Critiquing Fiction: Part 1: Why?
Over the years, I’ve done a lot of critiquing of fiction, from both sides of the fence: I’ve given feedback on others’ work, and given my work up to be considered. I know what I like and what I don’t like when it comes to the process. What works and what doesn’t. So here are my thoughts and philosophy on how to get the best out of a critique.
First of all, I don’t like calling it ‘critiquing’ (I have used it here only because it’s the term most often used for it). The word carries negative connotations, and this should not be a negative process. When I run feedback sessions in my writing groups, I tend to call it ‘workshopping’, because it is a closer reflection of how I like the process to run.
Many advice pieces on critiquing (workshopping!) fiction will say that the criticism should be constructive. This is good advice! I would like to go further than that, however, and break it down into a lot more detail.
Why do we do it?
This may seem like an obvious question, but I think it bears some examination. Let’s look at it from both sides of the process: the writer and those giving feedback.
Firstly, why does a writer bring a piece to be workshopped? What is it that a writer is looking to get out of it? It’s good to be clear about why you are asking others to workshop your writing, both for your own sake and to help get the kind of feedback you’re looking for.
There could be many reasons for asking for feedback, not all of which are good ways to approach the process.
Some bad reasons to bring a piece to be workshopped are:
- Acclaim. If what you’re looking for is a pat on the back and a thumbs-up, you’re not looking for a critique. You’re bound to either be disappointed or heartbroken, possibly both. There are plenty of back-patting societies around if that’s what you’re looking for.
- Confidence. Be very careful of trying to gain confidence through having your writing workshopped – that is not the point of the exercise. People will question what you’ve done. They’ll point out errors, disagree with things you think are perfect, and so on. You need to be prepared for that. At the end of the process, you may end up more confident in your writing, but you need to be able to get through it first! I have seen people driven away from writing entirely by a single experience with critiquing. If what you’re looking for is a way to gain confidence, see the bullet point above.
- Confirmation of perfection. There is no such thing as a perfect piece of writing; there is always someone out there who will find fault with it. Also, if you think a piece is perfect, what the hell are you doing bringing it in for critique? See the first bullet point. (I have seen people do this. It never ends well.)
Avoiding those, here are some of the positive, useful reasons to have a piece workshopped:
- Improvement of the piece. This is the crucial point of the process, and should be the focus of every critique comment given and received. More on this later.
- Improvement of writing. This could be any facet of the writing: style, grammar, plotting, structure, etc. There’s a lot of scope for comment here, so if there’s something specific you’re looking for feedback on, be up-front about it. There’s no point getting line edits on a piece when you’re still working on the structure and characterisation.
- Beta reading. Does what has been written make sense to a reader? Do the images and metaphors work? Is the reader picked up and carried along by the story? How does it feel? Is there anything that might trip a reader up or throw them out of the story? Early reader reactions can be very eye-opening and important when polishing a piece.
- Problem solving. If there is a particular part of the piece that isn’t working, perhaps throwing it out to others for ideas will help you find a solution. It can be a great way of getting past a hurdle you’re struggling with.
Ultimately, be honest with yourself about your goals and motives. Make sure that a critique is what you are looking for. Approach workshopping with the expectation that your work will be questioned, errors will be pointed out, and you may have to revisit things you thought were great already. Just remember that it’s intended to improve the piece!
Next, let’s look at why a person would be motivated to give feedback on a piece. Again, I’ll break it down into good and bad reasons.
I have seen a lot of people approach workshopping in a wrong or unhelpful way. Here are some of the factors in that:
- Competition. Writing is not a competition. Selling books/stories/pieces can be, but that’s not what workshopping is for. This isn’t about putting down someone else’s work to make yours look better. Workshopping isn’t about comparing the piece in front of you to anything else: judge it on its own merits. (One to be careful of if swapping feedback is one of your goals – it’s not a competition to see who can get the most/least comments, either.)
- Expounding knowledge. Workshopping isn’t about showing how much you know. Again, it’s not a competition; there are no winners or losers, and it’s not about telling the writer how terrible and stupid they are. Keep it relevant and useful, and note that ‘educating’ and ‘expounding’ are two different things. Also remember that you don’t know everything.
- Look at me. This covers both of the above, but also other situations where feedback is particularly slanted to allow the critiquer to show off. This shouldn’t be a factor for the writer or the reviewer. Workshopping is not about egos – please check yours at the door.
- Everyone should write like me. Hell no. That is not what workshopping is about. You are there to support and improve someone else’s writing, not shape their piece to look like one of yours. You may not even be the target reader for the piece. Be prepared to be ignored if your feedback isn’t relevant and don’t try to impose your opinions on others – offer them, don’t force them.
But there’s a surprising amount of good stuff you can get out of giving feedback. Here’s my top list of why giving feedback is a great thing to do:
- Support fellow writers. Depending on the setup, these writers may be friends, acquaintances, or just names on a website. Sometimes it may even be anonymous! I’ve found writing to be an incredibly supportive community, and the fact that there are critique groups around proves that. Every writer should strive to improve, and I think it’s great to be able to help them do that. It’s especially great when more experienced writers can help the less experienced.
- Learn how to critique your own work. Looking at other people’s writing in a critical way helps you to develop skills that you can then apply to your own writing. It will help you to look at your writing in new ways, and show you things you hadn’t previously realised you were doing. By examining others’ work, you’ll become more aware of what kind of reader you are, what you look for, and what works for you. This will naturally feed into your own writing, and you will improve as a result.
- Learn more about writing. Workshopping others’ writing will expose you to different styles. As with the point above, you can gain a deeper understanding of what works for you, as well as what works in general. On top of that, the kinds of comments made by the group will also feed into this: others will comment on things you hadn’t thought about or been aware of before. It all expands your knowledge and toolset.
- Receive critiques of your own work. It’s only fair that, if you want to get feedback on your work, you give feedback in return. It helps to motivate good and useful feedback from all parties involved. This can create a wonderful supportive environment if handled correctly. Unfortunately, that ‘if’ can be a big one – check the list above to see some of the pitfalls in this approach. Just remember to keep it supportive!
Lots of great reasons to get involved in workshopping or critiquing! Arriving with the right expectations is half the battle, and the better prepared you are, the smoother it will go.
So you’re all prepped and ready to go. Now what? Check out: Critiquing Fiction: Part 2: How?
Apocalypse Blog reviewed!
On the heels of a recent Starwalker review, a new review of the Apocalypse Blog has come to my attention. They’re just piling in lately! Whoo! Keep it coming, people!
With comments like: “The Apocalypse Blog is (or was) one of the better [zombie blogs]…” what’s not to love?
Thanks, ScaryTrue!
Starwalker on Top Web Fiction
So many updates lately! However will you all cope? (Assuming there are still people reading this, and you haven’t all given up on me in exasperation. Not that I would blame you.)
I was pointed towards the Top Web Fiction site by a Starwalker reader recently (thank you, kind reader!). I don’t normally check it, mostly because I don’t have a lot of time for that kind of thing recently*. When my kind reader emailed me, Starwalker was number 16 or 17. Out of all the superb worldwide web fiction listed on the Web Fiction Guide! That’s a hell of a complement.
I checked today, and Starwalker is up to number 9!!! On the Science Fiction listing, it’s number 3!
Wow. Just, wow. I am stunned, and so happy. This is unexpected. It’s just one of the many, many reasons I write, and why I love my readers.
I want to say a big, huge, extraordinary thank you to everyone who voted. I’m am honoured by your support.
* Note: I’m trying to do better at that stuff these days. Honest I am.
Starwalker: review happiness!
It has been a while since Starwalker was reviewed: there were a few when the blogfic had just started, which are awesome. Back then, it was shiny and new, just setting out in the world, like Starry herself. Until now, there haven’t been any reviews of the whole first book, though.
Then I found out that the lovely Zoe E. Whitten had opted to review the first book of Starwalker. How cool is that?
What touched me even more were the comments on the review. Colour me a happy camper.
Her review is also available on Starwalker’s Web Fiction Guide listing. Go check it out!
Marching on
Wow, it’s been three months since I updated here. How did that happen? So much has happened, but I haven’t had the mental time or energy to put together words for this blog.
There’s a lot I want to write about here. Perhaps I’ll try to do it in bite-sized pieces and update more often, and then there will be stuff on here again! How awesome will that be?
Some explanations are in order. Work has been crazy: we had a huge deadline and I was running around like a lunatic to make sure we met it. My work love me. My team are great. Sometimes, it’s just all so hard. We’ve learned some lessons and put some things in place to try to make sure it doesn’t happen again. No more deadline for a few months, I can breathe for now.
Our state here in Australia flooded in January. It was a nightmare for a couple of weeks; now it’s merely inconvenient at times. It kicked everything out of whack, but it’s all spinning back into place now. Slowly. And a bit dizzy.
My health has not been great. The chronic fatigue is kicking my ass, and the meds that my doctor has been prescribing aren’t helping. I have to go back to him and try something else. I am fed up of having this thing drag at me all the time.
Starwalker is hard work. The characters are in a tough place (being captured my space pirates will do that) and I’m reworking a lot of stuff that I wrote back in November to be more how I really want it to be. There are a lot of balls to keep in the air – and in my head – so it’s definitely a challenge.
Not that it’s not fun – it is and I still love it to bits! But lately, it has been a struggle to pull together the wherewithall to give it that shine that I want. I have the best readers, though, and they are very patient with me. I’ve had to miss several weeks so far this year, something that I despise doing, but I’ve had nothing but support from them. Thanks, to everyone out there.
It’s March and things are finally calming down for me. I’m starting to grab hold of my to-do list and shake it to see what falls loose. I’m getting there, slowly, and looking forward to some time off next month.
Hopefully, soon, I can do a more up-beat post that has less whining about my life in it. Who knows, right?
Retrospective: 2010
2010 has been a strange year. Wonderful and frustating, with progress both backwards and forwards. I haven’t done many things that I had hoped and planned to do, but it hasn’t all been disappointment.
Achieved this year:
- Got Starwalker up and running, and completed Book 1. When I started it, I had no idea how much actual story I had to play with. I had 12 ‘chapters’ planned out and had only got through 6 when the 100,000-word mark arrived. The arc worked out nicely, so that became Book 1. Book 2 looks like it’ll only take up the next 2 planned ‘chapters’ (!!!), so it seems that I’ve got lots of material to play with for that particular story. Which means: yes, there will be a Book 3.
- Started some Starwalker shorts. Got some good ideas lined up here and the groundwork done. Some previews are available – now all I need to do is go back and finish them all off. Ahem.
- NaNoWriMo – got my 50,000 words done, and did some bewildering ML-stuff at the same time. My co-ML and I had some ambitious plans, added a few things in on the fly, and had a fantastic time. It was bigger and better than 2009, and it all went swimmingly. I was left feeling awesome, and completely drained.
- Creative Writing Group is still going strong. We had a hiccup in the middle of the year when our venue decided it couldn’t host us any more, but now we have a new home and it’s all looking good.
Things I didn’t manage:
- Posting Starwalker three times a week. I dropped it to one post a week to give myself a bit of a breather, and haven’t managed to get back up to three posts a week. Even with a pile of NaNo material to use, editing and sorting out the posts in time to get them up three times a week just hasn’t happened.
- Apocalypse Blog shorts. I promised to do them. I have half of one written, but just haven’t got back to it in months. I am disappointed by this, and I do hope to get back to it at some point. To everyone who has been waiting for them: I’m sorry. It is still on my list. Really sorry. :(
- AB e-books. I am most of the way through editing the first ‘book’ of AB, but various other commitments have got in the way. I will have to attack this again soon.
- Merchandise. My potential avenue for this is struggling to get off the ground, and it hasn’t happened. Delayed but not forgotten or given up on.
- Getting business cards and doing more self-marketing. I had hoped to put myself out there a bit more, get some AB/SW t-shirts and go to cons to spread the word some more. Hand out business cards and bookmarks. Still struggling to sort out the graphics/design for these, though. It is still on my list of things to do.
- WorldCon. Work interfered and I had to be here for a major deadline, so I couldn’t go down to the event in Melbourne. Poot.
- Novel edit/submit. Haven’t even picked it up. Part of this has been the weight of webfic stuff I’ve been doing, but it also needs something more. I’m not sure what that ‘something’ is yet, but it is percolating in the back of my brain. Once I find that elusive missing piece, I will go back to it, but it’s not something that can be rushed.
- Other random blogfic. Yeah, didn’t get to this either. Starwalker has sucked up a lot of my creative time this year, and the angel-based blogfic has a lot of prelim work needed before it can start. With my energy levels as they are at the moment, this one won’t get going until SW is well and truly finished!
- More writing tips posts. I haven’t been posting on this blog anywhere near enough, and with nothing like the amount of ‘tips’ posts that I had hoped to do.
Without trying to make excuses, I will offer some explanations. I think the main one has been my health – I simply haven’t been as well this year as I was in 2009. The CFS is becoming more of a problem, and while I’m seeking specialist help, I still haven’t found the meds that will help kick it back out of my way.
It’s like trying to think through treacle, only not as sweet. Exhaustion is a weight on creative thinking, and I’ve had to push hard to get through some weeks and create something entertaining, for me and my readers. I don’t like that the CFS gets in my way, but I also can’t deny it or pretend it isn’t there, as much as I’d like to. Sadly, this isn’t something I can do a lot about – no more than I’m doing already, anyway. Just keep slogging on, I guess.
The other major factor this year is my work. Since my promotion in late 2009, I’ve had to take on the management of a small team with very little preparation or training, and carry it through a number of changes. Everything has changed, from our deadlines, to our format, to our management, to the structure of the entire R&D department, to the company we work for (we got bought out last month). Between picking up all the things that we’ve done previously and making it work with all the new stuff coming at us… it has been stressful. And busy. And crazy. And yes, very distracting.
I’ve had good stuff come up too. I managed to pull together some threads of various plots and characters I’ve been tossing around for a while. I have plans for the Starwalker universe that will take it beyond the story of the ship. There’s the possibility of a whole offshoot into another facet of that world, and that’s exciting. One particular character that I’ve been playing around with for about 10 years now has morphed in just the right way to fit in. And there’s a plotline that almost got started back in 2008 in a different project that I think I can make work in Starry’s world, too. Plus, of course, there’s the villain shorts that I’ll be working on in the new year, too.
I should probably come up with a name for the universe, to tie all these pieces together. Hmm.
Another couple of ideas have also recently come together, marrying up another long-standing character idea with a previously-separate world concept, with some aspects inspired by other fiction that I’ll mash in for good measure. That one has some background work to go yet, but I managed to get some outline notes down during NaNo (when I was burned out on Starwalker and needed to bulk out my wordcount), and I know I’ve got enough plot for three full story-arcs.
In short: I’m not going to run out of things to write anytime soon.
I’ll post more about my immediate plans in my ‘what I want to do in 2011′ post, which I’m sure will turn up sometime in the next few days. In the meantime… 2010? You were hard work. You weren’t all that I hoped you’d be, but I had high hopes to start with. I achieved some of what I set out to do, and I’m not disappointed with what I ended up with.
Here’s hoping that I can climb a little higher next year.
Fiction flash: Possessions
I was reading on the train this morning, rather than writing (I forgot to charge the netbook last night, whoops), and as I got off, my mind started turning phrases over in my head. Sometimes, I just like to play with words and weave images, without any particular intent, just to see where they take me.
Today, the words wound up as a two-sentence story, and here it is:
Possessions
She spent money like water and gave her affection away for free. Her husband cried when the gunshot rang out and said, “Now, I have nothing.”
I always try to make these little stories have something like a plot, and to be more than just a quirky situation. It’s a tricky discipline but that’s part of the fun.
I like the way the characters came out in this one. It seems crammed with possibilities, and I think (I hope!) just the right amount of ambiguity. The only bit I’m not sure about is the title, but it’s the best I could come up with at short notice.
Monthly write-ins
I had so much great feedback on the NaNoWriMo write-ins this year, and so many people sad to see them stop, that I let myself get talked into running a write-in every month next year.
Clearly, I don’t have enough to do in my life already. ;) But I’m looking forward to it, and it’s getting lots of interest even though it doesn’t start until January. And hey, maybe I’ll get more of my own writing done!
Things are looking good. I have the Nightowls set to help me edit the first book of Starwalker next year (and I’ll be giving them feedback on their novels, too), and I’m sorting through the stuff I wrote for NaNo this year. Book 2 is fun! Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to get up to date soon.
Anyway, back to the grindstone. Looking forward to next year, stuffed full of writery fun!
Starwalker: have your say!
I’m looking to change things up in Starwalker during Book 2. Things are going to get rocky for the crew – and complicated. There are going to be new characters, and some of the existing ones may well be leaving. (Method of exit is yet to be determined, but it doesn’t necessarily involve dying.)
I’m curious to know what my readers think about the characters, and which members of the crew they would like to see go (if any!). I have plans for most of them and there are some that I won’t get rid of, but I’m not going to tell you which ones they are. I’m curious to know what others think. Tell me. Better yet, tell me why.
I’m also curious to know which characters people most want to stay. I think I can take a stab at one or two of the most popular ‘must never leave’ characters, but always happy to be wrong!
But don’t tell me here! Head on over to my forum and dive into the thread.
Also, keep an eye on the forum, as I will probably be doing more reader polls soon.
Writing like crazy: this year’s NaNoWriMo
I can’t believe it’s nearly the end of November and I haven’t talked about NaNoWriMo yet! I need to get better at updating this blog. Bad me, no biscuit.
This is my fourth year taking part in NaNoWriMo. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it’s a mad challenge to write 50,000 words in November. It’s the best fun, completely exhausting, and wonderful for ploughing through that project you’ve been putting off all year.
Of course, I crank the pressure up to a hundred by acting as an ML (Municipal Liaison) and organising all the local events and get-togethers. Yes, on top of working full-time, writing 50,000 words, and dealing with my CFS. Yes, I’m nuts.
This year, the turnout has been astounding. Over 950 people in my region for me to look after, and event attendance is up to double what it was last year. It’s all a bit bewildering at times, but we’re making it all work and having a great time doing it. I’ve met so many new people that my ability to retain names is completely retarded, and I caught up with lots of familiar faces from previous NaNos.
My co-ML and I have been ambitious this year, organising prizes and competitions and all kinds of extra stuff for the writers in our region. We’ve had several write-ins every week, all over the city and surrounding areas, and big BBQs to organise.
We even had one write-in on the local trains, travelling around the city, collecting writers as we went and writing like mad. It was hilarious and everyone enjoyed themselves, and I actually got quite a bit written. Definitely one we’ll try again, and I have another idea for a similar roving write-in for next year.
The past few weeks have been a blur of organising, travelling, working, and running events, but it’s all gone great so far! What’s terrifying it that I think we might try to top it next year. At which point I suspect my head might explode.
On the actual writing side, things have been more mixed for me. Due to the crazy schedule I’ve been keeping, I’ve wound up having blitz writing days, and then gaps when I was catching my breath or too tired to form sentences.
I had a pretty clear idea about what I wanted to do this year. The timing actually worked out pretty well for me – I finished the first book of Starwalker early in October, and took a break in the lead-up to the NaNo madness, and then ploughed into Book 2 on 1st November.
But when I got into the meat of the first section of Book 2 (nominally named ‘Slave’), I realised that I hadn’t planned it out anywhere as much as I would have liked. Normally this isn’t a problem – I work a lot of stuff out as I go and see where it all takes me. But with the momentum of NaNo behind me, driving me to up that wordcount, I didn’t have time to stop and ponder. And because the bulk of my writing (in fact, all of it so far) has been done away from an internet connection, I couldn’t stop and research the little details like what star system they are visiting next.
It isn’t going to plan. Just like Book 1, Book 2 has six sections or chapters planned out. I’m almost to 50,ooo words and I haven’t finished the Slave section yet. I had to stop a week or so ago and go back, adding in notes about things I wanted to put in or change. Book 1 was just over 100,000 words.
Yet again, it looks like the story is not taking the shape I thought it would. And, actually, that’s fine. When I realised where it was all going, I took a pause to think about it, and I think it’s all just fine. ‘Slave’ looks like it will end up being the majority of Book 2, along with the section that is due to follow it. Which leaves the remaining four planned sections for Book 3.
Holy crap, there’s going to be a Book 3.
With that decided, I now have lots of scope to go back and fill things out. I will probably end up breaking down ‘Slave’ into several smaller parts, but that’s something I’ll worry about later. Right now, I’m excited to hit the NaNo target, so that I can go back and edit the guts out of what I’ve got. And by ‘edit’, I mean ‘rewrite and expand’. And fill in the details that I had left, like the names of new characters and that star system that I still have to look up.
And, just to be annoying, I heard of a magazine that wants horror scifi stories. Which got my overactive imagination going, and so I’ve been working on that when I get too braindead on the main Starwalker run. The story I’m working on is set in the Starwalker universe and connected to the events in Book 2. Never done horror before, so this is a new endeavour for me.
In all, I am doing okay, and looking forward to December. I have the last two days of November off work, and can’t wait to sleep, recuperate, and come back at it all fresh.
