I got critiques back from three different CPs. On one of them, Mary suggested I build more suspense into the first chapter by lengthening the scene, and then she suggested that my heroine do some of that in the garden.

Now that might not sound like much to you, but to me, working behind the scenes, it was just the thing that worked in my brain. I started to plot and think how I could do it. I was able to go back and rework the chapter, and it worked. Stronger. More intense.

Another of these three, Ro (well, Mary does too. Grin.), reacts violently to my manuscript. She hates, hates, hates the antagonists, and even though the protagonist isn't (right now) in any way an angel, she's rooting for her.

Exactly the reaction this type of novel should draw out of a reader. It's exactly what helps me see I'm on track while writing it.

Tearing apart, advising, brainstorming, and reactions from my critique partners all play a huge part in helping me develop the best novel that I can write.

And, of course, that just means, I'm another step closer to publication.

The ultimate goal for a writer.




Quote:
The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new. --Samuel Johnson

Blessings!

Your Inner Self



Went to a writing seminar yesterday. One of the class speakers gave us an exercise which consisted of writing on a large sheet of paper the first six words that came to mind to describe yourself. Here are the words that I thought about and which are important to me:



1. loyalty



2. caring



3. privacy



4. dreams



5. travel



6. family



I'm sure these aren't the only ones that are important to me, but they are some of the top ones.



Here's why:

Loyalty to yourself, to your faith, friends and family. To me, the word speaks of what a person is when he can be called loyal.



Caring is something that comes from deep inside one's self yet it extends beyond self to others. It's a gentleness and concern that is a strong trait of personality.



Privacy is a valuable commodity. It's a place where you feel safety and peace and strength and strong.



Dreams. What would we do without them? Who can really live without a dream--whether small or large, one or many? It gives us something to strive for. Something that makes us look beyond our own little world.



Travel is a fun thing for me. It can be tiresome if used too much or incorrectly, but in its place, experience and knowlege can be gained.



Family. You can't value them too much. Those who have none, wish for it. Those who grumble about them, fight for them when push comes to shove. There's something to be said for knowing that there's always a blood link, always some one to turn to when the chips are down.



Quick: off the top of your head, write six words that are important to you. Then think about it. Why are they?



Have fun!





Quote:

To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it. --Confucius





Blessings

Friendship Footprints

I remember as a child a young girl who I sat with in church at times. She came with her grandparents and was very spoiled. This child always had candy to eat and was encouraged by her grandmother "to share" with me. Her answer? "You don't want any, do you?"

Of course, I did. I was a child myself.

Was she a friend? Nope. At least, if she was she a very shallow one. Selfish and self-centered. I have no idea where she is today or what she became. There was little, if any, friendship to endure the expanse of time.

I know another person I seldom see. When we run across each other, it seems we both enjoy the encounter. We spend the five, ten, maybe even the fifteen or thirty, minutes updating each other and catching up a sporatic amount of news.

A friend? Perhaps. We were at one time. And it could be that if circumstances would deem it so, we could be good friends again in the future.

Now take another person I know. She sends cards now and then and her church has been known to give "special" gifts to hubby and me. But that's not what all is important to me, nor what I cherish. Here are some of her friendship traits:

She's a good listener.
She encourages.
She's loyal.
She's faithful, and tactful, when she doesn't agree with me.
She wants to read my nonsense--and my writing.

That's just for starters.

They've stamped on your heart and left their friendship. You know you can't scare them away when you're despondent or mouthy or grouchy or hyper. They see beneath the surface hurt and read what's really going on.

A good friend? Seen you in the bad times and still with you in the good times.
Now that, my friends, is a real friend!




Feel lonely? Feel like you don't have a friend in the world? Then check out these hints and see if you're following them:

1. Be dependable: do what you say you'll do!
2. Go out of your way to be friendly and to help others.
3. Don't talk about others behind their backs.
4. Don't laugh at the mistakes of others and don't correct them.
5. Do your share; don't be lazy!
6. Don't always try to have your own way.
7. Treat others like you'd like you'd like to be treated

Results: Friends!

Quote:
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever the same.


Blessings

Three things

Three things in life that, once gone, never come back -
1. Time
2. Words
3. Opportunity

Three things in life that can destroy a person –
1. Anger
2. Pride
3. Unforgiveness

Three things in life that you should never lose-
1. Hope
2. Peace
3. Honesty

Three things in life that are most valuable -
1. Love
2. Family &Friends
3. Kindness

Three things in life that are never certain –
1. Fortune
2. Success
3. Dreams

Three things that make a person –
1. Commitment
2. Sincerity
3. Hard work

Three things that are truly constant –
1. Father
2. Son
3. Holy Spirit

Writing advice from tomorrow's interviewee: Teresa Slack --
What makes writing easy?

"Let the characters tell the story!"

Ya'll want to know what next week's contest is about? Sorry! Gotta wait till Tuesday! But it's a good one. You won't want to miss it. Prize? Hmmm. How about a $10 gift certificate to Bob Evans? Sound good? Someone's going to win it; it might as well be you! If more than one person ends up with the correct. . . er . . . solution, then we'll move on to the second round . . . and so on and so on, till we've got us ONE winner!

Did you guess the answer to yesterday's trivia question? You didn't?

Here . . . you . . . go:
What is their similarity?
None of them are really rubies!
For your information:
The ruby is the birthstone for July, however, many stones that are not rubies are nevertheless called rubies. For example:

• The balas ruby is a type of spinel (crystalized mineral);
  
• the Bohemian ruby is rose quartz;
  
• the Siberian ruby is red or pink tourmaline;
  
• the American ruby, Cape ruby, Montana ruby, and Rocky Mountain
  ruby are varieties of garnet.

Interesting. I think I'll be able to use that information in the third book
of my Hickory and Tara Layne series.

Quote:
There are some people who live in a dream world;
And there are some who face reality;
And then there are those who turn one into the other. -- Douglas Everett


Blessings.

Friends

Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything wrote in the sand, "Today my best friend slapped me in the face."

They kept on walking, until they found an oasis where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.

After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: "Today my best friend saved my life."

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone. Why?"

The other friend replied, "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in stone. They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.

Take the time to live!

Do not value the things you have in your life, but value who you have in your life!

(Thank you, Margie, for the above story!)



Winter will soon be over, but until we're sure, thought you'd enjoy this gift suggestion for perhaps a friend's upcoming birthday (or hold it over till next year's December/January/February B.D.):


Snowman Soup
1 pkg hot chocolate mix
3 Hershey kisses
1 handful of miniature marshmallows
1 candy cane (or perhaps some mint patties or the round striped mints)
Optional: Include a fancy spoon or a stirring stick
Put items in a mug and wrap with cellophane.

Include this poem:
Was told you've been real good this year
Always glad to hear it.
With freezing weather drawing (or already) near
You'll need a little Snowman Soup.
Complete with stirring stick
Add hot water, sip it slow
It's sure to do the trick!

Watch the smiles!



Quote:
A true friend is one who is concerned about what we are becoming, who sees beyond the present relationship, and who cares deeply about us as a whole person. --Gloria Gaither


Blessings.