Blog Chain: On Critiques And Thick Skin

It's blog chain time, folks. This round is brought to you by Alyson, who wants to know:

Have you developed thick skin as a writer? How do you handle having your work critiqued? Do you love revising? Hate it?

So. Thick skin. I totes have it. I didn't always have it, though. 2009. That's when I contacted my first (and still!) CP, Lindsay. If Lindsay pointed something out as sucktastic, I would immediately feel like a sucktastic failure of a writer. That was more my self-esteem than Lindsay's approach to crits (because she is awesomesauce). Luckily, I've spent the past four years embracing my work as a thing that's outside of me. Yes, it came from my brain, but whatever type of feedback I get on my work isn't feedback on me as a person. If my manuscript is sucktastic, then I must fix it. Period. I can bemoan cutting a chapter/scene I thought was cool, but I'm still cutting it if it doesn't add anything to the story. That's the kind of perspective a CP can help you with. It's also a lesson I struggled to learn, but I'm thrilled I finally did. :)

As for revising, my stance remains the same. I LOVE IT. Love, love, love. I prefer it to drafting any day of the week. I'm still hard at work on my WIP's second draft, though, so I'm slower than I want to be. Especially since I have at least two more drafts to go through. I cannot wait to send the final draft to Lindsay, as well as my other CPs, Kaye and Natasha.

I feel sorry for them already. *giggles*

Thanks to Alyson for the awesome topic! Check out what Cole had to say, and stay tuned for Margie's post tomorrow! :)

Need A Critique Partner? Operation Awesome's The Critique Partner Connection Is For You

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Second of all, so. You may or may not know that Operation Awesome is kicking off a free online conference tomorrow. It is called the New Year's Revisions Conference, and it is going to be amazeballs.

But before we start the conference, we at OA decided to host something special for our followers today. If you're on the hunt for a brand new crit partner, hop on over to the blog and check out the Critique Partner Connection! All the rules are posted there, so make sure you read them carefully. I hope you find someone awesome!

And don't forget: the New Year's Revisions Conference is TOMORROW! See you there :)

Blog Chain: The Critique Partner Edition

So, so, so sorry I've been MIA the past few weeks! In fact, I've been so MIA that I forgot to post for the blog chain! *face palm*

Okay. Time for some blog chainin' :)

This round's question is from the lovely Sarah. She asks:

Do you work with critique partners? How did you find your crit pals, and what influence have they had on your work?

First answer: Yes, I have critique partners. Two. And no, you can't have them :)

Second answer: I found them through the wonderful world of the blogosphere. My first CP ever had commented on agent Mary Kole's Critique Connection post. I recognized her from her blog, which I followed and enjoyed. Since I didn't have a CP, I decided to email her, and waited for her reply. Luckily, she took me on as CP, and we've been together for over a year. We actually belonged to a critique group, but since I prefer to share my pages once the whole thing is done (instead of just a few pages every three weeks, and while still drafting), I left the group. But she stayed with me!

*hugs first CP ever*

My second CP and I have a similar story. She'd submitted to Natalie Whipple's Crit Partner Classifieds post (yes, I'm a stalker. Don't tell anyone...). I read the description she'd written about her project and could not. Stop. Laughing. Also, she loves Veronica Mars. Done deal. So I emailed her, and lo and behold, we hit it off. We've been together since this past February, and I currently owe her the longest email in the history of emails. 

*hides face*

Third answer: Their influence on my work is HUGE. Both CPs get rambling emails with new WIP ideas, writerly frustrations, and of course, sample pages. I have this annoying habit of starting and quitting a project, and they manage to both shout at me and cheer me on. But what I enjoy most about having two set of eyes looking at my work is how they sometimes spot the same problem, and how sometimes they spot problems the other didn't. One CP is a pro with sentence/scene structure, character development, plot holes; another CP is a genius at dialogue, voice, setting, and that ever-elusive thing called tension. 

I do think I drive them crazy with my whole "Oh, you know what? I'm not feeling this story anymore" attitude, but they haven't kicked me to the curb yet! *crosses fingers* 

And who are my awesome CPs, you ask?

Lindsay Scott and Feliza David! 

*squeezes CPs*

Without them, I'd be WAY more lame than I already am :)

Don't forget to check out Matt's post today, and go read Sandra's post tomorrow!

Read For Relief Auction!

When I was asked by the lovely Caroline Tung Richmond to join a relief effort for victims of Hurricane Irene, I jumped at the chance. Caroline and a few other awesome writers put together Read For Relief, an auction that kicks off today. You can win all sorts of great stuff, including signed ARCs, query critiques by agents, partial critiques by editors, and group critiques by YA Highway!

Me and the ladies of Operation Awesome are also offering a group critique--we'll be giving feedback to the first 30 pages of the winning manuscript! 

So yeah. You SO want to go to Read For Relief right now, and start bidding! 

See you there! :)

How To Be An Irresponsible Critique Partner

Confession: I am an irresponsible critique partner.

Why?

Because I just am.

Exhibit A: I'm currently wrapping up my crits for one of my partners, and so far, my Track Changes look like this...

"OMFGGGGGGG"

"HOTTTTTTTTT"

"BOOM!"

"*FANS SELF*"

"[insertsomething]FTW"

"OH NO YOU DIDN'T"

So. As you can see, those comments aren't... very... helpful...

But before you can slap my wrist and berate me, allow me to distract you with CUTENESS OVERLOAD!

What was this blog post about again???

Oh, right. Me SUCKING at critiques.

*sigh*

Pretty please, tell me: are you an irresponsible critique partner, too??? What do you do to flesh out your crits more? 

My Critiquing Stages a la Taylor Lautner's Body

Remember that time I talked about how Robert Pattinson's hair reminds me of writing? Or how Kristen Stewart's face nails my brainstorming process perfectly? Well, this week I had another totally useless epiphany--the feedback I give my crit partners is a lot like Taylor Lautner's body.

I know what you're thinking: "Amparo, stop looking for excuses to put up half-naked pictures of Taylor Lautner!" Believe me when I say this is not the case. There is a VERY VALID REASON, as you will see in a minute. *blushes*

All right. Let's get to it. Here are my critiquing stages a la Taylor Lautner's body:

Step One: My crit partners are very productive people. I am impressed by them. I am also jealous, but that revelation does little for this post. Anyway, my crit partners write their glorious manuscripts and send their latest babies to me. Once I am able to pry my face from Alexander Skarsgard's abs, I download their babies and read. In this first read, I simply focus on giving my uber-positive comments. Basically, I gush my brains out. Or make jokes. Sometimes both. The point is, I only highlight what makes the manuscript fun to read and easy to understand. My critique starts off a little on the light side, and sort of looks like this:

Step Two: I am a sucker for dialogue. Specifically, how it shows me who the character is. Voice is really important to me, and I'm super lucky to have crit partners with kickass voice. First, I focus on everything dialogue-related: whether what is said by Character A makes sense, does it clash with a previous action and/or interior monologue, is the scene dragging because the convos don't increase tension or give relevant info, etc. Then I dive in to the more style-related stuff, like whether there's too much passive voice, how well the words are flowing, the clarity of the setting/emotions/conflict. Little by little, my critique gets juiced up into something more meaningful. And, you know, a little thicker:

Step Three: After I read their pages, I give my overall impression at the end of the sample. I talk about what I loved best first, then I highlight the parts I think could be improved. By doing this, I feel like I'm giving my crit partners a more detailed version of what I scribbled on the Track Changes along the manuscript. But that's not the most important part, though. I find this Big Picture necessary because it gives me the chance to explain the Why better. Why I think some parts can be improved. Why I think the voice is awesome. Why I think the pacing should be tighter. Believe it or not, critiques are all about the Why. Without it, your partners will simply think you're a snob with no heart. The Why is what makes any manuscript better, folks. Use it. And when you do, you'll see that your critique bulks up to a point where it's fully fleshed out and uber-tight:

See? VERY VALID REASON for writing this post, right? Right???


Quick reminder: The results are in for Operation Awesome's December Mystery Agent Contest!! If you entered, believe me when I say you will NOT be disappointed!! Woot!


Now fess up: what's your critiquing style?