How-tos: Getting Your Full WiP Critiqued

(Or, Network, Plan, and Wait)

Okay. Yes, I know. I’ve been a smidge absent lately. I’m back in the saddle, reading everyone’s blog entries (so many fab ones!), critiquing for my writerly friends, and editing my own writing. I may even get back to Twitter soon (I heart my goat posse!). I’ve been a bit busy with a stuff going on in my real life, and also writing stuff. Writerly speaking, there’s something that has grabbed my attention and forced me to take a new look at the plots in my WiP, and (cue the shock) the plots of my upcoming WiPs. Now, I’ve been a total Pantser (vs. Planner) when it comes to writing. But I might just transform into a Planner, and I’ll tell you why.

But not until Thursday. I’m interviewing the person who has caused this shift in me, the change that’s gotten me soaked in the Planner mode over the past two weeks.

And? I’m going to give away her awesome writerly advice book on Thursday, too. Don’t. Miss. It. You want this book.

But that’s not the subject of this post. I want to dive into full critiques, since I’m doing a lot of them lately. We’ve already discussed chapter-by-chapter critiques, and now it’s time to talk about beta reads. Not the usual how-do-you-critique in beta reads, since I have a couple of posts coming up that will address this, but how to handle the process when your own WiP is ready for betas. If you are an experienced beta critiquer, please (please!) feel free to add and share.

1.       Celebrate. You’ve completed your first draft. Put it away and order a pizza or pour yourself a mug of your best wine. Eat some chocolate (my current fave: Fanny May mint chocolate squares), taking tiny bites and savoring the delicious melting euphoria that only chocolate can offer. Go dancing, sky diving, or some other adequately spirit-bolstering activity. Forget about your draft for at least a week, maybe two. You’re in celebration mode. If you must write, begin a new story.

2.       Read your WiP again. Of course, this step comes after the celebratory step with the week’s worth of wait in between. The best draft to send out to betas is a to-your-knowledge-perfect draft. Or, almost perfect. There might be things that you think can improve, but you can’t put your finger on how to fix it. That’s okay—that’s what critiquerly friends are for But, sentences that are missing words or 987 occurrences of the word very in your text? This is not what you want to burn your beta readers on. You’d like them to focus on those things that you can’t see or fix for yourself. You owe yourself one more read-through.

3.       Network. Hopefully, you’ve been working on your writerly contacts all along. You’ve visited writer’s group websites, blogs, attended conferences, and you know a group of people who you respect, who like you, and who’d love to work with you. In fact, you’d love (love!) to work with them, too. Even if your WiP isn’t quite ready, you can establish relationships and read/comment on other writers’ completed WiPs. It’s time consuming and a whole chunk of work, but the benefits way, way outweigh the drawbacks. Because now? You’ve got your group of serious-minded writers who adore you.

4.       Keep in Touch. When you’ve networked and you’ve done your part in critiquing other WiPs, make sure you keep in touch with these wonderful writerly people until your WiP is ready for them. Let them know every so often where you are with your efforts, and when you think you might need them to beta read/critique.

5.       Plan. As you get to know your critiquerly partners (CPs), you’ll get a general sense of their strengths. You’ll want your critiquerly pie well represented. Some CPs might be better with plot, some with character development. Touch all bases with your betas, and try to do so in logical sequence. Maybe you send your WiP to one or two betas to start, so the next set of betas can focus their specific efforts on a cleaner WiP.

6.       Ask for what you’d like. CP #1 is great with emotions and character depth, so tell her how much you appreciate her talent, and ask her to pay special attention to this in your WiP. Maybe you think you need extra focus on characters X and Z. Ask her. She’ll be happy to give feedback, especially with the green light you’ve flashed her.

7.       Wait. Patiently. It’s a good idea to let your CPs know your overall timeline if you have one, especially if you’re sending beta reads out to phased groups. However, you can’t control what is going on in everyone’s lives. If you haven’t heard from a CP in a long while, check in to make sure they’ve received it without pressuring them to finish. Once you’ve gotten your feedback, wait again before you revise. Let the ideas sink in. The solutions may be utterly obvious, but maybe not. Maybe you’ll come up with a better solution if you let it stew. Put your critiques in the slow cooker and let the ideas waft a while.

8.       Drool with profuse amounts of gratitude. Your fantastic CPs have just read your 50,000-or-so-maybe-more word WiP, have focused as hard as they could on open opportunities in the pages, loved your characters almost as much as you do, and have taken the time to write up their thoughts. It’s a hard thing to do, and it takes skill. Love them for it, and then let them know how much you love them for it.

What else do you do when you send your WiP out for beta reads? I’d love to hear your experiences.

Online Workshops with Crit Groups

(Or, Extra Benefits of Crit Groups)  

A million pardons for repeating myself, but I lurve my online critique group at Write Stuff Extreme. We're a smaller bunch—a boutique group, as they told me when I first joined—with membership always at fifty or so writers.

About once a year, though, our group offers a workshop. Last year, the worshop centered on finding your voice. The one before that went into flash fiction, how it works, and how to write it. Right now? We're doing a plot-your-WiP workshop. So fun. Some of our participants are plotting new WiPs as they gaze longingly at November for nanowrimo. Other participants have WiPs already written, and they are analyzing these projects based on universal plot principles to see if any improvements scream out to them as we go along.

And yes, there's been a bit of screaming. In a good way. I guess Oprah would call these AHA moments.

Do you have an online group that might want to workshop together on plotting before nanowrimo? We're using Martha Alderson's The Plot Whisperer video series, sharing the results of assignments with each other. Consider suggesting some sort of workshop with your group. The results can be phenomenal.

What other things do you do with your critique groups? Have you workshopped something together?

Chapter-by-Chapter Critique Tips

(Or, Writing with the Door Open)


Stephen King advocates writing first drafts "with the door closed." He'd say that the first draft belongs only to the writer. Everyone has her own preferences, but because I participate in an online critique group with a place to post individual chapters for review, I've seen writers go pretty far with the door open.

Are there flaws in a process like this? Of course. For one, it's tough for critiquers to get an overall picture of the WiP. The flow that they would normally get by having the full work isn't there. In fact, if the chapters go up too slowly, then critiquers have a tendency to forget details from previous chapters. And for the writer, the temptation to go back and fix things rather than completing the project can be smothering.

However, I've also witnessed the benefits of this process in avoiding re-work and providing motivation. I like to get about 10,000-20,000 words into a WiP before posting anything, so I'm a part-closed, part-opened mix. But I like to post chapters pre-completion at this point for several reasons.

• Huge Plot Holes: The process provides early feedback which helps avoid re-work later. It's overwhelming to have a completed WiP and then find out that a Huge Plot Hole exists, and will require tons of patching, reworking, and reshaping in order to pull it off. In fact, I've known some writers who completely give up on a WiP at this point.
  
• Get General Thumbs Up: I like to know whether my characters are compelling, if the point of view works, and whether the story garners interest. Again, this helps me to avoid re-work later on. Or maybe, I have to abandon an idea until I come up with a way to fix it. But at least I'm not so far into it that I feel stuck.
  
• Staying Connected: Posting as I go keeps me connected with my writing community. When I'm in my writing zone, I totally go into bear cave mode and not come up for air. Except if I take a few minutes to post a chapter here or there, critique someone else's chapter here or there, I stay connected.
  
• Keeping Motivated: Staying connected also keeps me motivated. Is my critique group waiting for the next chapter? Why yes, yes they are, and they told me so after my last post. How lovely. And this? Helps me finish sooner.
  

Critiquing chapter-to-chapter posts, therefore, might have a different feel than critiquing full projects.* So, what can the critiquer do to ensure they are helping the writer get the biggest bang for her buck?

1. Focus on helping the writer to avoid re-work. Find out where the writer has the most difficulty with first drafts, and help her when she's falling off her wagon. Is the plot faltering? Characters flat? Scenes unnecessary? Does something completely pull you out of the story?
   
2. Don't worry about the perfect diction or polish. This is her first draft, so she won't need to know every comma misplacement or every participle that dangles. Save those suggestions for the final edit. However, if there is a glaring grammar infraction that happens again and again, then go ahead and let her know. It's easier to fix a repetitive issue before it happens rather than to go back and fix each and every one of the infractions later. This goes back to the number one, saving the writer work later on.
   
3. Try to keep past details straight, which is more challenging because of the passage of time between chapters. If you're not sure if something was mentioned earlier, take a quick peek. Even if this detail was mentioned, if it doesn't "do the job," let the writer know.
   
4. As always, take a minute to say what you liked to help keep the in-progress writer motivated, even if you simply write the word LIKE in the margin at the end of a fantastic line. Those tiny compliments always work for me.
   

Again, chapter-by-chapter critiques are not for everyone, and that's okay. Can you think of anything else I've missed for chapter-by-chapter, in-progress critiquing? Let me know.


 

 
*Some people post chapter-to-chapter but have the whole WiP completed before they start. The chapters usually go up faster, and this type of critique works more like a full WiP critique. Therefore, the above suggestions may not apply.


 

 

Part 3 on Critique Pointers

(Or, Newbie Tips for Critiques with Badda Bing)

There are a few ways for new critiquers to begin their beta-reading, advice-hurling, critiquerly journey. One way is to read critiques that other people do (highly recommended). This post gives some ideas on critiquing dialogue, emotion, and areas where the reader might be pulled out of the story. This one contains some tips on critiquing characters, plot, and sensory details. And now? We’ll go in for the kill. The badda bing. We’ll talk about world building, pacing, and Intern’s favorite topic: scenes.

 

Find your inner mobster.*
Note: the best definition of badda boom, badda bing left in the comments wins…my undying respect.

1.    World Building: Whether the setting is imaginary/alternate universe, historical, contemporary/realistic, there is a specific time and place where the MC resides, and it sets the tone for the entire story. To help your crit partner with this part of story craft, ask yourself the following.

~Do you find yourself drowning in descriptions and metaphors or wishing for more?
~Can you see the setting/world in your mind?
~Do you have enough background to understand the rules of the world, especially when rules are broken?
~Have you entered the world and do you feel like the story is possible within that reality?

2.    Pacing: This part of story craft is difficult to explain, but pacing can be seen as the manipulation of time in a story to maximize the impact; or, the rhythm/beat of tension (badda bing), actions, and emotions. Your crit partner may benefit if you ask yourself these questions.

~Do the short, tense moments take up more space than longer, not-as-tense spots? (They should.)
~Is high tension paired with SHOWING, while less tension is paired with TELLING (yes, it’s okay to tell in these places)?
~Do they have spots of tension that appears at regular intervals (e.g., new information/realization, change or deepening of emotion, action/reaction)?
~Do you, as the reader, always want to know what happens next?

3.    Scenes: It is the sequence of scenes that lead to the rise of tension, climax, and resolution of the plot. Every one must be essential. Consider these questions (also see INTERN’s 10 reasons to rewrite a scene).

~Does their scene move the plot forward or keep it at a standstill?
~Does their scene reveal something about the character(s) that cannot be revealed in a different place/scene?
~If the writer is forced to give up the scene, would it leave a huge hole in the story/plot?
~Does their scene strengthen the theme or introduce a crucial symbol in a way that no other scene can?

Remember that the more you critique for specific things, like world building, pacing, and scenes, the easier it is for you to find opportunities to improve your own work. Happy critiquing, writerly friends!

Upcoming post: Thursday’s critiquerly interview is a full scene of awesome sauce. Bring chocolate.

*Posting this image does not constitute a book recommendation. And we should all take care not to kill our CP’s writerly spirit.

Giving “It's Not Quite There” Feedback

(Or, You Have Something Stuck in Your Teeth)  

We've all been there: when someone has—er—something ooky stuck in their teeth. And you? You're the only one courageous enough to even think about telling them. Because if you don't, who knows how long they'll go around talking to other people before they realize for themselves that it's been there, in plain view, since their last meal? They'll know you saw it and didn't tell them. Sure, maybe you'll feel a little uncomfortable, especially if you don't really know them very well. But you have to. You do.

Even so, you probably wouldn't say, Eww. You have something gross right there. Probably spinach. Did you have spinach today?

Wouldn't it be easier if they just came right out and asked you if they had something stuck in their teeth? The pressure is way reduced. Why yes, yes you do have a little something.


 
When a writer asks for feedback on their project, they're—stay with me here—asking if they have something stuck in their teeth. The writer may feel somewhat exposed in opening their art to criticism, but they'd like the critiquer to tell them about any spinach issues before someone else sees their work.

And yet, the deft critiquer would never say, Ewww. You do! It's spinach. Never eat spinach while you write. No, the skilled critiquer hands the writer a mirror and helps the person find their own spinach. (*dramatic pause, as if the preceding sentence has deep, proverbial meaning*)

 
Here's a list that will help you determine your critiquerly deftness.

1. Cite Grammar Rules: It's rarely helpful to edit a grammar transgression each time it happens when it happens over and over—the writer then relies on the critiquer to find these mistakes every time. A quick google search will return a reputable grammar-rules website for almost any grammatical situation a critiquer might need. Is it lay or lie? Grammar Girl knows. Possessive Pronouns? Not to worry. The Basics are explained. To comma or not to comma? GrammarBook provides rules and examples. With critiquerly feedback mostly e-mailed or online, providing links to these rules is easy and it does two things. Thing the first: it takes the critiquer out of the middle. The critiquer didn't make up the rule, doesn't own the rule, and isn't throwing it at the writer to pick on them. The critiquer is just the person who noticed the possible grammar spinach mistake. Thing the second: a link to the rule provides the writer with a more complete explanation, and most writers—when discovering a tool to help them improve their art—will read more than just that one rule. Therefore, the critiquer has provided the writer with yet another way to improve on their own.
   
   
2. Cite Common Writing Improvement Suggestions: The same concept for grammar rules applies to writing tips, for the same reasons—the critiquer is there to help the writer grow, and not to take out the red cyber pen and light up the page. Feel free to recommend writing craft books that you've read to your critique partner. The best gifts I've gotten from critiquerly writers are referrals to writing craft books. Is the prose too purple or adjective-ridden? The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman may serve as a fantastic reference for your critique partner. Does their plot fall short? Refer them to Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. Can't pinpoint the overall theme? Have them try Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks. As with grammar rules, writing rules are also easily found online as well. The upper echelon of critiquers share the best tools in their belts with other writers.
   
   
3. State Reactions as Reactions, Not Fact: Opinions are commonly disguised as fact every day, everywhere. When it happens in the critiquerly feedback realm, it can unfortunately come across as judgmental and perplexing. For example,"This section is confusing" is an opinion disguised as fact. And really, what does it mean? "I'm confused in the dialogue section because I'm not sure who is speaking" or "I couldn't get into the scene at first; consider working a transition sentence just before it," are statements that are clear, non-judgmental, and much more helpful. Here's another caveat to this rule: positive opinions stated as fact, while uplifting, are also not as helpful as they could be. "This is so great! You're a genius!" sounds wonderful, but if the critiquer wants to be more helpful to the writer, they'll add why the section is great. "The emotional build really works and the peak in this section brought me to tears; well done" is more clearly stated and it tells the writer exactly what they're doing right.
   
   
4. Re-read Critiquerly Comments for Tone: After working in the Americana business realm for ten plus years, I've learned that every business email has to be re-read for tone, and the necessity for this step is the same—if not amplified—in the writerly/critiquerly realm. The best critiquers re-read their comments to make sure that the tone is helpful, friendly, and approachable. How do you know if your notes are tone-appropriate? Pretend you're in a bad mood and read your comments to see if the person on the receiving end can misconstrue the tone or message, and tweak as necessary. Throw in some personality—it renders the tone amicable (see 3 Feedback Traits I Adore).
   
   
5. Ask the Writer: "My goal is to provide helpful feedback. Let me know what worked and what didn't work for you." This last step helps ensure that all the work the critiquer has done has helped the writer, and it closes a loop. You may not get a response if your feedback hasn't been helpful or if the writer has had a Negative Reaction* to it. However, you'll always get a response when you've helped the writer improve.
   

*A critiquer cannot control every Negative Reaction by a writer. However, if a critiquer frequently receives Negative Reactions from writers, then the above five tips might help.

Critique Partner Want Ads Launch

(Or, Critiquers Unite!)


Oh, yes. We will unite!

But first, kindly indulge me for a teensy moment. I just saw the Paul McCartney in concert at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. I'm a wee star-struck, because this sixty-nine-year-old man? Rocked it. Seriously.

Live and Let Die. Let it Be. Hello, Goodbye.

And not that looks matter, but if they did, he looked fantastic.

I believe in yesterday, Paul. I do. Sigh.

Ahem. On with the Critique! Partner! Blitz!

My friend Mary Frame mentioned a while back that aspiring writers need somewhere to go to find critiquerly assistance, and she suggested (in her infinite, if not goat-like wisdom) that I add a page to this blog for such a purpose. A classified ads, of sorts, for writer/critiquers to find willing and able writer/critiquers so that WiPs can be exchanged.

So of course, I had to turn Mary Frame's stroke of brilliance into reality. The page is added, and we're launching it today.

Please don't list your want ads in the comments of today's blog post, but on the actual Looking for a Critique Partner? page. (Found under "Pages" in the right column.)

The wants ads will remain open indefinitely, so keep checking back, or wait to post until you're ready. I'm also planning to run a quarterly CP want ads blitz, starting with this one. Tell your friends. Tell your CPs (yes, it's healthy and good to have multiple partners). Tell the members of your critique groups.

Bring cookies.



Oh, and happy CP hunting.

3 Mistakes I Made as a Newbie Critiquer, Unveiled

(Or, Don't Do What I Did)

 
First of all, vacation was lovely, thank you to all commenters who left me sunny vacation wishes. On our last evening at Bass Lake, we went on a pontoon ride and watched the sun set. Sigh.

 
While on vacation, I did a lot of thinking about when I first started writing four or so years ago. And what I did? Was to make a lot of mistakes. Thanks to all my writer/critiquer buddies along the way, I now make less mistakes.

So I thought I'd share some of my transgressions with everyone, especially newbie writer/critiquers just starting out, hoping to help others avoid these mistakes, commiserate with those who have, and/or help someone else feel not-so-badly because my mistakes are the worst.

Mistakes upon Mistakes.

Scenario: In the summer of 2008, I decided to write a short story, post it for critiques, and reel in my praise. My goal was to get feedback on my writing because I wanted to write a children's book, but I knew I should brush up on technique first because my sister (the real writer) told me I should. The forum that I had joined required that I critique five other stories before I could post my own.

Mistake the first: I read five stories and wrote up some notes on each. I rated each one basically the same, because really—who was I to tell someone how to use their art? I corrected some misuse of words and such, but I dared not go any further. I'd never even seen a good critique before, and yet I went in and left my empty comments. My biggest mistake? Not researching how to provide helpful feedback before leaving comments on a living, breathing person's work. Those writers needed something that I didn't provide: the needed to know where to hone their craft so they could improve. Sniff. I am so sorry, writers. I failed you!

Mistake the second: The story I subsequently posted brimmed with clever quips, humor, and a serious message. The mom and kid characters pulled directly from my own life (write what you know, right?). And people were going to read something I wrote. My art. Of course everyone would love it.

Until they didn't. Sure, they had some nice remarks on the clever quips, humor, and serious message; but overall, the feedback (in retrospect, very thoughtful and right on) devastated me. Story arc? More interesting subject matter? What?

After about three reviews, I killed it. I deleted it from the forum. I did—it's true. Me and my weakened ego limped back to our muse and said, WTF? We're not great? You mean, it's not that we didn't know what we wanted to do with our lives until now—to find that we were talented writers yet to be discovered? Heh? These people who have said bad things about us, perhaps they didn't know good writing when they read it—which is why they are on the forum themselves, they need help. Ha.

My biggest mistake here? I wasn't ready to develop yet, and I didn't know it until it happened.

In fact, anytime that I resist feedback, I now know that I've got to sit back and wonder why: Does the feedback miss its mark, or hit it entirely? (The words "hit it entirely" echo here.)


Mistake the third: Once my ego and my muse recovered from this incident, we went back and posted another, more interesting story. We wanted to become better and stronger, and we were damned sure were going to do it. And now we'd be ready for the sting of feedback. And sting it did, but this time, we took a collective and deep breath. WE CAN FIX THIS, we said. So we did. We fixed everything that anyone mentioned, no matter how big or small. Perplexed were we, however, when some comments from one critiquer contradicted comments from another. What to do; what. To. Do?

Ugh. My biggest mistake, this time, was that I'd swung all the way to the other side. I still did not know how to use feedback to my advantage. I hadn't acquired that internal filter yet.

So now, I sit on critiques. After I'm calmly able to answer the question, Does this feedback miss it's mark, or hit it entirely? I move on to the next thing: If I change this part of my work, am I making it better or worse? Is it right for my story? Is there another way to approach this issue to fix the identified problem?

~~~

Oh, sigh of sighs. My muse, my ego, and I are so glad we've earned our big girl panties.

Feel free to share your newbie mistakes. (Please. It will make us feel better.)



 

Critique Until It's Automatic

(Or, Time for a Workout)

One of my lovely Crits for Water guests, Brigid Kemmerer, suggested if a writer wants to hone their critiquerly skills, they need to critique until it's automatic.

And I have the perfect place for practice today. Visit Krista's blog, where she's hosting An Agent's Inbox contest. There are 20 entries, each with a query letter and an excerpt. See which entries catch your eye and leave a few comments for the writers. It looks like fun.

If you need a few suggestions on what to watch for, see this post about dialogue, emotional reactions, and getting pulled out of the story. Or this post about characters and sensory details. And don't forget to be honest, thoughtful, and show some personality.

3 Feedback Traits I Adore

(Or, There’s no Faking a Critique)

Sometimes my critique group is demanding. There’s almost always something posted to be critiqued. But then again, sometimes? I simply don’t have it in me. Or I’m not in the mood. That’s right. Sometimes I’m not in the mood to do a critique. And if I force myself to do a crit, the time it takes drags on. I can’t get into the story, can’t feel the characters, and I end up making notes about simple, surfacy things.

I can usually detect the warning signs when I’m not in a critiquerly mood, such as:

·         Taking multiple breaks while reading to check twitter
·         Coming up with ideas for blog posts
·         Re-reading a passage several times and feeling like giving up

Although I’ve critiqued through some of these situations, I try not to ignore these warning signs. If I’m not in a place where I can provide the best critique possible, it’s best to step away. Because If I’m going to take the time to provide feedback, I’d like to make sure it’s helpful and worthwhile to the writer.

And how does a person provide helpful, worthwhile comments? We’ve already discussed a few things that a critiquer can comment on when providing feedback here and here, but we haven’t discussed how to comment. When I look at the critiques that I have received, the ones that make the most difference to me and my writing have some comment elements. Three particular elements are common among my most worthy CPs, who bring these traits to the table almost every time.

~~~

Honesty. Writer/critiquer groups maintain Circles of Trust held together by complete honesty. When someone points out a flaw, most writers are grateful for the comment (okay—maybe it stings just a little, but then gratefulness takes over). Why? Because we want to polish our work, and do a better job than we could have done all ourself. Of course, it’s most helpful when critiquers phrase feedback in positive ways so that instead of arguing with the comment we get, we can hear their message and correct the issue.

A short “this is perfect as is,” rarely comes off as genuine, and instead might come off as, “I really don’t have time for in-depth commentary, but from what I’ve skimmed, you’re doing just fine.” However, there are times when a critiquer cannot find any significant flaws to point out but they still comment on some positive aspects, or talk about how they appreciate the themes or imagery, such as “I loved how you began and ended the chapter with the same imagery.” These pointed comments help the writer know that the critiquer has taken their time to look for issues, didn’t find anything to improve, but wanted to make sure the writer knows that they appreciated the artistic devices used.

Thoughtful Reflection. There is nothing more endearing to a writer when they can see that their critiquer has taken time to think through different aspects of my writing.

·         “I thought about this chapter while walking on the treadmill”
·         “When I re-read this chapter, I was able to catch so much more than I did the first time around”
·         “This passage is comparable to the writing in (some published work) that I think you should read”
·         Any commentary on plot, character development, or moral message

These comments help the writer to know that the critiquer is invested in their work.

When my critiquer thoughtfully reflects on my work, I tend to fall in writerly love with them and want nothing more than to return the favor.

Personality. A critique partner might be across the country, or may reside on a completely different continent. But the CPs with whom a writer feels closest share a bit of their personality within the critique comments. Whether they are humorous, share personal trials and tribulations, or their energy bubbles through, when they reveal a little bit of themselves within the critique it does a few things.

First, the ability to know the critiquer better makes critical analysis just a little easier to take, because then it’s not just a lot of words summarizing weaknesses (ouch!)—it’s a dynamic, breathing person who responded to a writer and who wants that writer to succeed. Just like we need voice in our writing, we need personality in our critiques.

Second, it makes reading the critique a lot of fun. What’s the next comment going to be? Will it make me laugh? Will a cleverly worded compliment make me blush? It's like opening a present each and every time.

~~~

Getting to the point that each and every critique comes together with these three traits take work, patience, and practice. But it’s worth it.

What elements/traits do you find most helpful within a critique?

Some Fantastic Critiquer/Writers

(Or, Critiquerly Love Never Dies)

There are times that I read blog posts about critiquerly-related topics, and when I’m done, I sigh and think: I couldn’t have said that better myself.

Which is why I’m basking in the brilliance of a few bloggers this week and hijacking their wisdom. Here are a few recent posts I love.

Historical romance author Ashley March (interviewed by NAE here) discusses how much she values her critique partners and beta readers (plus she defines the difference between the two in a non-dictionary way) and gives some guidelines on how to go about finding critique partners and the whole thing is a critiquerly-oriented dish of chocolate fudge ripple. *heart-my-crit-partners sigh*

Literary agent intern Jessica Lei (interviewed by NAE here) talks about how having a critique partner is like any other relationship in that you have to find someone who genuinely likes your work. *kindred spirit sigh*

The ever-chuckle-provoking INTERN (interviewed by NAE here) has blogged not once, not twice, but thrice about critiquerly topics. Her first post outlines the 14 stages of critique acceptance, and in the second post she talked about how to get over revision paralysis, and her last post reminds everyone who to avoid as a critique partner. *giggly sighs*

Young adult author Jodi Meadows (interviewed by NAE here) shared how overwhelmed she feels to receive critiques back, and points out how when she feels she needs to go back and explain something to the critiquer based on their comments, it’s a red flag for her that she needs to fix something in her manuscript. *self-enlightened sigh*

I love it when formerly-interviewed NAE critiquers go on to post profound critiqerly things on their own blogs. Could it be that we've started a new critiquerly revolution? Critiquers unite!

Critiquerly love never dies.

Here's a promise: if you read all of the above posts, you’ll learn something either about the critiquing process or about yourself.

Come back and let me know.