Being the recipient now of a few very helpful critiques on my first chapter, I wonder about the quality of the first critiques I posted. I have read extensively all my life, and dabbled in writing for a good part of it. I pick up a pen and just write. I don’t give too much thought to sentence structure, POV (point-of-view), scene changes. I let the story unravel, the characters live out their own destiny on the page. They argue, discuss, threaten, love, hate; and for the most part they just do it themselves without a lot of help from me. I sit and type and watch their antics with mounting fascination, wondering if they’re really going to take the story where I thought or perhaps had planned they would. Some of the more annoying characters trick me, and insert their own twists into the plot. They decide to kill another main character or to fall in love with the main protagonist and ruin the other love triangle I had carefully planned.
Once it is done, all the words are on paper and the characters have come to the end of their story, I painstakingly go over each chapter. I make sure all the names are spelled the same, if I have too many sentences starting with the same word I change it. I vary the rhythm of my sentences and fix up the commas, and the speech. I brutally cut out sentences, paragraphs, or whole scenes that don’t seem necessary to the story. I round out battle and fighting scenes, as I’m notoriously weak in those. I make sure the description of the country is consistent, that the seasons happen at the right time, and the degree of coldness/heat matches the graphical position of the country. I do all of that, and more.
Still its not enough. I generally go through my story three or four times before I’m ready to let anyone look at it. Then, before I post it anywhere, I look over it again.
Now, since joining an online critique group, I get back oodles of great advice–ranging from questions on the plot or characterization, to notification of inconsistencies in my writing, spelling gaffs and typo’s are pointed out, and grammar (thankfully) is corrected!
People discuss the POV of my story. Until fairly recently I didn’t give much thought at all to ‘point of view’. I just wrote. Another issue, I never realized that it was easier for readers if there was a clear scene transition. I just put a little row of stars on the page and thought that would be enough. I am struggling with some of these things in a way, as I have to learn to recognize and add them to my list of ‘what I go over before I post’ if I want to be professional in my writing. But its one of the best things that has happened to me with my writing. I am learning, being forced to step out, to re-evaluate my work, and judge its worth more critically. What could be better than that?
I suppose with time and experience that, once I’ve learned more about the fine art of putting tales to paper, and once I’ve learned to dissect my own writing, I’ll be able to do the same with others’ work. Now, I can’t knowledgeably comment on the POV switching too quickly in someone’s story because I likely may not see it. I don’t feel at all qualified to critique people’s grammar, as I’m pretty lacking in that area myself. While I want to seek out critiques from people who are seasoned critique-ers and excellent writers, I feel a tad embarrassed to (possibly) under-critique their work and then expect them to do a fine job on my piece. I realize that I’m coming in at the bottom on the workshop, and as a newcomer and a beginner this is what I have to expect.
To get around that awkwardness, I usually state that I’m very new at critiquing so other’s don’t expect too much. Then I critique from the viewpoint of being a reader, not an editor. That I can do. And from there–why, as I familiarize myself more with the craft of writing, I’ll offer more.
1 response so far ↓
1 Jeanne // Feb 3, 2008 at 11:10 am
The opinion of a “newbie” is every bit as valuable as that of a veteran member. Don’t feel that you have the need to apologize for your crits, focus on your strengths and simply say what you think. I, personally, appreciate a simple, straightforward opinion and am grateful to take what I get. It also happens to be true that there are people who regularly exchange crits and follow each other’s work, but I have never seen this preclude them from reviewing someone else’s work just because they were new. Also, bear in mind that your status as a workshop member has nothing to do with your level of skill. As in your case, some people come late to the workshop, having already honed and tested their strengths, giving the reviewer little to do and making it a pleasure to read their work.
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