Goals

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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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The Gentle Art of Critique – Part 1 – Group, Partner, or Paid Escort – Find One

May 18, 2010

Nobody likes a critic. Critics are universally critical. But writers must allow others to read their work, eventually.  The sooner the better, otherwise, it’s tough to get any better.  But you can microwave your improvement with a tribe around you to help you shed, stretch, strut your words into publishing shape.  If not a team, then at least a [...]

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Essentials for Full-Time Writing – Are You Ready?

May 14, 2010

During the fall, winter, and spring, I run in the late morning. Come summer, I better get my shoes out early or find an indoor alternative.  It’s Texas.  And freakin hot.  Like Solomon said, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” The same goes for full-time [...]

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