Thursday's Opening Scene features Words Perfect - Becoming Your Own Critique Partner #MFRWAuthor #Writing

 Tonight is your critique group's meeting and you're psyched. You've worked hard on your story. You expect nothing but compliments. Then you read your scene and your high is brought low.

Partner One folds her hands. "The scene is beautifully written. You have such a way with description. But is the scene necessary?"

"Too much description?" you ask.

Partner One shakes her head. "Not exactly, but before you write, remember the three purposes of a scene are to define character, to give added information and to advance the plot."

Partner Two leans forward. "That's where the problem lies. You have a great setting, interesting characters, but your plot has too many holes."

"Holes in my plot?"

"Your plot can be saved," Partner Two says. "You need to think about your story and select the most important elements. Look again at the who, when, where, what, why and how."

You check your work. "I forgot the what and the why."

"You've got it."

Partner Three looks at the notes she's been making while you read. "Your characters have good motivations for their actions, but I think the dialogue needs work. All your characters sound alike and they sound like you."

These three partners have given you indications of where you've gone right and where you've gone wrong. In the process you've learned something, plus discovered the value of critiques. But what happens if you can't connect with a critique partner or a group of other writers who are willing to play the role of critiquers?

Becoming Your Own Critique Partner is designed to help you find the flaws in your manuscript and correct them. The areas where less-than-sharp images can cause a rejection will be illustrated by examples of the wrong and the right ways to create images and a discussion of the various stumbling points to keep you from being led astray. It will also show you where your areas of excellence are. Checklists and exercises will aid in eliminating flaws and help to improve your writing.

 

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 http://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.com

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Buy Mark

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Words Perfect is featured today as Sunday's Book #MFRWAuthor #Writing

 

Not everyone has access to a good critique group. If you're on your own and need someone to help polish your manuscript so it shines in the eyes of agents and editors, look no further. Using examples from their own work and a huge dash of humor, veteran authors Jane Toombs and Janet Lane Walters guide both the new writer and the experienced through the labyrinth of self-editing.

Becoming Your Own Critique Partner by Janet Lane Walters (2006-09-13)

Amazon Customer

Mayra Calvani--Midwest Book Review

February 16, 2007

Format : Mass Market Paperback

This new book on self-editing written by two very prolific authors is one you'll definitely want to add to your bookshelf.

What are the major problems you should be on the lookout for when editing your own work? The answer isn't always easy, as authors tend to become so involved in their plot and characters they turn blind to the obvious. Sometimes the problems are easy to spot and fix, sometimes not. Whatever the case, Walters and Toombs guide you through the process of completely editing your fiction manuscript.

With specific examples taken from their own works, the authors demonstrate how to handle telling instead of showing, stilted and flat dialogue, weak and unrealistic characters, unnecessary scenes, overuse of adjectives and adverbs, lack of atmosphere, point of view shifts, bloated prose, clichés, among others. They also share the secret to strong characters and the six necessary elements to a master plot. Each chapter concentrates on a specific subject, with helpful exercises at the end of it.

Written in a clear, friendly, straight-forward style, Becoming Your Own Critique Partner is a reference book that both beginners and professionals will profit from.

Celeste

5.0 out of 5 stars Becoming Your Own Critique Partner

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2011

Verified Purchase

I was excited to receive this book in the mail today and I sat down and read it in one sitting. It is full of useful information that I will use again and again. I'm definitely glad that I bought it.

Reviewer:

Norman Goldman "Editor of Bookpleasures.com"

Checking out the Internet as well as various other sources I notice there is a great deal of excellent advice on writing techniques. Unfortunately, many aspiring writers as well as experienced ones either neglect the advice or are unaware of its existence.
There are also local critique groups and countless workshops, seminars, and other avenues where writers can learn how to improve their writing skills, however often it is not convenient for one reason or another to participate in these tutorials.
Authors Jane Toombs and Janet Lane Walters have combined their 63 years of writing experience and knowledge to come up with a practical solution to help us become our own critique partner with their 236 page manual, Becoming Your Own Critique Partner, particularly when participation in a critique group is either impossible or impractical.

The primary focus of the book is, as the authors mention in their introduction, "to find the flaws in your manuscript and correct them." The most obvious flaws that are examined and explored are telling too much and not showing, weak and flat dialogue, the black moment when the focus character (villain or hero) in the story believes all is lost, scenes and their relevance, where to use adjectives and adverbs, finding ways to use the appropriate senses, pacing, effectively using points of view, plugging holes in your plot, cutting the fat from the bone, avoiding clichés, what not to do with the details, places where mood in the story affects your characters, finding your theme and using it to solidify your plot, spotting awkward time and place shifts, characters and their motivation, ways to keep the heart in your writing, questions writers should ask themselves about minor but pertinent errors, and the proper use of words that are not annoying.

The chapters of the book are knitted together into a cohesive whole in the form of a workshop-style. Each concludes with a checklist and useful exercises that help the reader reinforce the principles that are expounded upon. There are numerous examples taken from the authors' own published works illustrating the wrong and right ways of writing as well as the various stumbling points to keep you from being led astray.

My Places

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 https://www.facebook.com/janet.l.walters.3?v=wall&story_f

bid=113639528680724

 http://bookswelove.net/

 http://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.com

https://www.pinterest.com/shadyl717/

 

Buy Mark

https://bookswelove.net/walters-janet-lane/

Tuesday's Writer's Tip - Tell or Show #MFRWAuthor #BooksWeLoveLTD #am writing #Hints

I'm revisiting a book written by Jane Toombs and myself and seeing what inspiration I can find. Becoming Your Own Critique Partner was planned one evening at a conference when we had nothing else to do and had enjoyed a drink or two. We only sat and devised the titles for the chapters and then forgot about the project. One day, I was at my critique group and one of the members read her pages, I was bored. The entire bit she was read was in tell mode and I thought I was a child again being educated rather than entertained. I pulled up the list of chapters Jane and I had jotted down and saw the title Does Your Tell Need Showing. Just the thing for my critique partner. I rough drafted the chapter and sent it to Jane. Back it came with a lot of notes scribbled on the side but also came another chapter for the book. This is hoe it began and during the next few weeks I'll be using this as my inspiration for the writer's tips.

First- Tell is facts. Think of the nursers stories you were read when you were a child. Just a picture of what happened next. As a child, these stories pleased you but as you grew older , you needed more.
Take the Three Little Pigs Each of them builds a house. Along comes the wolf. He huffs and puffs and blows two of the houses down. He fails the third one. Story is fine but what could be missing.

Second - Show is emotions, actions and reactions, If you want to show the story of the Three Little Pigs, you need to add some of these. How did each one of them build their houses. Did the one who made his of wood bang his finger. Did they sweat? Where they afraid as they worked hoping to finish and be safe before the wolf came? How did they react when he arrived? All these things add to a story.

So when writing yours look at those tell passages adn try to intersperse a bit of show there or vise versa. Both tell and show have a role to play when you're writing a story.

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bid=113639528680724

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Thursday's Opening Scene - Sort of from Words Perfect - Becoming your own Critique Partner

This book is a hard one to do an opening Scene for since it's non=fiction so I thought I'd share the introduction of the crazy book Jane Toombs and I wrote

Introduction

Tonight is your critique group's meeting and you're psyched. You've worked hard on your story. You expect nothing but compliments. Then you read your scene and your high is brought low.

Partner One folds her hands. "The scene is beautifully written. You have such a way with description. But is the scene necessary?"

"Too much description?" you ask.

Partner One shakes her head. "Not exactly, but before you write, remember the three purposes of a scene are to define character, to give added information and to advance the plot."

Partner Two leans forward. "That's where the problem lies. You have a great setting, interesting characters, but your plot has too many holes."

"Holes in my plot?"

"Your plot can be saved," Partner Two says. "You need to think about your story and select the most important elements. Look again at the who, when, where, what, why and how."

You check your work. "I forgot the what and the why."

"You've got it."

Partner Three looks at the notes she's been making while you read. "Your characters have good motivations for their actions, but I think the dialogue needs work. All your characters sound alike and they sound like you."

These three partners have given you indications of where you've gone right and where you've gone wrong. In the process you've learned something, plus discovered the value of critiques. But what happens if you can't connect with a critique partner or a group of other writers who are willing to play the role of critiquers?
Becoming Your Own Critique Partner is designed to help you find the flaws in your manuscript and correct them. The areas where less-than-sharp images can cause a rejection will be illustrated by examples of the wrong and the right ways to create images and a discussion of the various stumbling points to keep you from being led astray. It will also show you where your areas of excellence are. Checklists and exercises will aid in eliminating flaws and help to improve your writing.

How It Began - Becoming Your Own Critique Partner

The first thing to mention here is for those making a comment and leaving a way for me to reach them, an autographed copy of Becoming Your Critique Partner will be given away.

Becoming Your Own Critique Partner is a book about writing mainly geared toward genre fiction. Years ago, Jane Toombs and I attended the first EPICON in Omaha. There we met with other authors who had chosen the electronic way to publishing. The motel was wonderful and cozy for there weren't too many people. One nice thing was the rec room offered complimentary beverages every evening. So Jane and I went from our room to the small bar. We spent time talking to other authors who had chosen to publish electronically. This was the days of books on floppy discs to be read on the computer. When we returned to our room, we sat around talking about what to do next. Jane or I, I'm not sure who mentioned writing a book about writing. Then we began to jot down titles. Some of them were definitely influenced by the liquid libations.


Here are some of the chapter headings. Your Tell Needs Showing about showing not telling.
Listen To The Mocking Bird is about dialogue.
Is Your Black Moment Really Gray -
Can This Plot Be Saved.

This is just a sampling. We divided the 20 chapters between us and decided we would write and exchange the chapters and re-write each other's. I'm not sure now which chapters I started and which Jane did. We started out in a rush but then slowed down. Writing nonfiction is quite different from writing fiction. I had done some ghostwriting and thought this would be a breeze. Not really. Finally we had a finished project and we set out to find a publisher. If I remember the sequence, the first publisher died without putting the book out. The second publisher did produce the book but for some reason though the book sold we never received a cent from that publisher and they vanished into the ether. Though we were without a publisher we did enter the book in the 2003 EPIC award contest and had no thought of winning. We did not prepare a speech and actually managed to say something. Only one of the trophies arrived and Jane and I decided to share it. We did not have to since EPIC had a second trophy made and it sits on my shelf. Then we set out to find another publisher and Liz at Zumaya had loved and admired the book. She took it on and Jane and I added a final chapter.

So this is the story of Becoming Your Own Critique Partner. Will I ever write another nonfiction book. Doubtful. My brain doesn't seem to be wired that way these days.