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I’ve noticed over the years, however, that many writers have hugely different processes as far as what they share with their critique partners and when, which I find pretty fascinating.
For example: I don’t usually share any book ideas with anyone before I’ve started working on a project, largely because I don’t know if a book idea is going to work out until I’ve written at least 10k—my marker for this will actually be a full manuscript and not just an experiment (and even then it’s not really a guarantee). Ideas that I love are hard for me to come by. Even after I’ve plotted something out, and I really like the potential of the story, I never feel confident enough to share it until I’m sure I’m going to finish the manuscript, because I have a history of deciding after a few thousand words that this idea isn’t going to work out.
On the flip side, I know many writers who have many book ideas at a time, and often share them with their critique partners (or even their agents) to get early feedback.
After I’ve written the first draft, I put it away for (at least) a month before diving back into it for revisions. My critique partners never see my first drafts. This is for a couple reasons. Firstly, because I always fast-draft my first drafts, I usually finish with a list (mental, or physical) of things I already know I need to fix or expand upon. This list is usually grows when I do my first read-through, and as I tend not to like to send my critique partners a project I already know has tons of problems, I don't. Maybe it’s just the practical part of me, but if I can tackle and fix a problem before my critique partners know it exists, all the better.
Secondly, because I fast-draft all my first drafts, my first drafts are…er, let’s say not my best writing. Which is totally to be expected with first drafts, but again, I personally prefer to send my critique partners work that I’ve at least attempted to polish.
On the other hand, I know many writers who send their critique partners the first draft basically they day they finish writing. Or maybe a few days later, after doing a super-quick round of tweaks here and there. And that works for them, and that’s awesome.
Lately, my process has been to send my first round of critique partners draft two-point-something. The last one was two point one (meaning I went through two rounds of revision before sending the manuscript to my first round of CPs), and judging by the way this revision is going, it’ll probably be the same for this latest project. And then I basically go back and forth with different rounds of CPs and betas until I’m satisfied and send it off to my agent.
But for me, the only person to lay eyes on the first draft is me, myself, and I. And though I can’t assume that’ll never change, for now, I intend to keep it that way.
Now I want to hear from you: when do you send your WIP to your CPs? And do you share unwritten book ideas with them?
Twitter-sized bites:
When do you send your MS to CPs? And do you share your unwritten WIP ideas? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)
Unsure when to send your MS to CPs? @Ava_Jae shares her CP-trading process. (Click to tweet)
35 comments:
I'm always fascinated by people who feel confident enough in their writing to send first drafts or unfinished WIPs! I think my preference is similar to yours. The first version I send to CPs is 2-point-something. It might be 2.2 or 2.3. Anything before that and I'd feel like I'm wasting my CPs' time and/or not getting the full benefit from a critique because it would be too much in flux. I sometimes bounce unwritten book ideas off a non-writing friend, but I don't usually discuss them with other writers, at least not until I have the WIP going strongly enough that I'm really "in" it.
Because they ask? In person? And I'm bad at saying no to their faces, I guess? It's my husband and my best friend from work. I keep it super high level usually. Maybe if I had a writer friend I saw IRL regularly, it wouldn't be any different.
I have one CP who likes to send me her unfinished WIPs. I just critted the first 4 chapters. Her prose is really strong, even that early. It's interesting. When you're involved that early, it feels like the feedback goes even more strongly into shaping the actual story than normal.
I agree! I've seen loads of people make comments like "finished the first draft and just sent to CPs!" and I've always found it super interesting. I also feel like I get the best benefit from CP feedback in later drafts, if only because by then I've already addressed the biggest problems in the first draft (or, at least, attempted to address them).
I also think it's interesting that you're willing to sometimes share ideas with non-writer friends versus writer friends! Just out of curiosity, why the distinction? (I don't usually share with anyone which is why I find this so fascinating...)
That's too funny! I can understand the not wanting to say no to people's faces bit (though, I have told people that I don't like to talk about it too early on, to their face before). In my case, though, I find most of my friends and family members don't ask for details. I suspect this is partially because I talk about writing and editing so often (to some, at least), that the projects tend to blur into each other, from an outsider perspective. "I'm working on my book," sounds the same even when it's several projects after the last time someone asked. :)
I think you're definitely right about feedback shaping the story when you get early feedback. I've also critiqued samples from unfinished WIPs (or first drafts), and I think it's pretty interesting to see how people implement early feedback. Everyone works differently!
I definitely don't share my first drafts with anyone! I couldn't share my work chapter-by-chapter as I'm writing, either, because I sometimes make major changes mid-draft. My poor CPs and beta readers would get seriously confused if the characters' names all changed multiple times throughout the story! I always do at least one self-edit before sending it out. I also have a weird superstition about not sharing anything about my book, even the premise, until I'm at least halfway through the first draft (unless it's a sequel). Sometimes I'll share the category and genre, but that's it!
With the book I'm finishing, I did send the first draft to CPs, and I got some helpful feedback. (Of course, as first drafts go, I felt that one was in pretty good shape.) But now I'm trying the "fast-draft & for my eyes only" approach ... and I'm finding it so liberating to just explore the story on my own this time. I have the space I need to recognize where I need more world-building and character development, or where I need to better connect the dots between scenes, and I can just make side notes to myself without having to worry about presenting a cohesive draft for others to judge. I don't plan to show this WIP to anyone until I've completed at least one revision.
I don't have any CPs yet because none of my novels are quite ready for other eyes, but I will never ever show anyone my first drafts. If I did I would probably die from embarrassment. My first drafts are horrible, and I always feel more confident after a second or third draft.
Very timely post! I've been thinking about this question lately. When you send out the two-point-something version of your manuscript to CPs, do you send chunks (chapter/s) over time or the whole thing at one go? Is your second draft a rewrite? What draft do you usually send to your agent? How did you find your CPs and beta-readers? :-) Hope you can answer my questions, thanks!!
Hmm. I never share my book ideas either, mostly because I'm generally 99% certain most people aren't super interested >.> They usually just want the finished thing rather than just the idea. If someone asks, I say super vague things like, "oh it's got robots," or, "it's about immortals! :D"
I don't send out my first draft either because it's always a total mess. I leave notes for myself in the manuscript or sections where I cut a sentence in half and go [INSERT RESEARCH ABOUT THINGY HERE].
Yeaaaah. That's never seeing the light of the day. I usually rewrite it once and then edit it one or two times before I send it out. One time, I put the first chapter on my manuscript on Critique Circle before it was ready. (And I knew it wasn't ready!). Sooo many people caught so many typos, I was embarrassed. But I still got some pretty awesome feedback.
I haven't posted the rest of the novel because the feedback I got could be applied for the other chapters, so I'm probably going to revise and edit it till the third draft before I try to get critiques for it.
Good luck with your WIP, Ava :D
I'm one of those people who sends out first drafts and usually 1-5 chapters at a time. Well, I guess you could say draft 1.1 because I always do a read through before I send it out. I get too excited about the story and KNOW I will begin editing those little newborn chapters if I don't force myself to work on the "what's next?!" part of the book. My CP's know this, though, so they take their time critiquing so I can get writing done.
It's kind of like the kid on Christmas who gets that new game and can't wait to show his friends, so he bikes over to their house to show them. The game (read:new chapters) ends up grabbing their attention for a while until they get hungry. Lol!
I assume my CP's have other things going on in their lives besides writing and critiquing so I respect their time and polish up my WIP to the best of my ability before I submit it. I appreciate the same in return. This is not to say I won't critique something with lots of apparent mistakes, especially from new writers. I was a beginner once and didn't have ability to spot all the discrepancies as well as my more seasoned CP's. I had so much to learn the first time I joined a critique group and I can't put into words how much I appreciate the time they spent on me.
I find it interesting to read about your process is with this, even though I am not a writer, I still foudn it interestign to hear. I think it kinda makes sense that you don't send your first draft and like you mentioned if you already know some problems exists why not fix those before you sent it off for feedback.
I've also heard authors who write a chater or two and then send that to their critique partners. I always find it interesting to see how many ways there are to write a book and how every author has a different method that works for them. Great post!
How very interesting! Thanks for sharing your process. For me, I don't share ideas often. But that's because I mull ideas raw until I'm sure there's a solid plot before I type a single word. Drafting takes me several months and I usually give it a month aside while I do another project or catch up on freelance assignments. Then I make small tweaks and spell check. Then I send it off to CPs in rough shape. They're feedback from that draft sparks convo and thought. Then I rewrite, revise, redraft, and edit to my best before sending it to them again. Then I revise until I'm happy with it. I only send what feels like a final draft of they ask to read it.
Timing-wise, you and I have the same idea. I don't want my CPs to do all the work when it comes to revising, so I try to clean up most of the big stuff before handing off my MS.
I also kind of do that with the premise? If I'm ABSOLUTELY SURE I'm going to finish the draft (which means being at least 10k into it), then I MIGHT tell someone the premise if they ask. Otherwise? Not so much. For me, I think I worry I might not finish the draft after I get someone excited about the premise, which isn't fun.
But anyway! I totally get that reasoning. Definitely makes sense if you regularly make large-scale changes!
Yes! I really love that about fast-drafting, too. The lack of constraints and expectations can be really freeing, and let me challenge myself without worrying (much) about what other readers might think. But because of that, they absolutely take a little more on the revision side of things.
Yep. I totally understand that, and in fact, embrace the fact that I expect my first drafts to be less than stellar. :)
Lots of questions, here! I will do my best to answer:
1) When you send out the two-point-something version of your manuscript to CPs, do you send chunks (chapter/s) over time or the whole thing at one go?
With my very first critique swap, I sent in sections (chapter at a time, then a few chapters at a time) partially because I was super nervous and partially because I was still kind of revising when I swapped. Now, however, I don't swap until I'm done with revisions, so I send the whole manuscript.
2) Is your second draft a rewrite?
Depends on the manuscript. While I've yet to completely rewrite from scratch, I have in the past gone through each chapter and rewritten large sections, then doubled the length of the manuscript with whole new material. Generally, I end up rewriting bits and pieces here and there, sometimes entire scenes. More often than that, I'll add in new stuff, because my first drafts tend to come in on the lean side and need buffing up.
3) What draft do you usually send to your agent?
I don't have a "usually" yet, because beside the manuscript she signed me with, I've only sent her one other MS, which was draft six. Yeah. It's too early to say how many drafts I'll go through before I send her this next one.
4) How did you find your CPs and beta-readers? :-)
Short version: Twitter, twitter, WriteOnCon, Twitter * a bajillion.
Long version: I wrote a post on where to find critique partners. :)
Hope that helps!
I've definitely also heard of writers who write a couple chapters, then swap, and keep going that way. I think it's really interesting, and I imagine the feedback probably is incorporated differently than it is when completed manuscripts are swapped. Everyone works differently, which is something I think is pretty neat. :)
I've definitely done the vague thing, too. "Oh, it's about aliens!" or "There are vampires...and stuff." What I HAVE done, recently, is write up a book/movie comp to have on hand in case people ask. Those are generally vague enough that I'm not giving away details, but still give a general idea of the book.
I've also done the blank thing! Only once, but it was super useful (actually, the manuscript I'm revising right now is the one that had blanks. I had "(NAME)" "(DEADGUY)" "(CITY)" blanks allllll over the place).
And yes, I've asked for critique before it was ready, too (with my first critiqued MS). But it was a really good learning experience, and I don't regret it for a second. :)
Thanks! And good luck with your writing, as well!
Your answers really help!! This stuff is new to me so I'm very curious. Thank you very much for taking the time to answer them. Have a nice weekend :-)
Glad to hear it! Thanks for the well wishes—I hope your weekend is wonderful as well! :)
I tend not to see it as a sign of disrespect, and more just of another way of working, but I understand what you mean.
I totally understand that excitement! I didn't mention it in the post, but with my first couple manuscripts, I used to read aloud the chapters to family members, like, right after I read them. After a couple instances where I gave up on the MS after I'd started reading, however, I stopped doing that...
But hey! If it works for you, it works for you! :)
Yeah I'd have to be drunk to send someone my first draft. It's like a guy showing up to a pool party in a speedo. No one wants to see that.
not that I've ever had a real CP, but when I send a piece to one of my readers varies. I used to just send shorts off once they were done. With my books, I've waited 'til I edited them myself at least once (or twice or thrice) before sending them off.
It seems all the CP's I worked with led very busy lives, so it worked best for us not to submit rough drafts. We'd swap one chapter at a time too. It never occurred to me that some crit groups will submit entire chapters. But then again, this is the best way to check for flow, story arc, and other things. Learning a lot here!
I don't like anyone to see my first drafts either. Not pretty! And they(cp's) do such hard work for me, that I'd feel bad making more for them by sending them something that's full of errors I already know about. So it sounds like we're similar!
It looks like my method is relatively popular, at least based off the discussion here. :)
Yup, self-editing before sending off is an important step for me. I've found, especially of late, that I've been making LOADS of changes in those initial drafts.
Haaaa. Well. :)
Nice! I also like to mull ideas before I write anything—and I always fully plot them out before writing anything (or writing much of anything, at least). But even then I don't share ideas until I've written quite a bit. :)
That it does!
I feel the same way about my first drafts; no one should ever have to suffer through my half-formed plot. At this point, I'm in the middle of draft 2.5, which will be clean enough to send to readers sometime in March or April.
Nice! That's exciting. :) Good luck with your revisions!
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