The Confabulator Cafe

Category: Process

  • I’m a Reader Not a Critiquer

    I have a confession to make: I am a terrible critique partner. In the last year, I’ve offered to read manuscripts for five of my writing group members. I’ve gotten through one and a half of them. I had one for so long that it went through two new drafts and was submitted to a publisher before I had gotten more than a few chapters in.

    I’m slow. I take critiques pretty seriously, so I like to be meticulous and pay very close attention to what I’m reading. That makes critiquing very time-consuming for me, and time has been my enemy lately; I do not have enough of it. Or rather, I have the same amount of time, but too many other things I have to do with it, so reading the manuscripts of my friends has taken a back burner.

    I also lack confidence in my ability to give good feedback. I am a voracious reader, and a decent writer, but those are the only qualifications I have to be a critique partner. I’m currently taking classes for a copyediting certificate, so I’m hoping my copyediting skills will be honed by the end of this year, but I’m still not sure that helps me with the fundamental edits. (more…)

  • Detail Work

    My best friend Andy is rumored to have once said, “People always say, ‘I am my own worst critic.’ Well I’m not. August is my worst critic.”

    I take no small pride in my critiquing skills. When it comes to words, I have an eye for detail. Shifting through pages and pages of small type looking for mistakes is something I find enjoyable. Finding errors in writing is like getting a shot of dopamine. It probably says something negative about me that I enjoy finding other people’s mistakes, but I’ll take my pleasures where I can get them.

    When critiquing, it’s all too easy to be mean. There’s a certain satisfaction gained from being an asshole about other people’s mistakes. Often I find it necessary to reign that in. Not because I’m worried about hurt feelings, but because being a jerk isn’t the most effective way to edit. If the goal is improving the work, I find it best to be as neutral as possible.
    (more…)

  • Getting Your Critique On

    I only know one way to critique a manuscript, and that’s with a nervous heart.

    Critiquing is a serious, sometimes tricky, business and shouldn’t be taken lightly. If someone trusts you enough to show you their work, consider it a privilege. Give the task the same level of respect you afford your own writing, and embrace the idea that you might be unsure of the feedback you’re giving even as you give it.

    The important thing to understand is that what an author really wants is an alternate perspective. They’ve probably spent a long time with this story in their head, and now they need to put it in someone else’s hands for a while. Respect their efforts, and do your best to give them an honest assessment of their work.

    At the same, though, you need to remember that no two critiques are the same. Each should be tailored to the author of the work you’re reading, and you’ll have to consider both what the writer wants and what they are able to process.

    (more…)

  • The Art of the Critique

    There is nothing more necessary, or more dangerous, in writing than critiquing. You will learn more by critiquing other people’s work than by just writing. You are removed from the piece. You can see it with virgin eyes and see all the cracks in the surface. Then you start seeing them in your own writing. With a little luck, you’ll be able to patch the ones that would bring the whole thing crumbling down.

    In addition, if you are a good critic, then people will want you to critique their work. That usually means that they will critique yours, as well. At the very least you will develop a support network of writers. While writers do compete with each other for work, there is always a market, anthology, or other project that someone might think is right for you. Small presses are generally run by writers. Anthologies are usually edited by writers. It’s always good to know people, in any business.

    If you are a bad critic, no one will want to deal with you. They will avoid you, if humanly possible, curse your name when they see it in the slush pile, and kill you in their horror novel. It is very important that you don’t suck at this. (more…)

  • The Art of the Red Pen (Week of February 17)

    Your book was ... interesting.Writing is — as they say — re-writing. It’s a difficult process that begins with the author, but usually includes one or more outsiders who act as critique partners. A critique partner can offer valuable feedback, because he or she is removed from the written work and acts as a first audience for the author.

    What worked? What didn’t? Were the motives of the characters clear or is there a gaping plot hole in the center of it all? As writers, we learn to accept certain amounts of criticism, but it inevitably falls on us to give it as well.

    This week, we’re asking the writers to give us the inside scoop on critiquing a work. How do they approach a critique? What kind — and how much — feedback is most valuable? We know our contributors are at various stages of their writing lives, so the responses are likely to be varied and interesting.

    We hope you enjoy reading their responses. And, as always, please leave us your feedback, too.

    Until Next Week,

    The Cafe Management

  • I’ll Keep It Light, Thanks.

    I write in unrealistic genres — science fiction and urban fantasy being my favorites, though I’ve been playing with more traditional fantasy as well. I like a good touch of romance and bittersweet endings. What it comes down to is that there’s enough realism in real life, thank you very much.

    It sounds immature. In a way, it is. Reading is escapism, after all; for me, so is writing. I’m discovering my story just as much as the reader eventually will. It just takes me longer and not always in the right order. (Writers are a lot like The Doctor in that way. We’ll see the whole picture eventually, we just might end up starting in the middle.)

    Thing is, I’m not the wisest or most informed writer in the world. Not even on this blog. I’m not interested in tackling the big important social, political, and scientific questions of our age. I’m not going to be able to write one of those heavy, hard books. I’m going to leave that to better writers.

    I want to tell stories about people. I want to talk about technology that interests me.1 I want to write love stories that touch on my feminist interests. I want to write about the magic under the dark and gritty skin of a world that is in equal parts beautiful and cruel. Horror, suspense, thriller — shit, there’s already enough of all that in life. I don’t want it in my fiction too.

    This isn’t to say that I don’t let real world issues and concerns slip into my (optimistic) genre stories. It would be a flat world if I did. You need those little touches of realism when you reach for the fantastical — the reader needs to know where the ground is before you break it out from under them.

    And in some ways, writing from an optimistic angle is a way for me to filter my experiences, interests, and fears through a safe outlet. My fears of being economically abandoned certainly slipped into my NaNo novel, where an entire undesirable suburb(?) is physically cut off from the city that the citizens need to survive. DREAMING OF EDEN is colored by my thoughts on a false sense of bodily and social autonomy. My sky-pirate novel will (in theory) touch on parenting and religious institutions.2

    A writer can use any novel as a place to discuss (and even promote) ideas that they find important or interesting. The genre is the coating, the canvas to tell a story.

    1. Honestly, I wrote DREAMING OF EDEN at the same time I was falling in love with Linux, and it shows. Hoo, boy, my feelings on DRM and locked hardware are basically that whole novel.
    2. Not to be confused with religion itself. I don’t mind writing on matters of politics, but I’m not interested in touching matters of faith.

  • The Genre Protocol

     

    While I'm not as fluent as the average protocol droid, I am constantly stating my positions on channels that more people seem to be tuning in on.
    While I’m not as fluent as the average protocol droid, I am constantly stating my positions on channels that more people seem to be tuning in on.

    The witness will take the stand. Do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth, so help you God?

    I will.

    Please say “I do.”

    I do.

    Be seated. Mr. Arnett you’re testifying today about your preferred genre. Do you understand your rights as they have been explained to you?

    Thank you, your honor. I do.

    The prosecutor approaches the witness box. He’s older than me, his hair grayer, and he’s clean-shaven. Respectable-looking. Good suit.

    Mr. Arnett – I understand you consider yourself a — Science Fiction writer. Is that true?

    Yes.

    And why is that?

    The prosecutor is prancing back and forth in front of me like he’s on TV or something. I can see him puffing his chest up and out for the benefit of the jury. He seems to be making a lot of eye contact with the forewoman. She’s definitely hot, not my type but she’s good-looking.

    I guess it’s probably because I grew up watching TV like The Six Million Dollar Man, Time Tunnel, and Star Trek. Going to movies like Star Wars and special matinees of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I read a lot of SF, too. Heinlein, Asimov, and the like. Lots of Twilight Zone reruns, too. (more…)

  • Selling Out

    There comes a time in each person’s life when you have to give up on the dream of becoming a dot-com millionaire by thirty and take whatever job will keep a roof over your head and allow you to visit the dentist on occasion. If you’re really lucky, you’ll even earn enough to buy the expensive food— the kind that comes with both flavor and nutrition. So I write to order in exchange for money. If it’s a program manual or an annual report or a web page or a property history, I’ll write it because that’s what my employer needs. If I worked for somebody else, I’d be writing something else.

    Is writing for a salary a giant time suck that takes up energy and attention and creative juices? Yes, it is. Does it use up resources I could be using towards producing a pretentiously significant work of Great Art? Damn right it does. Bur here’s the secret, from someone who has been there— so is poverty. Dealing with the day to day hustle of surviving on no money is a giant, soul-killing hassle. I worked harder at being poor than I ever have at a day job, and while at the end I suppose that “my time was my own” to work on my own projects, I was perfectly happy to trade 40 hours or so a week for a modest yet sufficient paycheck.

    All that said, if I weren’t paid to write, would I still do so? Probably. I am first and foremost and from time immemorial a reader, and reading led me to a friend who led me to a friend who led me to Nanowrimo, which has led me to more friends, who led me here, to the Cafe. I find as I get older and inadvertently somewhat wiser, I have more things to write about, so let’s see where it goes from here.

  • Heroes and Villains

    Superman by Alex Ross
    Superman/Clark Kent by Alex Ross in Superman: Peace on Earth. ©1998 DC Comics.

    When people ask me what I write, it’s not easy for me to give a simple answer. I’m a writer, and I write short stories, novels and even a little poetry.

    I’ve written in a number of genres, including contemporary fiction. And though most of my writing falls into the fantasy genre, most people upon hearing the word “fantasy” immediately think I write stories of wizards and dragons — which I never have done.

    I could explain that my current work-in-progress is in the fantasy superhero sub-genre, but that almost always leads people to think I write comic books. (I wish. I’ve often dreamed of getting a shot at writing a Superman story — finding the perfect blend of action and drama.)

    (more…)

  • Will Write for Cash

    fairy cashWithin the cozy, virtual walls of the Confabulator Café, I write whatever genre takes my fancy. The monthly writing prompts let my imagination grab whatever idea floats by on the wind, and I can fly off wherever it takes me. I push myself to come up with something different whenever possible. This is a playground. It’s our playground. We can fill it with whatever toys and games we want to play with, and it makes us better writers when we explore uncharted corners.

    Outside the Café, I write urban fantasy. I chose that genre for several reasons, not all of them creative. I’m going to lay a little honesty on you here, and I hope you don’t think less of me for it by the time I’m done. (more…)