Posts Tagged ‘Critique Partners’
I LOVE my critique partners. I have a very small group of friends who I’ve been working with for a very long time and they are amazing. I also have lots of critique support through my local Shop Talk. They never let me down. And then there’s my amazing buddies from the Class of 2k12 and the Apocs that I can ALWAYS call upon. But recently I’ve joined a new critique group I’m very excited about. We call ourselves The Ladies Noir and we’re a group of 30 YA authors supporting each other with critique and promo. I’m loving this diverse group already and I’m happy to begin sharing one of these great YA authors with you. PIXILATED by L.S Murphy is on TBR list but I wanted to be a part of her Book Blitz, so I’ll tell you about how awesome it was later. For now, here’s what you need to know to be excited…
Pixelated
by L.S. Murphy
Release Date: 06/30/15
Bloomsbury Spark
Summary from Goodreads:
Senior Year.
Middle of nowhere.
What’s the new girl to do?
For Piper Marks, the answer is simple. She’s determined to have her photography rock the cover of National Geographic someday, and moving to Clarkton, Iowa for her last year of high school is not going to stop her. Even if her usual subjects have changed from bright lights and skyscrapers to fields, cows…and more fields.
But when photographer at the local paper quits in a huff, she steps into his spot. Her new job keeps Piper busy capturing tackles, and zooming in on first downs and end zone dances, not to mention putting her directly in the path of varsity football star Les Williams IV. Her new friends warn her off, but she can’t resist the pull she feels toward this mysterious country boy. But this small town is keeping a secret, and it’s one that could destroy any chance they have to be together.
It’s up to Piper to decide what to do with the distorted truth. Can she risk exposing her heart? It might be worth it, ’cause Les is about to change her world from black and white to fully saturated color.
Add to Goodreads
Buy Links:
AMAZON│BARNES & NOBLE│KOBO
Praise for Pixelated:
“In Pixelated, L.S. Murphy weaves a complex web of secrets and lies with a ‘will they or won’t they’ romance that kept me turning pages and holding my breath!” ~ Julie Reece, author of The Artisans and Crux
“Beautifully written, with a full spectrum of emotion and complex characters, Pixelated will tug at all your heartstrings. I easily lost myself in the world L.S. Murphy created and couldn’t stop reading because I needed to see how the story ended.” ~ Kelly Oram, author of Cinder & Ella
“L.S. Murphy brings something for every reader with Pixelated: romance, secrets, mystery, and a main character torn between two choices. Murphy’s writing is sharp and steeped in emotions, deftly hooking her readers from the first sentence to the last.” ~ Sarah Bromley, author of A Murder Of Magpies
About the Author
L.S. Murphy obsesses about St. Louis Cardinals baseball, fangirls over her favorite authors, and watches every episode of Doctor Who like it’s the first time. When she’s not doing those time-consuming things, the former farm-girl turned city slicker turned suburbanite writes sweet romances for teens and adults.
Author Links:
Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook
GIVEAWAY:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Book Blitz Organized by:
YA Bound Book Tours
I’m completely intrigued by a girl wanting her work to grace the cover of a National Geographic–what intrigues you the most about PIXILATED???
Tags: Bloomsbury, Bloomsbury Spark, Critique Partners, Critque, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, L.S. Murphy, PIXILATED, The Ladies Noir, YA Bound Book Tours
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Recently the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks has been all over twitter and the blogoshere. I’ve loved hearing and seeing the amazing requests for books and covers to reflect all the lives and faces of readers. I’ve also found the surrounding blog posts extremely interesting. They have often insightfully commented on the speed bumps we put in our own path to making change. But today I’m talking about something a little bit different. #WeNeedDiverseCritsOnOurManscripts
Not exactly the same thing, but as a writer, also pretty important.
It doesn’t matter if you’re an unpublished newbie or the author of multiple successful books. At some point, you need to have eyes other than your own on your manuscript. Of course, if you’re John Green or Veronica Roth, you’ve probably got some very eager and talented higher-ups in publishing who are willing to give feedback. But I would also imagine they have a secret stash of trusted people who will give them honest feedback on their work. And I would hazard a guess, that while those special people may not all be in publishing, they are intelligent readers who bring special insight to the table. This diversity is really important.
I very recently finished up a draft of a project to send to my agent. Because this project is a little different than what I’ve previously worked on, I really needed to have a wide swath of readers to give me feedback before I sent it for it’s first date with my agent. I don’t want to give away too much about my shiny new project. *hugs project protectively* But I have to tell you, despite having close to a dozen pairs of diverse eyes looking it over, I received very little overlapping advice on how to tighten the story. And even better, most of the suggestions were excellent and incorporated. The readers who gave me critiques saw my work with unique filters and now my writing is richer because of their vision.
Here are some general suggestions for finding diverse critiques for your writing. Since I write for kids, I’m gearing my advice to similar writers, but I think you can effectively extrapolate on the idea if you write outside of kid lit. Also keep in mind that too much advice can make you crazy. Pick your readers wisely. You should also be aware of your inner compass–be prepared to pass over advice that does’t resonate with you. Know your own voice and stick with it. But just as important, be open to trying something that doesn’t initially feel comfortable. You can always return to the original. Here are some of my suggestions for getting diversity into your critiques…
*Find someone who represents your target audience. They don’t have to be a writer–just a reader. How do they organically respond to your writing. Do they emote in the correct places? Do they get confused? Do they dislike a character they are supposed to be rooting for?
*Find someone who teaches your target audience. They know your target audience intimately, but they bring a unique perspective. Is the reading level too high? Is the topic one that kids are looking for more information on? Is your dialogue completely outdated?
*Find a children’s librarian. They know what is being checked out and read over and over again. They may also be able to help you find readers in your target audience if you are having trouble with that.
*Find a parent of a child in your target audience that takes an avid interest in their children’s reading. (This is less important with teens, but can be an interesting perspective) For younger kids, it is often the parent who is doing the reading. Will a parent want to read this book over and over again with their child? And not that you always care whether they do or not (sorry parents–ultimately we write for kids) but do the parents want to ban your book? It’s never bad to know what you’re up against.
*Find an expert that compliments your subject matter. Writing historical fiction? Writing about a medical issue? Writing about a unique location? Have someone look your manuscript over who is knowledgable in the area you are writing about.
*Find someone who has great editorial skills. It’s fabulous if you can find a crit partner that knows spelling, grammar and the proper way to set up a manuscript for submission. Especially if this is an area you are weak in. *coughs*
*Find a friend who understands your emotional personality. We write with our hearts and that’s a good thing. It is a bonus to have a reader that is keyed into the deeper threads of your story. You need someone who can point out the places where those threads are seamlessly woven and on the other hand, where you’ve gotten yourself into a knot.
*Find fresh eyes. Sometimes, no matter how lovely and talented the above critique partners are, you need fresh eyes. When someone has gone over multiple drafts of your project, they can provide a lot of amazing feedback, BUT they can also get too close to the work. They may forget that they know something only because it was in a previous draft of your writing. They are familiar–too familiar with the story. Sometimes their knowledge of your manuscript can taint their response to it. At this point, it’s always nice to get a fresh pair of well rounded eyes to look over your writing with no preconceived notions.
Did I miss any? Do you have any other recommendations for utilizing diverse crit partners for your manuscript? Please share. Or if you have any questions, fire away!
And remember–it takes time to go through all those notes you get back from a critique. But it also takes time for someone to read your work and write you those notes. Not every person can drop everything to attack your MS in a pinch. Know your timeline and never forget to return the favor. Thoughtful critiquing makes you a better writer and a much more awesome human being. :o)
Tags: critique, Critique Partners, diversity, drafting, Kim, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, revision, writing
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I am so excited. *fist pump* I’m almost done with my revision of THE OPPOSITE OF GRAVITY and I’m confident I’ll be turning it over to my crit partners this week!!!! I’ll be tweaking and tinkering some more while my critters do their magic, then I’ll have to turn around their suggestions. But even with that left on my plate, I’m up over the hump of this monster. I feel really, really good right now and I try to never ignore those little moments of success. *Woo Hoo!* Those highs are what gives me momentum to get back up the other side when I hit the next hump in the publication process.
And though putting myself out there–the waiting and risk of failure is hard–you know that I’m a girl who gets excited about possibility. The idea of getting this book back into the hands of my agent gives me tingles.
POSSIBILITY.
POTENTIAL.
These are some of my favorite P words besides pizza and plethora. My little book is growing up and getting ready to go out into the world. *grin* This makes me very happy. A little nervous, but very, very happy.
Where are you in your writing process or in any big life project you’re working on? Do you like roller coasters? Are you able to celebrate each individual hump that you rise above? And do you scream on the way down????
Tags: critique, Critique Partners, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, revision, roller coasters, The Opposite of Gravity
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I’ve been thinking about manuscript critiques a lot lately. This might be because I’m evaluating the manuscripts of two different friends. It’s a ton of fun, but so much work. It is a time consuming process, but if you do it right, it can be as beneficial to you as it is for the person you’re helping.
Have you ever critiqued someone else’s writing?
It is scary (or at least it was for me) the first couple times I did it. I second guessed everything I commented on. Then I expended just as much energy worrying about what I had missed. I was convinced that I was an idiot who lacked the magic editorial gene. I KNEW I was doing it wrong.
What I didn’t realize is that critiquing is a lot like writing. It’s a muscle that gets stronger when it’s flexed. Or to make it easier to visualize–it’s just like running. The more you do the activity, the better you become at it. You get faster and go further. But running doesn’t just make you a better runner, as you become stronger, you become a better athlete. The benefits carry over.
So how does this translate to writing? Sometimes it’s hard to practice the things that we’re learning (about writing) in our own writing. We have so many balls up in the air at one time, some days we’re just lucky not to knock ourself unconscious trying to keep them all aloft. CLONK! When we work on someone else’s manuscript, we have the distance needed to safely practice using the tools in our bag of tricks. And the beauty of this, is that our critique partner wants the exact same skill-set we’re bringing to the table. They want fresh eyes. It’s win-win for everyone.
Now, I freely admit that over time, I’ve grown by leaps and bounds in my ability to make suggestions in a manuscript. The very fact that I’ve been through several rounds of edits with my brilliant editor,
Anica Rissi of
Simon Pulse, has given me the equivalent of a master class in critiquing. And I won’t lie–I’m a lot more helpful now than I ever was. Do I still have a long way to go? You betcha! But, even when I started critiquing and didn’t really know my ass from my elbow–you know what? I was still giving a good and helpful critique.
Huh?
Seriously–I was–because I cared. I read the manuscript with the same attention that I would want for my own book. I commented with praise for the things that I thought were well done. I tried to be honest in a kind way. My suggestions for improvement were not attacks. I gave a good critique because, at the core, I’m an avid reader. I might not have been able to point out the same details I know today, but I could give an honest evaluation of when I was confused and state why. I could tell you why character A made me swoon and why character B infuriated me. In the margins, I carefully logged my organic responses as a reader. And even though a question I raised, might get clarified two sentences later, the author now had a running record of my thoughts and how I processed their writing. This is valuable.
If you are a writer, you should have your work critiqued. You’ll learn a tremendous amount from the experience. You should also evaluate the writing of your peers. It is an equally powerful exercise. In the video below,
Jackson Pearce gives a visual guide of how to work with a critique partner. She gives great advice.
Take it a step further if you must… There are lots of things that you can do to enhance the critique experience. There are a million blogs and books and videos that will give you wonderful advice on how to do it better. Or even how to survive a bad critique partner. *shudders*
But in my opinion, if you’re a kind and thoughtful person, the only way you can really mess up a critique, is by being too afraid to try. So get out there and throw on those scarves, hats and gloves. Pull the skirt out of your Buddy’s underwear. We are a tribe. We work together to up the quality of everyones writing. And equally as important, to ensure that no one gets picked to star in the show What Not to Wear. Team work is excellent!
What is your favorite tip for critiquing or being critiqued?
Additional critiquing resources:
Tags: Anica Rissi, Critique Partners, Jackson Pearce, Kimberly Sabatini, Simon and Schuster, Simon Pulse
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