August 2010

The Gentle Art of Critique – Part 6 – Help or Beet it

August 30, 2010

When I was a kid, my mom bought sets of plain pink curtains for two of my sisters and me.  She gave us colored markers and simple instructions:  decorate these any way you want. I was about five and not artistically inclined. She probably helped me figure how big the pictures should be, or how [...]

Read the full article →

It’s Reader Critique Friday! Existential Blogger

August 27, 2010

Today’s piece isn’t what I envisioned when I invited writers to send us a page for critique.  I expected a query letter, a synopsis, maybe even a scorching flame-to-the-editor.  What I got was an existential, quarter-life crisis, stream-of-consciousness blog post. Whew!  Still, our stated mission is to help the writer clarify the message.   I rolled [...]

Read the full article →

Pitch a Column Idea to an Editor: 4 Things You Need to Know
Before You Pop the Question

August 25, 2010

Will she say yes? The proposal dangles in the air like an August peach bursting with juicy promise. When you pitch a column, increase the odds that you’ll hear the right answer from your editor by incorporating the following strategies: 1.  Establish a strong, professional relationship with your editor first.  Make the proposal only after [...]

Read the full article →

The Gentle Art of Critique – Part 5 – Writers to Your Marks
Different Levels of Experience

August 23, 2010

The writers that show up to a critique group will be at different mile markers on the race to publication. Some will be ahead of the pack, some will be sprinting hard to break loose, and others will look like they wandered in by accident. Not all are ready to hear the starter pistol, so [...]

Read the full article →

The Gentle Art of Critique – Part 4 – Keep a Shine on Your Boot

August 15, 2010

Nobody cares if you don’t write. Sorry if you weren’t clear on that point, but unless you’ve already signed with a discriminating agent, have a looming deadline, or a reading club awaits a book jacket with your name, the only reason to write is that you must. A good critique group can be the angel [...]

Read the full article →

The Gentle Art of Critique – Part 3 – Great Expectations

August 9, 2010

Not everyone wants to see his name on the New York Times Best Sellers list.  I do. But I’m not everyone.  Many of the people that come to a critique group are there to have a third party confirm that they can write, they’ve lived a fascinating life, or the tragedy they’ve suffered is more [...]

Read the full article →

Point of View – POV – As I See It

August 4, 2010

Point of view (POV) can be a confusing beast. Some writers are POV purists, while others hop from head to head like a bad case of lice.  As with any construct in writing, one must know thy rules before thee break them. POV is the character with whom we walk through a story. Sometimes the [...]

Read the full article →

The Gentle Art of Critique – Part 2 – Rules

August 2, 2010

My first experience allowing a group of veritable strangers to critique my written words might have made a less determined writer turn in her quill and nibs.  One of the women asked me if I read books in the genre for which I was writing.  Ouch.  She wasn’t even trying to be mean. My husband [...]

Read the full article →