I once thought family members and friends were all I needed as far as critique partners go. I was wrong. And this is why.
What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts!
Twitter-sized bites:
Writer @Ava_Jae vlogs about why critique partners are so invaluable. What do you think? (Click to tweet)
Do you REALLY need critique partners? Writer @Ava_Jae vlogs about why CPs are so important. (Click to tweet)
I haven't really gotten through anything worth critiquing yet, but as someone who has spent a lot of time beta-reading I know that I've definitely thought more about how to craft my own writing and the way stories should be patched together. I know it's helped me!
ReplyDeleteThat's great! I think it's awesome that you've already started beta reading even before you have something to critique—you're getting some really excellent critiquing experience even before you start trading, which is totally fantastic. Go you! :)
ReplyDeleteI suppose I never thought about it like that... Go me. XD
ReplyDeleteAGREE! I mean, I love my mom, but she'll *always* tell me that she likes my writing, even if it is horrible. She has to...she's my mom! But what I appreciated was the pep talk re: ideas. As a newbie, it can be discouraging sometimes to think you've come up with a great idea only to discover there is a similar theme out there. I have to remind myself that (a) there are THOUSANDS of books out there that fall into the (fill in your genre here) category and (b) I'd rather look for ways to have that person as a mentor rather than the competition.
ReplyDeleteYes! Absolutely yes to both points! I especially love point b—that's such an excellent way to look at it. Go you!
ReplyDeleteHey Ava--question for you, my helpful internet writer guru. So I have my first critique partners (yay!) and I was really excited because one of them is an actual teenager (I'm in my late 20s and write YA). So we exchanged manuscripts and hers is just ... not great. I mean, I was a terrible writer at 17, too. But I am really trying to find a way to be constructive without hurting her feelings--I see some potential for good writing but the manuscript itself is just filled with cliches and typos and bad grammar and it's just really amateurly bad, to the point where I'm not sure what I can say/do to help her fix it. I don't want to crush her dreams but I also don't think it's fair to lie and tell her this is good ... any advice you have for tactful critcism? thank you!
ReplyDeleteposting anonymously just in case that person somehow sees this!
Hi there!
ReplyDeleteSo that's always tough. I frequently worry that my critiques sometimes come off too harsh, so I definitely get the concern.
My suggestion for you would be to go through the manuscript and think about what are the TOP changes you would recommend. Focus on those and when you're writing up your critique, think about including suggestions for improvement (i.e.: here's how you may want to think about fixing the problem). Point her to some resources online that may help and make sure you tell her about the things you DID like in the beginning and with an encouraging note at the end (think sandwich: good stuff, fix stuff, good stuff). As long as your critique is constructive and polite with some encouragement thrown in, you should be okay. It may also help to let her know that if she has questions you're happy to answer them.
And as for avoiding that in the future, that's why I recommend swapping first chapters first. It gives you a general idea as to their writing and whether or not it'll be a good (and fair) swap. (Of course, that's not always possible such as in the case of very specific betas, but when you can it helps.)
I hope that helps!
Helps enormously, thank you! I think I was just excited about the idea of an actual teenager reading my work--my other critique partners are closer to my age. And her first couple of pages weren't awful, it was more as I kept reading. Thanks again for your help!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! :)
ReplyDelete