What if someone told you that your writing was offensive? Reading is very subjective so your writing may very well offend someone. Each reader comes to a story with a specific set of morals and values and this can affect their response/reaction to your writing. It can be awkward to say that least. I was once in a critique group where this became an issue. One writer felt that she couldn't even bring certain material to the group because it was deemed "offensive." In the end, she had to … [Read more...]
Simple Words
May 31, 2011 Read Comments
One of the things I always find amazing about musicians is that they take individual notes and make unique melodies. There are only so many notes and yet, new music is being made every day. I guess we can say the same thing about writing right? There are only so many words --- but unlike music, there are a lot of words that mean the same exact thing. I remember in high school keeping a journal of "exotic" words. Words that when announced sounded like you were someone special. I remember … [Read more...]
2010 FL SCBWI: First Pages
June 11, 2010 Read Comments
Today I’m wrapping up my series of the 2010 Florida SCBWI Mid-Year Workshop highlights. For those of you who attend conferences, you might already know about First Page sessions. It’s where agents, editors, and authors read the first 250 words of anonymous manuscripts and then give their immediate reactions. This has become one of my favorite sessions because I always learn something that I can apply to my own work. The following are responses and suggestions to First Pages from senior … [Read more...]
Receiving Critique Feedback
February 3, 2010 Read Comments
So this is the final part of my Critique Group blog series. In the first part, I talked about what makes a good critique group. Last week in the second part, I gave a few tips on how to give critique feedback. This week, I'm going to talk about how to receive critique feedback, which can sometimes be the hardest part. And I'm going to cheat just a little because just last week, I read an excellent post about receiving critique feedback by Jennifer R. Hubbard, author of the YA novel, The … [Read more...]
